Amir Needs Farrid

Amir needed Farrid because he knew the real Afghanistan as opposed to the wealthy upper class one Amir had grown up to recognize. More importantly he knows the Afghanistan that he needs to drive Amir through, the one after the war. From the beginning of Amir’s journey to retrieve Sohrab, Farrid had accepted to drive Amir through dangerous spots like their final destination, Kabul, which is littered with Talaban and the homeless. He knows his way around the streets and he also knows how to stay out of trouble. “Don’t ever stare at them! Do you understand me? Never!” (Hosseini 260) He warns Amir of the Taliban and expresses how urgent it is for Amir to not hold their attention because they are always just looking for another stranger to shoot. Being the taxi driver, he was helpful when searching for Sohrab because he was the one who knew where each location was. He drove Amir to Ghazi Stadium, to the orphanage and even to his brother’s house where he was taken care of for the night and given food, all free of charge. Even if he did not accompany Amir when going to meet the mysterious man with the white shirt and sunglasses (later known to be Assef), he did involve himself by driving him to the hospital and after that, to the bank in order for Amir to obtain money to pay for being fixed. Both situations could have caused Farrid major problems. For one, he helped Amir escape and now Amir has people searching for him and secondly he took Amir to the bank so he could take out a large sum of money which Amir had to walk around with in his pockets. In conclusion Amir needed Farrid to drive him around, because with everything that had occurred since Amir last saw Afghanistan, his ‘home’ is now unrecognizable. “Swervning effortlessly around potholes in the middle of the broken road, Farrid was a man in his element.” (Hoseini 255) Farrid knows and has memorized the roads just as Amir knows and can recite several different poems.