What does Farid mean when he says to Amir, “You’ve always been a tourist here, you just didn’t know it” (232)? In what ways is this statement true? In what ways is it false?

Amir's interactions with Farid and Wahid call into question the idea of homeland and national identity. Once he reached America, Amir clung to Afghan customs but insisted on forgetting his memories of Kabul. He welcomed America not for its idealism, as Baba had, but for the simple fact that it was not Kabul. To him, everything in Afghanistan was tainted with memories of Hassan, his "harelipped ghost." Amir's youth when he arrives plays a large role in his feelings about homeland and nationality. Amir feels uncomfortable in Afghanistan. He has never paid the price for being considered a local. Farid, on the other hand, had two wives and seven children, two of whom had been killed by a landmine. Farid himself was missing toes and fingers from his years of combat.