The beginning section of this new book left me wondering about the lives of the Afghanistan people after the Taliban came and took control of the country. In addition, the beginning of chapter 2 helped me realize how lucky we are, in terms of technology and enjoyment. Amir and Hassan shone mirrors on windows for fun, while we are probably playing video games or using other advanced material for fun. In addition, the chapter helped me realize the distinct social class in Afghanistan, even before the Taliban arrived “ Amir and Baba lived in a lavish home, while Hassan and Ali lived in small mud huts. However, what I did not understand from the chapter was why Hassan always admitted his faults, even when they were not his particularly. Furthermore, I realized the importance of religion and ethnicity throughout these few chapters. As the story progressed, it seems as if Hassan and Ali are shown to be increasingly poorer and even immoral in other people's eyes, just because they are Hazaras (Shia), while the dominant race, the Pashtuns, are Sunni Muslims. Although they are both Muslim, they also share differences, such as the Hazaras being more Asian than Arabic, and the like. However, I was surprised that this was so obvious in both the adults and the children, as Amir is constantly thinking to himself how he is superior to Hassan, simply because he is a Pashtun. Lastly, I found it weird for Baba to supply Hassan a doctor to fix his cleft lip “ not only because it probably costs a lot of money, but because of ethnic differences; could Baba simply be anti-racist, and wants everyone to be treated equally? Or is it because there is a relationship between Baba and Ali/Hassan? Being an only child, I cannot really imagine what it would feel like to not have your parents' full attention on you, when you want them to. This closely relates to the case with Amir and Hassan to Baba. Although Amir constantly wants to impress Baba and prove that he is worthy of his name, he consistently fails and Hassan always succeeds. Perhaps this is showing how there might be a close relationship between Hassan and Baba “ perhaps they are blood related in some way? Also, the conflict between the powerful (Assef) and the powerless (Hassan) has becoming a running motif throughout this book (at least up to chapter 9). Constantly, the Pashtuns are doing things to the Hazaras that they would not do to other Pashtuns, most notably, raping. The fact that one ethnicity can have so much power over the other that they could do something as horrible as rape is something I have never experienced, nor want to in my life. These couple of chapters are only showing me how corrupt the Afghanistan culture is, and how much reform is needed. Another incident of rape is described in chapter 10, the raping of Kamal. Although the scene itself is rather disturbing, Hosseini is simply showing how much power the superior classes have over the weaker classes. Nevertheless, the transition between cultures is a rather significant part of life; it involves losing close to everything one has, in addition to being displaced in a foreign and sometimes isolated area. Amir and Baba's departure to California possibly shows an important time period in the protagonist's life “ it introduced him to both General Taheri, and more importantly, Soraya, his future wife. General Taheri helps open my eyes to see the world in a new perspective “instead of trying to be better, his standpoint is that everything is below him, including work. He believes that he deserves of nothing less than general, hence the "general  in his name. He puts his family on welfare, simply because of his arrogance to work, something I have never thought of before. This reading opened my eyes to the opportunities we have in our lives, as compared to the Afghanistan after the Taliban came. Like how Amir described Peshawar, and Kabul eventually “ poor, dirty, dead, and extremely dangerous. With the Taliban, the people are not even allowed to cheer at sport games, unless they want to be hit or possibly stoned to death. The poverty level in these places are extremely high, which makes me feel extremely lucky and fortunate to be living in San Diego, and not in a place similar to Peshawar. Once again, the discrimination against the Hazaras are prevalent in these chapters, notably Chapter 17, where Hassan and his wife are killed by the Taliban, who called him [Hassan] a liar, like all Hazaras. In addition, the motif and theme of redeeming oneself (redemption) is dominant in these couple of chapters “ Amir must risk his life for a chance on redeeming himself from not doing anything to stop Hassan's rape: saving Sohrab and retrieving him from the orphanage. I was really surprised by Farid's sarcastic question on whether or not Amir feels like a tourist in Afghanistan, since he had spent the last twenty years in America, and his early life as a wealthy child. Despite the sarcasm and harsh