5 Quotes

1. “For you, a thousand times over.”
This quote between Amir and Hassan is special because it shows just how dedicated Hassan was to Amir. The bond between Hassan and Amir was unbreakable, until the kite running incident that robbed Hassan of his innocence, fractured their friendship, and eventually caused a painful falling out for both Baba and Amir. This quote would end up haunting Amir for a large part of his life until he experiences his redemption arc and takes care of Hassan’s son Sohrab where it is at the end of the novel that Amir echoes Hassan’s words to show the same amount of dedication and loyalty for Sohrab.

2. “There is a way to be good again”
This quote was an interaction between Rahim Khan and Amir. Rahim is trying to show Amir that redemption is possible if he is willing to look for it. The concept was that redemption is possible for anyone no matter how bad the sin was. Amir ended up redeeming for his sins when he rescued Sohrab, but not before facing his fears by having one last confrontation with Assef. It is in that last fight that Amir truly redeems himself and finds his way to be good again as his friend Rahim once said.

3. “There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood”
This quote was said by Amir. Kite Runner does a good job of providing examples for this quote as it is scattered all throughout the novel. From when Hassan gets sexually assaulted by Assef, to Sohrab being a sex slave for Assef. These are just examples from the book, there are hundreds of children in Afghanistan that have grown up and dealt with every day life with gunfire, explosions and seeing loved ones die at an early age. War is all they know and they hardly know of a time where there was peace in their part of the world.

4. “I opened my mouth almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I did. But I didn’t”
Another quote by Amir. This time it’s his self reflection in the moment of Hassan’s assault, showing how fragile and important each moment could be. Had he said something this novel would have gone in a completely different direction. I think this quote shows just how important it is to always speak up and do the right thing, even if it terrifies you to do so.

5. “There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Everyone other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life... you steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.. there is no act more wretched than stealing.”
This quote was said between Baba and Amir when Amir questioned why he was drinking when drinking is one of the sins in their religion. Out of all the quotes in the novel this one stuck with me the most just because of how unique this point of view on theft is. Baba breaks down each terrible sin holistically and links it back to theft and showing why its bad. I think this quote is important because it’s one of the few lessons that Baba teaches Amir as Baba was a man of few words to Amir during the beginning part of this novel.

-Darren