How do amir and baba travel to pakistan

Catching snippets of conversation, Amir overhears that Kamal had an encounter with four men who presumably treated him the way Assef treated Hassan. Although the truck that was supposed to transport them is beyond repair, an offer is made to smuggle the refugees in a fuel truck. In order to help him through this ordeal, Amir thinks of a pleasant memory of him and Hassan flying kites.

After they climb out of the fuel truck, Amir sums up the total of Baba's existence in Pakistan: "One disappointing son and two suitcases. Chapter 10 ends with Kamal's father committing suicide after the death of his son due to the gas fumes in the tanker. The jump of five years indicates that nothing of major significance has occurred in Amir's personal life between the time he betrayed Hassan and the escape he and his father made.

There obviously were major changes in Afghanistan, the details of which are only alluded to here but are made more apparent later in the novel. It is quite significant that when Baba instructs Amir to think of something happy, the thoughts are of a time before the winter of , suggesting that the past five years have not been happy ones.

The memory that sustains Amir during the ride in the tank of a fuel truck symbolizes Amir's childhood and innocence. Amir doesn't remember the exact month or even year because a child's sense of time isn't the same as an adult's.

But clearly Amir's childhood was better than his young adulthood, and the implication is that it was better than most of his adult life, too. Amir is eighteen when he and Baba flee to Pakistan, meaning that it has been years since Ali and Hassan left. Indeed, he mentions that they have had several different servants in the intervening years.

Still, Amir is not at all free from his guilt. Hosseini even introduces Kamal as a foil for Hassan. Like Hassan, Kamal has been raped and no longer smiles.

His death and his father's subsequent suicide suggest one horrifying possibility of what might have happened to Hassan and Ali without Baba's protection. It is also a warning of what could easily happen to Baba and Amir. So much has changed since Amir was a boy, yet Baba still has the same unflappable courage. When Baba stands up for the married woman, it is the last time we ever see him in his element, in a position of power and defending those who are helpless. Once Baba and Amir come to America, Baba can never be the same because he is no longer in a position to help others.

The theme of sacrifice returns in Chapter Eleven, where we see how much Baba has given up in order to ensure Amir a better future. Once a party-giver and benefactor, Baba is now a gas-station worker in a country where he does not even speak the language fluently.

He has gone from living in a large, luxurious house to living in a small apartment. Once the person everyone else could depend on, Baba now depends on Amir to help him navigate American life.

The incident with the Nguyens makes it clear how out of place Baba is in California. As Amir explains, in Afghanistan the only 'credit card' they had was a branch into which a vendor carved a notch for each item bought. When Baba loses his temper after Mr. Nguyen asks him for ID, he is not being irrational; he comes from a place where such a request would have signified extreme distrust.

While living in America is hard for Baba, it is a dream come true for Amir. Fremont, California is free of all the places and things that remind him of Hassan, his "harelipped ghost. America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past. I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins. Amir can set his mind on new goals and let the optimistic American spirit carry him as far away from Kabul emotionally as he is physically.

To Baba's disappointment, Amir is the same person in Fremont as he was in Kabul. He still wants to be a writer. However, their relationship grows closer out of necessity; having lost almost everything familiar, they cling to one another. When Amir graduates from high school and Baba wishes Hassan was there, Amir feels a now-seldom pang of guilt. He does not realize that Baba is feeling worse guilt, because Hassan is his son and deserves the same opportunities as Amir. As Amir will surmise later, Baba may feel closer to Amir in America because Amir is more like Hassan there, struggling, no longer protected by privilege.

As much as Amir wants to be swept up in the "river" of America, he is still rooted to Afghan tradition there because of the large community of refugees.

From the moment he lays eyes on Soraya, he commits to preserving his roots because she comes from a traditional family. Amir and Soraya's traditional courtship creates a little Afghan oasis in the confusion of America, which Baba and the Taheris greatly appreciate. As immigrants, even "former ambassadors, out-of-work surgeons, and university professors" are reduced to selling used goods at the flea market.

Baba is a gas station worker and General Taheri a welfare recipient, in the matter of their children's courtship they feel like important Afghan men again. They are able to live in this reverie until Baba's diagnosis. From that point on, Amir must watch his father go from a strong, almost legendary figure to a shrunken, weak ghost of his former self. As though to add insult to injury, the cancer spreads to Baba's brain, the source of his intelligence and his trademark unapologetic opinions.

In getting married, Amir restores Baba's dignity by showing him how much he is needed. Though the war has forced Baba and Amir to leave their home and nearly all their possessions behind, Baba only believes more strongly in the necessity of acting with dignity and doing what is right.

As he declares to the Russian guard, decency becomes even more important during times of war. To him, he is trying to preserve the honor of not just one person, but of all of Afghanistan. The move to America represents two completely different things to Amir and Baba. In California, Baba feels disconnected from everything he knows.

In Kabul, he would send Amir and Hassan to the baker with a stick. The baker would make a notch in the stick for each loaf of bread he gave, and at the end of the month, Baba paid the baker according to how many notches there were.

When the manager at the convenience store asks Baba for ID, Baba feels insulted because he takes it as a sign of distrust. Baba has also lost social status. In Kabul, he was wealthy and respected. In California, he earns low wages working at a gas station. In the past, Ali and Hassan were the servants, and Baba was the master. Now Baba is more like a servant himself. These differences leave Baba perpetually frustrated.

Amir also feels disconnected from everything he knew in Kabul, but for him, this disconnection has a different meaning. He sees it as an opportunity for a new beginning, and he thinks of America as a place where he can literally escape his past.

The metaphor Amir chooses to describe America is a river. Here, the metaphor has two meanings that are related but separate. First, a river always moves forward. Baba couldn't stomach the idea of his country being ruined physically and ideologially by the Communists; so he leaves before it is too late.

As a capitalistic businessman, his life and Amir's would have been in danger. Baba walked out of the welfare office like a man cured of a tumor. After dinner, Baba took me to a bar across the street from the restaurant. What "weakness" of Amir's does Baba have to apologize for in chapter 10? Baba apologizes for Amir's car sickness. Baba is disappointed by Amir's decision to become a writer because he does not see writing as a manly job or a job that would give him a high status in Afghanistan.

Baba is more concerned about how society views him while the adult version of Amir is more concerned about doing what is proper and being happy. It is during the argument about his career path Amir thinks to himself: "I would stand my ground, I decide.

By telling Amir that there is a way to be good again, Rahim Khan is offering Amir an opportunity to atone for his past sins. After speaking with Rhan Khan, Amir is motivated to find redemption and atone for his past sins by traveling to Pakistan. Amir is very proud to be the son of Baba , yet he sometimes feels guilty because he "killed his beloved wife. The visit with the pulmonologist became unsuccessful because Baba found out that the doctor was Russian and Baba would not let him continue from there.

At age 18, he and his father flee to America following the Soviet Military invasion of Afghanistan, where he pursues his dream of being a writer. Hassan is Amir's closest childhood friend. Why does Amir think he and Soraya cannot have children? He feels it is punishment for his past. Amir realizes Hassan saw him in the alley, and he knew also that Amir was setting him up now.