New Republic

When Daoud Khan, in a bloodless coup, takes over in Chapter 5, we know that the lives of our characters are about to change, even if we aren’t sure how. However, Amir’s and Hassan’s meeting with the racist boy Assef is a hint: the change is not going to be for the better. The rules that govern life in Kabul have been stirred up, and power balances have shifted. This "new republic" is not what it seems. The pure beliefs that fuel this form of government is the eradication of both western influences and other "impure" religious groups in Afghanistan. So, bloodshed and violence may be in store. We witness this from the perspective of Amir, even though he is a young boy who does not know what it means that Afghanistan has become a republic. What he does know is this bully, Assef, suddenly has more power because of who his father knows. Amir feels uncertain and threatened, as many Afghans likely now feel because of this new and dangerous power. 

Amir also talks about how prevalent American culture was in the country during this time. The relationship that Afghans and Americans share today does not differ from the relationship Amir suggest was the feeling then. Though Assef, the bully, never speaks of these things specifically, he does talk about Afghanistan’s purity. It is not just ethnic purity that Assef and others like him are after, but also cultural purity. The aim is a pure Pashtun people and culture, and the prevalence of American culture in Afghanistan threatens this goal. As a result, the influence of American culture in Afghanistan will be wiped out almost entirely during the years that Amir calls the end of Afghanistan as they know it. The people like Assef fear the power of America believing it to be destructive in nature. It is their idea that America means to take over the minds of the Afghan people and make them change their traditions to conform to the images posted on those American movies. Amir confirms this fear somewhat however, when he states that his father owns a black Ford Mustang just like the one actor Steve McQueen drove in the movie "Bullitt". With this, I believe that later in the novel, Amir will have to choose whether to stay friends with people like Hassan or save his own skin by joining people like Assef in eradicating all foreign influences from Afghanistan.