All three characters are unable to smile for different reasons. Ali has congenital paralysis in his lower face, while Hassan has a harelip, and Sohrab is mentally scarred and depressed. There is also the fact that “polio had left Ali with a twisted, atrophied right leg” (Hosseini, 8). His polio was a result of the poor living conditions he experienced in Afghanistan and the mud hut in which he lived. Nonetheless, Ali lived his life to a fairly old age. Hassan, however, was shot by the Taliban when pointlessly standing up for Baba’s house. Finally, Sohrab tried to commit suicide after hearing that he would have to go back to an orphanage. There are two significant similarities between all of these characters’ tragic fates. First. the war torn country they live in has poor living conditions and people like the Taliban and Assef cause harm. The second similarity is their ties to Baba and Amir. If Ali had not been living in the mud hut behind Baba’s house, he may not have gotten polio. If Hassan was not loyal to Baba and Amir, he would not have stood up for the house and would have been able to take care of Sohrab, preventing him from trying to commit suicide. The same result would have occurred if they did not live in Afghanistan. These things are what lead to the family’s breakdown. First there was the cripple, then the corpse, …show more content…
“On the south end of the garden, in the shadows of a Loquat tree, was the servants ' home, a modest little mud hut where Hassan lived with his father” (Hosseini, 6). A loquat tree produces a yellow fruit called a nispero, and is used during the Day of the Dead celebration, where they are used as gifts to the spirits. In China, this fruit is called a pipa and when a man gets married to a dishonorable woman, he is said to be “running with Loquat blossoms”. This tree was not placed next to their hut by accident, but is rather used to foreshadow the family’s unfortunate past and dark future. Cherry trees, which symbolize death and rebirth, are also mentioned many times throughout the book. They are located outside Baba’s house, during Amir’s trip back to Kabul, and Hassan even spreads cherry marmalade onto Amir’s toast. In all of these instances, the death of Hassan along with his relationship with Amir is foreshadowed, resulting in the birth of Sohrab and his relationship with Amir. The fact that “Hassan popped a mulberry in his mouth” (Hosseini, 57) has no significance to the story whatsoever. However, the symbolism of the mulberry is very important and circulates throughout the book. Mulberries symbolize unconditional love until death and also self-sacrifice, and were given this meaning from Shakespeare 's The Tale