CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Amir and Sohrab arrive in Islamabad, where clean order contrasts with Kabul’s devastation. Sohrab wanders to Shah Faisal Mosque, and Amir finds him there. They share memories and grief; Sohrab worries he is “dirty” for resisting Assef, and Amir assures him he did what Amir once failed to do. Moved, Amir asks Sohrab to come live in America.

Days later, at Daman-e-Koh, Amir reveals that Hassan and he were half brothers. Sohrab processes the truth quietly. That night, Amir describes San Francisco and asks again; Sohrab worries about rejection but agrees to come, if he will never return to an orphanage.

At the U.S. embassy, Raymond Andrews warns the adoption is nearly impossible without proof the parents are dead and Afghan cooperation. He advises a lawyer; a secretary reveals Andrews’s daughter died by suicide. Omar Faisal, an immigration attorney, confirms severe obstacles and suggests the best path may be temporarily placing Sohrab in an Islamabad orphanage while starting paperwork, which Amir hates because he promised otherwise.

Amir calls Soraya; she commits to adopting Sohrab and engages family contacts. Faisal outlines options again, and later Amir broaches the orphanage idea to Sohrab, who panics and pleads against it. Amir tries to soothe him, invoking “sour apples,” and Sohrab eventually falls asleep from exhaustion.

That night, Soraya reports Kaka Sharif can likely secure a humanitarian visa, eliminating the need for an orphanage. Amir rushes to tell Sohrab and enters the bathroom, where he discovers Sohrab’s suicide attempt, collapsing into screams as help is summoned.