Amir isn't always the perfect person, as we've already discussed, but let's get this clear: he is way better than the monster I personally detest most in this book: Assef the Assef (if you know what I mean). He has an incessant desire to inflict pain and harm to his rivals, a need to be the alpha male, and, to make it so much worse, a sexual appetite for little children. There are many similarities between Assef and Amir, however much I dislike saying it. Both were born into rich families at a time and place where the standard of living was relatively low. Both inflicted serious harm to Hassan; Assef was obviously the worst, since he inflicted physical and psychological pain to Hassan, but Amir's contribution is not to be neglected, as he was the one who chose not to help his friend. The true difference between Assef and Amir can be seen later in the novel when they are both adults. A similar event happens to them both and both react similarly, although for drastically different reasons. As for Assef, he was a prisoner during the Communist regime in Afghanistan when he was chosen by a sadistic guard to takes Assef to a separate cell where he proceeds to flog him. At this moment in time, however, Assef had a kidney stone, and when the guard kicked him in the gut, the stone passed. Assef started to laugh maniacally: "'And I yelled 'Allah u Akbar' and he kicked me even harder and I started laughing... the harder he kicked me the harder I laughed... I kept laughing and laughing because suddenly I knew that had been a message from God: He was on my side. He wanted me to live for a reason.'" | |
Assef interpreted this moment in an unsettling way, since he believed that it was predestined for him to live, and later on, for him to design a plan for the ethnic cleansing of Afghanistan. Assef laughs because out of deliriousness and triumph at a hollow victory.
Amir, however, had been facing Assef off in a fight when he came across the same situation. As Assef brutally beat him, Amir began to laugh himself, in the same manner as Assef had, as each punch and kick came faster and more powerfully, Amir laughed louder:
Amir, however, had been facing Assef off in a fight when he came across the same situation. As Assef brutally beat him, Amir began to laugh himself, in the same manner as Assef had, as each punch and kick came faster and more powerfully, Amir laughed louder:
"What was so funny was that for the first time since the winter in 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I'd even been looking forward to this.... My body was broken - just how badly I wouldn't find out until later - but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed." What Amir has won here was retribution for his past sins. He is laughing because he was finally being punished for his lack of action when his friend Hassan was being raped by Assef in that alley in 1975. So now let's compare the two: Assef thought he was being saved and rewarded, although he was the more vile man of the two by a long shot; Amir thought he was being punished and served justice for past wrongdoing, and rightfully so, I should think. Amir won, in a sense, forgiveness for his own shortcomings when he was under attack. Assef won because his kidney stone passed, and not much else, when he was under attack. With my biased understanding of these two scenes, I leave it to you, the reader to draw as much of a unique opinion as you can, although this review is saturated with bias! |