‘screaming until I thought my throat would rip and my chest explode’. His feelings of anguish and pain in trying to protect his innocent nephew led to more psychological trauma. Amir thought that the two of them had been through the worst ordeal by facing Assef and actually leaving with their lives unscathed and potentially free from the ghosts of Afghanistan’s past but unfortunately this was not the case. Hosseini demonstrates that there is not just one victim of trauma and abuse is this novel; sadly, it is a cycle of misery and abuse that nobody is safe from.

The second theme that runs throughout the novel is the idea of purity and blood. Assef’s character is a prime candidate for wanting pure genetics/heritage to run through the matriarchal society within Afghanistan Amir recollects how Assef states quite bluntly that: