The Kite Runner-Chapter 22

Summary:
-Amir arrives at a large house in his old neighbourhood, in accordance with his arrangement to meet with the "Talib"
-Amir is conducted into the house, searched and left alone in a room
-The man in white enters, he and Amir talk about the stoning, viewing Amir's lack of enthusiasm the "Talib" recounts his part in the massacre of the Hazaras at Mazir
-Amir mentions Sohrab and how he is "here for" him, to the "Talib", who is eventually called for and forced to dance
-The "Talib" reveals himself as Assef
-Assef tells Amir how he came to hold his current position
-Assef asks why Amir wants Sohrab, but Amir refuses to tell him
-Assef allows Amir to take Sohrab, on the condition that they finish their childhood fight
-Amir gets beaten to within an inch of his life, to be saved by Sohrab with his slingshot, in an echo of Hassan

Analysis:
Chapter twenty-two represents a kind of purgatory for the main protagonist, Amir, within the novel. One could argue that this chapter represents the cyclic nature of the novel, in the repetition of events. Hosseini manipulates Amir into nervous action; seemingly casual movements that delineate the fear, and in some respects the anticipation, that Amir experiences lying in wait for the “Talib”, visible within short sentences, for instance in “I crossed my legs. Uncrossed them”. In these lines, Amir's inner tension is evident.

Amir’s isolation within the house is emphasised by his self-absorption, the way in which he studies the objects surrounding him. One such object that is described by Hosseini is the coffee table; on which are “walnut sized brass balls”, this depiction is a form of foreshadowing, however it could be argued that this mention appears contrived from some reader perspectives.

Through Amir, Hosseini explores the Talib’s appearance in comparison to the other occupants of the room. In terms of colouring, he is labelled as “much paler” than the other two men, and so different in origin. His clothing is also depicted; by Amir in finding fascination in bloodstains left by participation in the stoning, the blood on this stark white clothing could have connotations of butchery. The Talib’s dialogue reinforces the visibility of a vicious nature, so viewed in previous chapters (i.e. public stoning), in the recounting of achievements “We’d shoot them right there in front of their families” massacring Hazaras.

Upon meeting Sohrab, Amir comments on the similarities between father and son, referring to Sohrab’s facial structure as the “Chinese doll face of my childhood” in reference to Hassan. Sohrab’s features act as a physical reminder of what Hassan experienced earlier in the novel. This is reflected in the Talib’s identity; Assef. It is almost fitting that in a country broken in pieces, he has come to a position of power, Assef himself becomes a later characterisation of Hitler, “doing God’s work".

There is symmetry in the way that Amir reiceves the beating, a relation to Assef in it. As Assef laughed during his own in passing a painful kidney stone, so Amir laughs in his pain. He finally collects his due, and in doing so expels his guilt and inner turmoil. The circle is completed when he is rescued from death by Sohrab, releases a slingshot containing one of the brass balls into Assef's eye, in an action that almost replicates his father's (Hassan's) decades before.