Contents
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Overview
Rahim Khan, lonely in war-torn Kabul, seeks out Hassan in 1986 and brings Hassan and Farzana back to maintain Baba’s house. They endure loss, reconcile with the returning Sanaubar, and welcome Hassan’s son, Sohrab. As Kabul descends under the Taliban, kite fighting is banned and persecution of Hazaras worsens, foreshadowing tragedy.
Summary
Rahim Khan, isolated and aging in communist-held Kabul after most friends flee or die, learns of Baba’s death and resolves to find Hassan. In 1986 he drives to Hazarajat, locates Hassan and his pregnant wife Farzana, and hears that Ali was killed by a land mine. Moved by grief and loyalty, Hassan and Farzana agree to return with Rahim to maintain Baba’s house.
Back in Kabul, out of respect for Amir, Hassan refuses to live in the main house and moves into the backyard hut. He devotes himself to restoring the property, even rebuilding a rocket-shattered wall. Tragedy strikes when Farzana delivers a stillborn daughter, deepening the household’s private sorrow amid the city’s war.
In 1990, a mutilated, destitute Sanaubar—Hassan’s long-absent mother—arrives at the gate. After initial shock, Hassan welcomes her home, and she is nursed back to health. She delivers Hassan’s son, Sohrab, that winter and becomes a devoted grandmother before dying peacefully when Sohrab is four, leaving another ache in the family.
Despite intensifying factional warfare in Kabul, Hassan nurtures Sohrab’s learning and play, taking him to the zoo and teaching him the slingshot and reading. Their fragile routines persist until the Taliban seize Kabul in 1996. Rahim celebrates the end of street fighting, but Hassan grimly anticipates Hazara suffering as kites are banned and, by 1998, Hazaras are massacred in Mazar-i-Sharif.
By chapter’s end, the household’s brief haven stands shadowed by the Taliban’s rise and targeted persecution, setting a foreboding stage for what will follow for Hassan’s family.
Who Appears
- Rahim KhanNarrator; seeks Hassan in 1986, brings him to Kabul, oversees Baba’s house, witnesses family milestones and Taliban rise.
- HassanFound in Hazarajat; returns to Kabul, maintains Baba’s house, mourns losses, reconciles with mother, fathers Sohrab, fears Taliban.
- FarzanaHassan’s wife; hosts Rahim, suffers a stillbirth, later gives birth to Sohrab, cares for Sanaubar and the household.
- SanaubarHassan’s estranged mother; returns disfigured, reconciles, delivers Sohrab, becomes devoted grandmother, dies peacefully.
- SohrabHassan and Farzana’s son, born 1990; gentle, bright, learns reading and slingshot, adored by Sanaubar.
- AliHassan’s father; revealed to have died by land mine near Bamiyan before 1986.