17.11.10

This lesson we read through chapter 22, which is the chapter where Amir finds out that the guy at the execution was Assef, who is also the guy who has Sohrab, and so he has to try and get Sohrab from him, which ends in a fight and a gross part where Assef's eye gets slingshot-ed out by Sohrab.

Hosseini's storytelling in the end of this chapter includes mirroring from previous chapters, like how when Sohrab actually takes out Assef's eye; it mirrors how Hassan threatened to take out Assef's eye. It is also thte product of the foreshadowing in previous chapters, like the one eyed dog from the beginning of the novel. This feels like closure for the reader, because its like now Sohrab has hurt Assef, which is really what the reader has been waiting for since Assef's character was introduced- his come-uppance.

Quotations about Assef :

• 'tall Talib in white, still wearing his dark John Lennon glasses' - this is before you know he is Assef but after the execution so you know he is bd, but his physical appearance is described as you would describe a good character, e.g. an angel, with the white, and most people would associate John Lennon with good, not someone who would stage a public execution.
• 'Marks on his forearm, I'd seen those same tracks on homeless people...in San Francisco' - this gives you the impression that Assef is some sort of addict, which shows the hypocrisy, he's supposed to be purifying people when actually he isn't pure himself.
• He talks about the massacre of Hazaras as if its something he's proud of, and something that makes him good, 'virtuous, good, and decent' which sort of makes the reader wonder whether Assef is in his right mind.
• Assef refers to Sohrab as his boy, which shows that he feels that he has ownership over him. Hosseini then makes the reader feel uncomfortable as it describes how Assef innapropriately treats the child, 'his hands  slid down the child's back'.