During Amir and Hassan's childhood, Assef was considered the neighborhood bully. He is racist and enjoys inflicting pain on people he believes are inferior. Hassan and his son, Sohrab are two examples of people who were raped by Assef as they are merely poor, uneducated, and unworthy Hazaras. Countless times Assef picked on Hassan and Amir. He picked on Hassan because he was a Hazara and targeted Amir because he was friends with one. Each time Hassan would come home with cuts and bruises and Baba would ask Amir what happened, but he would say that Hassan simply fell. Amir over heard Baba talking to Rahim Khan about him one night illustrating how cowardly he is.
" 'Sometimes I look out this window and I see him playing on the street with the neighborhood boys. I see how they push him around, take his toys from him, give him a shove here, a whack there. And you know, he never fights back. Never. He just...drops his head. and...' " he later finishes saying, " 'A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything.' " (Hosseini 24)
In one particular instance, Assef was threatening both Hassan and Amir with brass knuckles and Hassan once again came to the rescue,
" 'But perhaps you didn't notice that I'm the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, they'll have to change your nickname from Assef 'the Ear Eater' to 'One-Eyed Assef,' because I have this rock pointed at your left eye.' " (Hosseini 45)
" 'Sometimes I look out this window and I see him playing on the street with the neighborhood boys. I see how they push him around, take his toys from him, give him a shove here, a whack there. And you know, he never fights back. Never. He just...drops his head. and...' " he later finishes saying, " 'A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything.' " (Hosseini 24)
In one particular instance, Assef was threatening both Hassan and Amir with brass knuckles and Hassan once again came to the rescue,
" 'But perhaps you didn't notice that I'm the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, they'll have to change your nickname from Assef 'the Ear Eater' to 'One-Eyed Assef,' because I have this rock pointed at your left eye.' " (Hosseini 45)
Once Amir reached Kabul, he was able to locate where Sohrab was held by the Taliban. Amir went to a meeting with a Taliban leader in an attempt to rescue Sohrab from them, however once he was in the room he recognized the Taliban leader was Assef. Once Assef also realized it was Amir, he said that they will fight in front of Sohrab in that small room, and whoever comes out alive can leave with him. Amir's life was on the line - he could either defeat and kill Assef and leave with Sohrab or he would die fighting for him. Amir explains what happened during the fight,
"My body was broken - just how badly I wouldn't find out until later - but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed." (Hosseini 303)
"My body was broken - just how badly I wouldn't find out until later - but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed." (Hosseini 303)
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- Amir is able to be atoned for his past by getting beaten as an adult by Assef, in order to rescue Sohrab
- It is obvious Amir is already on his path to redemption as he feels healed and begins to laugh when instead should be feeling physical pain
- Amir's courage to fight Assef, shows that the power Assef used to have decades ago has changed and is now in the hands of Amir and Sohrab
- Sohrab is able to defeat Assef by shooting a brass ball from his slingshot into his eye, drawing a parallel to the brass knuckles Assef tried to use to threaten Amir and Hassan during their childhood