Baba and Amir have moved to America, which is an improvement on the war torn Afghanistan, but not plain sailing, as Amir says "Baba loved the idea of America. It was living in America that gave him the ulcer." Baba seems to complain about a lot of things in America, "the fruit was never sweet enough, where were all the trees and open fields?", which shows that the culture change is a bit of a shock to him, as he has lived in Afghanistan for so long. Another culture clash is when Baba visits his local convenience store, and they ask for ID, Baba states that there's something wrong with the country as "No one trusts anybody!".
Baba works in a gas station, and imagery is used here to highlight how tired he feels from his 12 hour shifts, "Baba's face drawn and pale under the bright fluorescent lights". Showing that he his pale seems to indicate that he is weaker, and not as strong as he may used to have been, or as Amir once saw him.
Amir graduates from High school, and Baba's affection seems longer lasting than it did for the kite running tournament win. Amir says that Baba wore his only suit "the one that he wore to wedding's and funerals". These two events are very contrasting, one is very happy and the other mournful, so wearing the same thing may show that Baba's emotions are not fully on display, or he may not feel them as much. He also wears a red tie, that harsh colour coming into play again, and Amir notices this. After they have had a celebratory dinner, they go to a bar and Baba makes more friends by buying rounds of drinks, and people are very grateful. It shows that he can turn a situation to be about him very quickly, as he is powerful with his money.
Baba brings up Hassan's name later, and even though Amir is in one of his best moods yet (after graduating and receiving a car from Baba), he still clams up and panics, saying that "a pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe". His guilt is eating him, and this is shown especially by the use of the "steel hands", as this is a very strong metal. Amir is also to enrol in college, and decides to tell Baba that he'll major in english, much to Baba's disagreement. He doesn't believe that Amir will get discovered, but he has not read Amir stories however, so does not have anything to go by. He feels that Amir should be doing "real work", something like medicine or law.
Amir used to go for a lot of drives, and mentions the pacific ocean in one of them. The "blue" imagery comes in again, and he says that it was a vast expanse, rather like in Hassan dream with the lake. He also compares it to the movies of his childhood, showing an analepsis, but not as detailed as some of his others as he does not give specific examples of films. He feels that America is very pure and simple for him, where he has "no sins, no memories".
Baba purchases an old VW bus for $550, and then every Saturday, he used to wake up Amir and they would go round garage sales, purchasing things that people no longer wanted. Then on Sundays they would go to San Jose flea market, and sell the items for a small profit. At this flea market, is where Amir meets General Taheri, who is going to play a very important part in Amir's future. He meets his daughter, Soraya. He is instantly struck by her, his "heart quickening", and uses a lot of bird imagery to describe her, which connotates freedom. In bed later, he thinks about Soraya, and the way her eyes had met his.
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