Amir also committed a sin that affected him negatively throughout his life. This sin occurred when Hassan, Amir's best friend during his childhood, was raped by Assef. This situation happened when the children were chasing kites. Hassan received the kite first, but Assef insisted he wanted the kite. Assef also had racial and religious prejudice against Hassan. Because Hassan did not give the kite, Assef decides to rape Hassan as "punishment". Instead of helping his friend, Amir simply walked away from the scene and let Hassan get raped in one of the most vulgar ways. After this incident, Hassan returned home quietly and gave Amir the kite for which he was confronted by Assef. The kite in this situation turns out to be an important symbol. While earlier in the novel the kite represented happiness and pleasure for Amir, in this situation it represented sin and guilt for Amir. The only reason Hassan was raped was because he was trying to buy a kite for Amir. Now the kite reminds Hassan of his misdeeds and it will now start haunting him for a long time. Although in America, Amir doesn't remember Hassan, deep down he still feels guilty. Amir immediately begins to feel the most guilt when he travels to Iran when Rahim Khan, Amir's childhood friend, asks him to come. He believes that Rahim Khan reminded him of his “past of unatoned sins” (Hosseini 2).