And the Mountains Echoed

by

Khaled Hosseini

The son of Baba Jan, and a resident of the city of Shadbagh, Adel is a young, innocent child, and the main character in Chapter Seven of And the Mountains Echoed. For most of the chapter, Adel regards his father as a hero who selflessly gives his money to build schools and hospitals for the people of Shadbagh. As the chapter proceeds, however, Adel learns from Gholam that his father is a cruel, criminal man, who’s used his military force to do great damage to the people of Afghanistan. Ultimately, Adel comes to view his father with a mixture of fear and awe—a far cry from the unconditional love he felt for Baba Jan prior to meeting Gholam.

Adel Quotes in And the Mountains Echoed

The And the Mountains Echoed quotes below are all either spoken by Adel or refer to Adel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Interconnectedness Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

“My father is not a thief!” Adel shot back. “Ask anyone in Shadbagh-e-Nau, ask them what he’s done for this town.” He thought of how Baba jan received people at the town mosque, reclined on the floor, teacup before him, prayer beads in hand. A solemn line of people, stretching from his cushion to the front entrance, men with muddy hands, toothless old women, young widows with children, every one of them in need, each waiting for his or her turn to ask for a favor, a job, a small loan to repair a roof or an irrigation ditch or buy milk formula.

Related Characters: Adel (speaker), Baba Jan / The Commander / Commander Sahib, Gholam
Page Number: 278
Explanation and Analysis:

Adel knew he would not love his father again as he had before, when he would sleep happily curled in the bay of his thick arms. That was inconceivable now. But he would learn to love him again even if now it was a different, more complicated, messier business. Adel could almost feel himself leapfrogging over childhood. Soon, he would land as an adult. And when he did, there would be no going back because adulthood was akin to what his father had once said about being a war hero: once you became one, you died one.

Related Characters: Adel (speaker), Baba Jan / The Commander / Commander Sahib
Page Number: 303
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire And the Mountains Echoed LitChart as a printable PDF.
And the Mountains Echoed PDF

Adel Quotes in And the Mountains Echoed

The And the Mountains Echoed quotes below are all either spoken by Adel or refer to Adel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Interconnectedness Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

“My father is not a thief!” Adel shot back. “Ask anyone in Shadbagh-e-Nau, ask them what he’s done for this town.” He thought of how Baba jan received people at the town mosque, reclined on the floor, teacup before him, prayer beads in hand. A solemn line of people, stretching from his cushion to the front entrance, men with muddy hands, toothless old women, young widows with children, every one of them in need, each waiting for his or her turn to ask for a favor, a job, a small loan to repair a roof or an irrigation ditch or buy milk formula.

Related Characters: Adel (speaker), Baba Jan / The Commander / Commander Sahib, Gholam
Page Number: 278
Explanation and Analysis:

Adel knew he would not love his father again as he had before, when he would sleep happily curled in the bay of his thick arms. That was inconceivable now. But he would learn to love him again even if now it was a different, more complicated, messier business. Adel could almost feel himself leapfrogging over childhood. Soon, he would land as an adult. And when he did, there would be no going back because adulthood was akin to what his father had once said about being a war hero: once you became one, you died one.

Related Characters: Adel (speaker), Baba Jan / The Commander / Commander Sahib
Page Number: 303
Explanation and Analysis: