The first main turning point in the novel is when Amir witnesses Hassan’s rape and make the decision to do nothing. He just wanted to get the kite to please Baba. Hosseini has built up to this vent by foreshadowing that something will happen that will change their lives forever in a negative way.
Hosseini writes:
- “I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975″
- “I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley…”
- “past of unatoned sins.”
- “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.”
- “I would always feel guilty about it later. So I’d try to make up for it by giving him one of my old shirts or a broken toy. I would tell myself that was amends enough for a harmless prank.”
- “But I hadn’t turned out like him. Not at all.”
- “There is something missing in that boy”