Question

In chapter 22 of The Kite Runner, name three "full circle" endings that occur as we reach the climax, or turning point, of the plot.

Accepted Answer

Chapter 22 of The Kite Runner contains many "full circle" endings. His bravery making the dangerous trip would have made Baba proud, which is a full-circle element. Amir's revulsion at the Talib's massacre of Hazaras shows him defending Hassan posthumously. Amir learns that the Talib is Assef and he finally stands up to him. Years before, Hassan pulled out the slingshot to protect Amir, and Sohrab does the same thing.

Answer

Chapter 22 of Kite Runner contains many "full circle" endings. Returning to the country under Taliban control is dangerous, which Amir recognizes. Nevertheless, he is determined to get Sohrab. He thinks,

This isn’t you, Amir, part of me said. You are gutless.

However, Amir is not gutless now. Amir believes he was a disappointment to Baba because he was not more courageous. Amir’s bravery would have made Baba proud, which is a full-circle element.
Amir's revulsion at the Talib's massacre of Hazaras is another full-circle. By protesting the inhumanity and cruelty of the many Hazara massacres that have occurred in his country, he is also standing up for and standing side-by-side with his now deceased half-brother Hassan.
Another full-circle moment occurs when Amir learns that the Talib is Assef, who was always a cruel sadist even as a boy. Amir thinks,

What was the old saying about the bad penny? My past was like that, always turning up.

Assef tells Amir that the two “have some unfinished business ... .” They are finally going to have the fight that Assef had wanted years ago when they were boys. Assef pulls out the brass knuckles, which is reminiscent of the scene years earlier, and Amir realizes that he has come full-circle. He thinks,

What was funny was that for the first time since the winter of 1975 I felt at peace.

He has finally stood up to Assef. Finally, the slingshot is another full-circle element. Years before, when Assef slipped on the brass knuckles, Hassan had pulled out the slingshot and threatened to shoot Assef in the eye. In Chapter 22, Sohrab does exactly that.

Answer

1. When Amir meets the Taliban official to rescue Sohrab, he discovers that he is facing his childhood nemesis, Assef. Assef's evil character comes full circle and returns to haunts Amir's adult life. Assef was responsible for ruining both Hassan and Amir's childhood, and he has been sexually molesting Sohrab as a Taliban official. His return to the plot of the story would be considered a full-circle moment.
2. Another full-circle moment is Amir's defense of Sohrab, who is an extension of Hassan. In order for Amir to find redemption and atone for his past sins, he must defend Sohrab, which is something he did not do as an adolescent. As an adolescent, Amir stood idly behind a wall and watched Assef rape Hassan. Sohrab's character is an extension of Hassan, and Amir finally has another opportunity to do the right thing.
3. During the brutal fight, Sohrab aims his slingshot, which is loaded with a shiny metal ball from the table, directly at Assef's eye. Sohrab's ability to expertly wield a slingshot is another full circle moment in the novel, which recalls Hassan's talent. As an adolescent, Hassan prevented Assef from harming Amir by aiming his slingshot at his eye and threatening him. During Amir's fight later in the novel, Sohrab does the same thing but ends up firing the projectile into Assef's eye to end the fight.

Answer

The first "full-circle" ending that is reached occurs with Amir's return to Afghanistan - he has returned home.  Details reminding him of the way it used to be here bombard him from all directions.  When Amir rings the bell of the big house in Wazir Akbar Khan", he hears no buzz; there is "still no electricity" in the area, just like it was in the old days.  Amir passes an old hand-pump water well in the yard, just like the one he remembers at Kaka Homayoun's house in Jalalabad, where as a child he used to throw pebbles in to "listen for the plink".  Once he is in the house, he sees a coffee table by the sofa, "the base...X-shaped, walnut-sized brass balls studding the ring where the metallic legs crossed".  Amir recalls that he had seen a table exactly like that at a crowded tea shop in Peshawar, many years ago.
Another "full-circle" event occurs when Amir recognizes that the degenerate, sadistic man he has come to see is none other than his old nemesis, Assef.  Assef had been a bully of epic proportions as a youth, leading a gang against the Hazara Hassan and sodomizing him in an alley as Amir, undetected, looked on helplessly.  As an adult, Assef's evil nature has reached fruition, as he has joined the Taliban and taken the lead in outright mass murder in the name of ethnic cleansing.  Now Amir is given a second chance to stand up to Assef, and although his steps are tentative, he is firm in declaring his intention not to abandon Hassan again, through Hassan's son, Sohrab.
A third storyline comes "full-circle" when Amir finally finds Sohrab, Hassan's son.  The reunion with his old friend through the little boy is almost tangible, as when Amir takes Sohrab's hand and the child's fingers "(lace) themselves with (his)...(Amir sees) Sohrab in (the) Polaroid again, the way his arm (is) wrapped around Hassan's leg, his head resting against his father's hip".  When Amir finds Sohrab, he receives a second chance to do right by his old friend.  Amir did not have the courage to defend Hassan as a child, but as an adult he has the opportunity to redeem himself by saving the son (Chapter 22).

The Kite Runner Questions and Answers
by Khaled Hosseini

In chapter 22 of The Kite Runner, name three "full circle" endings that occur as we reach the climax, or turning point, of the plot.

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