Chapter 22:

• Character Development: Amir – ‘A look of surprise passed across Assef’s face, briefly, and disappeared’ (pg. 261) Assef is visually taken back by Amir’s development from a cowardly boy to a man who is willing to stand up for both himself and Hassan’s son. By displaying this confidence to Assef, the root of his trauma, he shows that he has finally conquered the trauma itself.
• Character Development: Amir – ‘My body was broken… but I felt healed.’ (page 265/266) Amir feels like he did deserve punishment in the form of Assef’s beating, but now he has served his punishment, he is free from his sorrow. The Taliban use fear as a weapon, so now that Amir has overcome his cowardice, Assef is powerless.
• Assef and Sohrab – ‘He plucked a red grape. Put it, lovingly, in Sohrab’s mouth.’ (page 259) Assef’s continued sexual abuse of Sohrab acts as a metaphorical continuation of his rape of Hassan, as he continues to sexually abuse his bloodline. History repeats itself, and deepens Assef’s state as a vile, perverse man. 
• Assef – ‘The brass ball was stuck in his empty eye socket.’ Literally it is an eye for an eye scenario, could be compared to the biblical David and Goliath. Amir and Assef have both been given what they deserve. It reverses the thematic idea of the powerful praying on the powerless, as Sohrab finally acts on his father’s threat, ‘One-Eyed Assef’ and ends the cycle. (Posthumous retribution.)

 

Chapter 23:

• Themes: Discrimination – ‘Amir, the socially legitimate half… represented the riches’ (pg. 278) Hassan is discriminated against not just because of his religious/ethnic status as a Hazara, but also because of the circumstance of his birth, being the illegitimate son of a man of high prominence. 
• Themes: Persistence of the Past – ‘Snippets of visual memory flashing in my head like cards in a Rolodex’ (pg. 284) The past is a prominent theme in the novel, whether: Amir is being haunted by it, like Hassan’s rape; secrets from it are being kept and outed, like the truth about Hassan’s lineage; or it is mirrored to show emotional consequence, like Assef and Amir’s fight. 
• Character Development: Amir – ‘I wasn’t such a good friend, I’m afraid.’ Amir can now recognise his mistakes, and shortcomings as a friend to Hassan, but the fact that this line is being spoken to Hassan’s son in an attempt to get him to open up shows how far Amir has come in coming to terms with his decisions, and evolving to become a better person. 
• Character Development: Amir – ‘I fade out. (pg. 270/271) Amir’s unconsciousness almost acts as a metamorphosis for his character. As he fades out, so does the trauma and cowardice that has been controlling him and his thoughts for his life since the Hassan’s rape. Having served a physical punishment, he is finally free to move on.
• Cultural Difference – ‘My boys are young, but they are very shrewd. They know how to look after their mothers and sisters.’ In Afghanistan, Farid views his son as men capable of looking after their household despite their age, whereas in Western Culture, children would not be trusted or expected to do this.