Point 10: Place

In 1965, the author, Khaled Hosseini, was born to the aristocracy of Afghanistan. He spent eleven years within the monarchy-governed country with his mother, a teacher of Farsi, and his father, a prominent diplomat, before relocating to France. Four years later, the red wave of communism drenched the homeland of the sunshine’s fulgor, Afghanistan, and escaladed to unparalleled havoc as the crepuscular moon of extremist-socialism dimmed the relative peace reached by the monarchy.  With the tides turning in the heart of the Middle East, the Hosseini clan decided to jump ship before it sank and found political asylum in the land of opportunity, the United States of America.  As his childhood demonstrates, the life of the author has striking similarities to that of his fictional creation, Amir. An interesting story development is Amir’s guilt as he escapes his home-country and runs to safer lands of prosperity; this aspect of the novel seems to be partially-congruent to that of the author. Moreover, writing on Afghanistan enabled the author to vent his information on his home while hiding incognito, and it gave the author the ability to deeply explore the world of hate, discrimination, and strife.  Seeing that Afghanistan was a third-world country caught amidst the adversity of constant infighting among political revolutionaries and extreme traditionalists and Pashtuns and Hazaras, Afghanistan was a prime location for a novel centered on the strength of a boyhood bond. In addition, Afghanistan represented the epitome of Amir’s fear, despair, and guilt. It was the place where the daunting events that shaped his mental instability for decades to come originated. It was the place where Hassan was raped.  It was the place where Assef resided. It was the place where the atramentous reality stomped on the innocent hopes and dreams of the forgotten. It was Amir’s Hell- it was Hosseini’s Hell. It was the Hell that Amir needed to face in order to triumph his overwhelming guilt and anguish for his nefarious actions; it was the Hell that Hosseini chose to face through his creation in order to defeat his own internal culpability. As Afghanistan represented the door to the world that lies beneath the fluff and cotton of the materialistic surface, the United States was the superficial hideout from the roaring terror of reality. The United States was important in showcasing the tempting qualities of sustainable peace in comparison to the total upheaval of Afghanistan. In a way, the United States represented the option Amir choose as he watched Hassan get brutally raped, run; Afghanistan represented the option to help his friend in need, with dire ramifications for certain. Amir later chose to revisit Afghanistan to aid Hassan’s son, Sohrab, for he felt guilt running through his veins and saw Afghanistan as a way to find internal peace from his suffering. In other words, Amir ran to the United States like when he ran while Hassan got raped and his return to Afghanistan is like him sacrificing his well-being and coming back to help his friend-his brother in need. Overall, Afghanistan is one of three prime locations that Amir, the narrator, lives and experiences, the other two being the United States and Pakistan; this choice is perfection as it gives the reader the most compelling look into the eyes of disdain and struggle. (Hosseini: Biography- Khaled Hosseini)