The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini #9 120-135

At the beginning of these 15 pages, Amir and Baba are now living in a basement far from their mansion in Kabul. Baba finally finds the truth about Hassan and Assef when Kamal’s father tells him the story of the alley. There seems to be little chance of leaving until Karim offers them an escape. All of the refugees must escape in a fuel truck. The truck’s tank is filled with fumes and cramped. Everyone, including Amir is gasping for air waiting to get out. When they finally arrive in Pakistan, Amir exits the tank breathing heavily and collapses on the side of the road. Screams grab Amir’s attention. Baba and Amir push through the crowd of people to find Kamal lifeless in the arms of his father. The fumes of the gasoline were too much for Kamal. This drives his father crazy. He takes the gun from Karim and takes his life. Later on in the passage, we find Baba and Amir living in America. Baba is having a hard time adjusting to the differences of America; He believes no one has trust in America. The section ends with Amir graduating from high school at the age of twenty. Baba tells Amir that he is proud of him.
Amir’s traits and personality has changed throughout the book. In the beginning, he would not stand up for him self in many situations and was less assertive. He is now in America and changed. Since Baba does not really fit in, Amir takes responsibility for Baba’s actions like acting up in the grocery store. The changes that America has brought made Baba proud of Amir. The patterns of Amir’s behavior show that he is still growing as a character in the book.
I needed to define a few words in this passage. Summation means the review or recapitulation of previously stated facts or statements, often with a final conclusion or conclusions drawn from them. The definition of calloused means having calluses; toughened. Cretin means a stupid, obtuse, or mentally defective person.