Characters

• Assef
  • German/Afghan heritage
  • Sociopath
  • Assef Goshkhor, Assef “the Ear Eater”
  • Hitler
  • Threatens Amir
• Dr. Kumar
  • New Delhi surgeon who fixes Hassan’s lip
• Hassan
  • Protects Amir with slingshot

Locations

• Gharga Lake, the gardens of Paghman

Dates

• 1973
  • July 17th: Bloodless Coup in Afghanistan
    • Zahir Shah away in Italy
    • Daoud Khan takes over, creating republic
• 1974
  • Hassan has operation to fix cleft lip
• 1978
  • April: Communist coup d’etat
• 1979
  • December: Russian Tanks arrive

Themes/Motifs

• Reinvention/Change
  • Afghanistan changes through leadership
  • Hassan changes through operation
• Nature of relationship between Amir and Hassan
  • Their relationship is complex and only made more so through the class distinctions

Plot

• Explosions as coup occurs while
• Hassan protects Amir from Assef
• Changes in Afghanistan
• Baba gives Hassan operation to fix cleft-lip

Thoughts

This section seems mostly to setup other chapters. Assef’s introduction portends to something dark occuring in later chapters. Hassan’s operation is the start of some transformation, which may mirror Afghanistan’s transformation.