“Snipers used to hide in them.”

In this quote, Farid explains to Amir that the trees in the neighborhood have all been cut down because "snipers used to hide in them." Through Hosseini's word choice, we can see that they have a negative connotation, in which war was throughout Afghanistan and that it was not safe to even be around trees, so they had to be chopped down. This also shows the cultural value of of life during wartime, as citizens have to be alert around trees to avoid possibly getting shot. It can be seen that there is unrest during war, and reveals the sad reality that it is hard for them to do anything without being alert about everything around them.