The first man turning point in the novel is Amir witnesses Hassan’s rape and makes the decision to do nothing. he just wanted to get the kite to please Baba. Hosseini has built up to this event by foreshowing that something will happens 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 thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today.
• Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975-and all that followed-wasalready laid in those first words. because suddenly Afghanistan  changed forever.
• But I hadn’t turned out like him. Not at all.
• “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”
• “It shouldn’t have felt this way. Baba and I were finally friends .. except now that I had it, I felt as empty as this unkempt pool I was dangling my legs into.”

On the surface, how does the relationship between Hassan and Amir appear? “But in none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend.” The relationship between Baba and Ali parallels that of Amir and Hassan. When you dig down, how is this relationship NOT a friendship? What is it in reality? What underlying social factors are at play in this relationship? What does this say about our society?

The relationship is one where the upper class treat the lower class like they are dirt. Between amir & Hassan they act like they are friends but in reality Amir will always treat Hassan like he is lower than him. And Hassan will always treat Amir with respect, as if Amir is a king. Example: Hassan gets Amirs clothes ready before he has to go to school and when Hassan was getting raped, Amir didn’t do anything about it as he was scared he was going to get hurt himself, and this represents Amirs character as selfish and as a person who only thinks about himself.

Events after the first turning point

• How do things change?
• Amir barely sees Hassan.
• Hassan’s withdrawn and sleeps a lot and Amir and Baba relationship is better
• “It shouldn’t have felt this way Baba and I were finally friends … accept now that I had it, I felt as empty as this unkempt pool I was dangling my legs into.

He feels empty because he doesn’t have a real relationship with anyone. He also let down the one person that cared about him the most which is Hassan.  It is haunting Amir that he didn’t help Hassan but instead left him and now everything reminds him of Hassan.