Once Assef handed Sohrab over to Amir, Assef told Amir that they had unfinished business to take care of, so they argued. After the fight, Amir felt relieved that he had finally received the punishment he deserved. “Another rib broke…and for the first time since the winter of 1975 I felt at peace” (289). Amir should have been beaten long ago for the pomegranate incident and the rape scene. The physical pain allowed him to feel mentally healed, which is why he laughed during Assef's beating. “I hadn't been happy and I hadn't felt better, at all. But I did it now. My body was destroyed – I would only find out how bad it was later – but I felt healed. Finally healed” (289). Twenty-six years later Amir finally got what he had wanted all his life. After Assef brutally beat Amir, Amir felt justice for what he had done to Hassan. Amir thinks he should have accepted Assef's beating years ago when he had the choice to save