The Kite Runner: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

Rahim Khan arranges for a man named Farid to drive Amir to Kabul. As they drive past a bullet-riddled sign for the Khyber Pass, Amir starts to get car sick. Farid acts scornful of Amir, and hardly ever speaks as they drive. Rahim Khan had told Amir that Farid joined the jihad against the Russians at age fourteen, but many years later he moved to Peshawar after two of his daughters were killed by a land mine.

Amir is dressed like Farid, in an Afghan hat called a pakol (which he never wore when he actually lived in Afghanistan), but Amir has to wear a fake beard that reaches his chest – beards are required for men under Taliban law. Amir explains that he left Pakistan soon after his decision, as he didn’t want his comfortable life in America to lure him to change his mind. He did not tell Soraya he was going to Afghanistan, but let her assume he was staying with Rahim Khan.

As they cross the border, Amir starts to see the poverty and damage of constant warfare. He says that he feels like a tourist in his own country. Farid sarcastically asks if Amir still thinks of Afghanistan as his own country.

Amir asks Farid to stop snickering, and Farid guesses that Amir grew up in a big house with servants, that his father drove an American car, and that this was Amir’s first time wearing a pakol. Farid points to an old man dressed in rags, and says that this is the real Afghanistan, and Amir has always been a tourist. Farid assumes that Amir is returning to sell off his father’s land and then go back to America.

They reach Jalalabad that night and stay with Farid’s brother Wahid. The house is small and bare, and though the family is clearly very poor, they treat Amir like a guest. Wahid is impressed that Amir is a writer, and he hopes that Amir will write about Afghanistan, as the rest of the world should know of their plight.

Wahid asks Amir why he has returned to Afghanistan, but Farid interrupts and says scornfully that Amir is probably there to sell his land and bring the money back to America. Wahid is angry that Farid would insult a guest in his home, but then Amir explains that he is here to find the son of his illegitimate half-brother (he no longer tries to keep Baba’s secret) and bring him back to Peshawar to be cared for. Wahid says that Amir is a true Afghan, and he is proud to have him in his home. Farid looks uncomfortable.

Wahid’s wife serves dinner to Amir and Farid, and Wahid apologizes that there is no meat – only the Taliban have meat now. Wahid says that he and his family ate earlier, so they do not join the guests. As he eats, Amir notices Wahid’s three young sons staring at his wristwatch. He gives them the watch as a present, but they quickly lose interest in it.

As they prepare for bed (all in the same room), Farid apologizes to Amir and says he should not have assumed Amir’s reason for returning. He says he will help Amir find Sohrab.

That night Amir dreams of Hassan’s execution, but in the dream the executioner is Amir himself. He wakes up and looks at the stars, and for the first time feels like he is back home. His feeling of kinship with the land surprises Amir.

While he is out, Amir overhears Wahid and his wife arguing about dinner – they gave all their food to Amir and Farid, and so the children had nothing to eat. Amir realizes then that the boys weren’t staring at his wristwatch, but at his food. Before Amir and Farid leave the next morning, Amir slips a wad of money under one of the mattresses in the house.