Chapter five unfolds with bloodshed in Afghanistan where it gives its way to republic, the government which believes that the wealthiest should rule the country. On this account, Afghan-German character, who believes in the same principle, of Pasthun origin is introduced to us. He is the blue -eyed and blond Assef. My encounter of Assef, in chapter five, was not positive. This is because he is a sociopath, racist and authoritarian.
Assef is a sociopath. In another word, he has an antisocial personality disorder where he does not understand other’s feeling. For instance, “His word was law, and if you needed a little legal education, then those brass knuckles were just the right teaching tool” (pg.33). This is an antisocial behavior as it is unbelievable for a mere child to roam with knuckles around the street. But, he does and this clearly shows that he is savage. Thus, he is known for this in Kabul street. His word is finial and if he is opposed, he will have them brutally harmed without feeling the slightest guilt. For this antisocial behavior, he was nick named Goshkhor, the ear eater. This is because, only uncivilized such as wild animals has this potent to cause such behavior. Hence, he is no doubt a sociopath.
Assef is also a racist. He is distinctive about the origin he come from (Pashtun) and does not want it to be polluted, in particular with Hazaras. To illustrate, he says, “Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here. His people pollute our homeland, our watan. They dirty our blood” (pg.35).This is the clear line which shows that Assef scorned Haraza and wanted to get rid of this ethnic. He is saying that Afghanistan is only for Pasthun and this is his vision. Further, he address Hassan as Hazara in every conversation instead of calling him by his name. This suggests that he wanted to suppress Hazaras by timely reminding them of inferiority complex.
Assef is an authoritarian as well. He is the age of Amir and Hassan, yet he is more commanding than them. The way he talked and had two obedient companions shows that he is authoritarian in nature. For example, he talked of Daoud Khan who dined at his home and said that he will be going to have a chat with him man to man, mard to mard. He is talking of the president which otherwise is the talk of the elders. The words, he talked about, suggest that he is treating Daoud Khan like is friend as if Daoud Khan will agree to sit man to man with him. This behavior shows that he is being dictatorial. In addition, his word is law. What he says has to be final, if not he will teach what is right with the force of his brass knuckle. This also suggest that he is authoritarian.
In short, my impression of Assef is that he is a sociopath. He has a antisocial behavior as he carries brass knuckle and uses it to teach counterparts to come to his decision. In another word, he is barbaric like wild animals. Next, he is a racist too. He does not like Hazara and wanted to cleanse them from Afghanistan. He shows his dislike to Hazara by calling Hassan, Hazarra rather than his name. Further, he is rigid about Afghanistan being the land of Pashtun. Lastly, Assef is authoritarian in nature. He is just a child, yet he has a bossy character where he boast himself of knowing Daoud Khan and that he will talk to him man to man. Moreover, whatever Assef say, its final and binding. Otherwise he will brutally harm the opposition. These are the impression I got of Assef after reading chapter five.
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