Contents
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Overview
Rahim Khan gives Amir a letter and photo from Hassan, then reveals the Taliban executed Hassan and Farzana after seizing Baba’s house, leaving Sohrab in an orphanage. Rahim asks Amir to rescue the boy. Finally, he discloses Ali was sterile and Hassan was Baba’s son, shattering Amir, who storms out.
Summary
As dusk falls in Peshawar, Rahim Khan gives Amir a Polaroid of Hassan with his son Sohrab and a neatly written letter. In the letter, Hassan describes Kabul’s fear under the Taliban, Farzana’s public beating, his pride in Sohrab, his care for ill Rahim Khan, and hopes for peace and Amir’s return.
Rahim then delivers devastating news: soon after he left Kabul, Taliban officials accused Hassan of trespassing at Baba’s house, forced him to kneel in the street, and shot him; when Farzana rushed them, they killed her too. The Taliban moved into the house, and neighbors stayed silent. Rahim says Sohrab was taken to an orphanage in Karteh-Seh.
Rahim asks Amir to go to Kabul, retrieve Sohrab, and bring him to a kind American couple, Thomas and Betty Caldwell, who shelter Afghan orphans in Peshawar. Amir resists, citing danger and his life in America. Rahim invokes Baba’s belief that a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.
When Amir wavers, Rahim reveals the deeper truth: Ali had been sterile; Hassan was Baba’s son. The revelation that Hassan was Amir’s half-brother enrages and devastates Amir, who condemns the lifelong secrecy and storms out of the apartment.
Who Appears
- AmirNarrator; receives Hassan’s letter, learns of Hassan’s murder and parentage, resists rescuing Sohrab, then storms out.
- Rahim KhanDying mentor; delivers Hassan’s letter and photo, asks Amir to save Sohrab, reveals Hassan was Baba’s son.
- HassanWrites from Kabul about Taliban oppression and love for Sohrab; later revealed murdered; secretly Baba’s son.
- SohrabHassan and Farzana’s son; pictured with Hassan; placed in a Karteh-Seh orphanage after parents’ murder.
- FarzanaHassan’s wife; previously beaten by a Talib; killed alongside Hassan outside Baba’s house.
- Taliban officialsEvict Hassan from Baba’s house; execute Hassan and Farzana under pretext of self-defense.
- BabaPosthumously central; fathered Hassan; his maxim about courage is used to challenge Amir.
- AliHassan’s presumed father; revealed sterile, confirming Hassan’s true parentage.
- Thomas CaldwellAmerican charity worker in Peshawar; offers a safe home for Sohrab.
- Betty CaldwellAmerican charity worker; described as kind to orphans, ready to receive Sohrab.