Chapter 8

After the rape at the end of Chapter 7, Hassan and Amir start to spend less and less time together. Amir also disrespects Ali, by lying to him about Hassan, when he acts very concerned about his behaviour after he returned from the kite tournament. You can tell Amir is feeling tense by him saying "I snapped".

Baba also takes Amir to Jalalabad, and you can tell that Amir has started to become spoilt by his father giving him everything he wants all the time, including his attention, when firstly, he makes and excuse for Hassan not to have to come. Secondly, when Baba decides to invite "two dozen other people". Amir says " It should have been just the two of us - that was the way I wanted it", so he sees the day as being ruined because it didn't go the way he wanted it. It seems as if the tension has made him scrutinise everything, and see the imperfections in things that, at one time, he would have been grateful for. He has a brief analepsis on the way to Jalalabad, when his family remind him of the kite tournament and being proud of him winning, and this brings back the memories of Hassan's blood stained trousers, which make him sick.

Amir also gets very irritable with Hassan, when he keeps on asking him what he has done wrong and why he is ignoring him. The only time they had spoken to each other was when they had walked up to the top of the hill, which earlier, the narrator stated had a cemetery on top of it. This is very symbolic to their friendship now, it used to be full of life, but is now silent. He gets very annoyed when Hassan pleads him to come on a walk with him, and Amir snaps and says -
"I'll tell you what I want you to stop doing"
"Anything"
"I want you to stop harassing me. I want you to go away"
This shows that Hassan still wants a brotherly relationship with Amir, and will do anything to make Amir happy. But Amir on the other hand, will not. He wants to be left alone, the guilt has eaten away at him, and Hassan also reminds him of what a bad friend he has been. He is trying to fix this by getting rid of him for good, making Hassan hide away so that maybe he can feel good about himself, feel guilt free. The way the Amir describes the way he feels when Hassan is around him is a real give away of his guilt - "When he was around, the oxygen seeped out of the room. My chest tightened and I couldn't draw enough air; I'd stand there gasping in my own little airless bubble of atmosphere". This also shows that he feels very alone, and it is only him experiencing this. The word "seeped", also shows that he feels it happening immediately, and like he can't hold onto it, it's getting away from him.

His relationship with Baba also suffers in this chapter, due to wanting to get away from Hassan. Amir says to Baba "Have you ever thought about getting new servants?". Baba does not respond well to this, and anamorphism is used to get across how angry he is about it, for example "Baba roared".

One afternoon, Amir decides to go up the hill with Hassan and read him one of his new stories, as Hassan is very fond of them and always gives him compliments. The way Amir describes Hassan shows that he has been deeply effected by the rape - "Hassan's smile wilted. He looked older than I'd remembered. No, not older, old. Lines had etched into his tanned face and creases framed his eyes, his mouth.". This could link into an earlier chapter, when Amir said he saw Hassan's face change. That could have been a prolepsis to this point in time. They are in the same place, but with completely different emotions, and now, physical features. His smile has faded and he looks old because of his worrying.

Amir turns 13 and has a birthday party to celebrate, and is made to greet each guest individually. Assef turns up, which makes Amir panic, and when Assef starts to bond with Baba, he says "My stomach turned at the sight of my father bonding with Assef." He describes Assef on the surface, but then compares him to his personality. On the surface he looks perfect, like "every parent's dream". But then Amir notices his eyes, and the way they betray him, like a window looking into his true personality. Later, he sees Assef by Hassan when the fireworks are on, and Assef punches Hassan in the chest. The way Amir describes this is "In those brief bursts of light, I saw something I'll never forget.". This again is like he is peering into something he wasn't meant to see, like it was meant to be in the dark and unoticed, but the light revealed it, only for a brief moment to those who were looking.