“Life and summer are fleeting,’ sang the bird. ‘Snow and dark, and the winter comes. Nothing remains the same.”
― Elyne Mitchell, Silver Brumby's Daughter
This quote embodies Amir and Hassan's early relationship up through to the winter of 1975, when both their lives changed forever. "Life and summer" refer to their early childhood. Most of the scenes from their childhood in the book contained summery scenes, many of which characterized, for the most part, a compact, solid, and happy childhood. During childhood, Amir and Hassan were very close friends (and actually half-brothers), though there were always differences between them because of the Afghan social hierarchy; nevertheless, they always did love each other. This part of their lives was not permanent, and it ended quite quickly. "Snow and dark" can be taken to mean that day of the kite tournament when Hassan went after the kite to catch it before the other kids could and did not return. The absence of his presence when Amir was expecting him can be expected to mean the "(coming of) winter," since an underlying dread started to creep up when Hassan didn't return. Amir proceeded to search for him, and found Hassan in an alley, facing Assef the Assef and his gang; Amir watched in horror as Assef raped Hassan, which was the event after which "nothing remains the same," because their friendship is ruined, and both of their lives reach a critical turning point. |