The Ruins of Afghanistan

This image depicts an abandoned flower sitting on a barren plot of dirt, with a green field and trees in the background. The flower represents Amir's return to Afghanistan in order to try and find closure for past sins, but upon his arrival, he realizes that there really isn't an Afghanistan to return to. This is symbolized by the desolate landscape in the foreground, because the old Afghanistan has been reduced to dust and doesn't exist anymore. However, the memory of the old Afghanistan is still pretty fresh in Amir's mind, because it was only about twenty years prior to his homecoming that he left for the first time. This is represented in our image by the lush greenery and nature in the background because although it is no longer a part of the new Afghanistan, it is still remembered and looked back upon fondly by many Afghanis. Amir himself doesn't even recognize the new Afghanistan, and he states that "when Kabul finally did unroll before us, [he] was certain, absolutely certain, that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere" (244). This shows how drastic the change between the old Afghanistan and the new Afghanistan is, and this is illustrated in the staggering variation between the dirt foreground and the green background.