What does the bear that Baba fights symbolize in Chapter Three: "Lore has it
my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands. If
the story had been about anyone else, it would have been dismissed as laaf,
that Afghan tendency to exaggerate - sadly, almost a national affliction; if
someone bragged that his son was a doctor, chances were the kid had once
passed a biology test in high school. But no one ever doubted the veracity of
any story about Baba. And if they did, well, Baba did have those three parallel
scars coursing a jagged path down his back. I have imagined Baba's
wrestling match countless times, even dreamed about it. And in those
dreams, I can never tell Baba from the bear."?