Passage About Crushing Pomegranate

In this passage, Hosseini's use of symbolism when describing Hassan crushing a pomegranate on his own forehead demonstrates Hassan's defeat. Instead of fighting back against Amir, even when Amir begs him to, Hassan fights himself. This crushing of the pomegranate symbolizes Hassan's personality and the servitude he has had throughout the book. In this defining moment of the book, Hassan shows that he would never hurt Amir, even after all Amir has done to hurt Hassan. The action of crushing the pomegranate against himself symbolizes this. In a way, Hassan is doing this to make Amir feel guilty for all he has done. This passage connects to the way people are generally expected to act in Afghanistan.