What factors influence the age and speed at which your maturity occurs?

Sohrab is forced to mature quickly and at a young age because:

He sees his family killed, so his normal life ended and his new abnormal life forced him to mature quickly. He has an absence of familial capital.

“One time, when I was very little, I climbed a tree and ate these green, sour apples. My stomach swelled and became hard like a drum, it hurt a lot. Mother said that if I'd just waited for the apples to ripen, I wouldn't have become sick. So now, whenever I really want something, I try to remember what she said about the apples” (Hosseini 296)

Even though his parents are gone, Sohrab is mature enough to use his parents teachings to remember them.

Sohrab's guilt from nearly killing a man contributes to his young emotional growth.

Hassan is forced to mature at an earlier age because:

his life is simple yet hard

His social class (the hazara) is greatly discriminated against, resulting in a lack of social capital

he experienced assault

"He was already turning the street corner, his rubber boots kicking up snow. He stopped, turned. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “For you a thousand times over!" he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner"(Hosseini 67).

This very moment transformed Hassans life from normal to full of fear, resulting in a loss of innocence.

Baba effectively slows Amir's maturity by:

overprotecting Amir: not letting him learn for himself through trial and error.

At times, Baba makes debatable decisions that sometimes interfere with Amirs mental state.

"No one finds out about this, you hear me? No one. I don’t want anybody’s sympathy. Then he disappeared into the dim lobby"(Hosseini 166).

Amir is aware that Baba has cancer, but what he does not know is that Baba is refusing treatment. This gives Amir a false sense aspirational capital and hope that his father will be ok.

Baba is sometimes unwilling to teach Amir the life lessons that are necessary for him to mature because Amir is different than him.

"If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son" (Hosseini 23).

Baba slows Amir's maturity by in some ways rejecting him. Baba wishes he had a son that was less like Amir and more of a sport-man like himself.

Amir experiences a delayed maturity because:

of his wealth which at first limited his hardships, which usually result in lessons learned.

“WHAT’S SO FUNNY?" Assef bellowed. Another rib snapped, this time left lower. What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this…my body was broken–just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later–but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed" (Hosseini 289).

This event is seen as a crutual point in Amir's life because although he is physically very hurt, he is emotionally healed for the first time since he parted ways with Hassan.

of his lack of responsibilities which would build a work ethic within his that is very useful in mature life

of his social capital that again restricts his access to the "real world" and having experiences that would build the emotional and mental maturity in him.

"I envied her. Her secret was out. Spoken. Dealt with. I opened my mouth and almost told her how I’d betrayed Hassan, lied, driven him out, and destroyed a forty-year relationship between Baba and Ali. But I didn’t. I suspected there were many ways in which Soraya Taheri was a better person than me. Courage was just one of them"(Hosseini 165).