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The Kite Runner

Terms in this set (69)

Assef picks a fight
"You're part of the problem, Amir. If idiots like you and your father didn't take these people in we'd be rid of them by now. They'd just all rot in Hazarajat where they belong." (Hosseini 41)
Assef parting remarks after losing to Hassan and his slingshot (note vindictive tone)
"You should know something about me Hazara... I'm a very patient person. This doesn't end today believe me. This isn't the end for you either... someday, I'll make you face me, one on one." (Hosseini 43)
Baba to Rahim Khan explaining how he does not understand his own son
"If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my own wife with my own eyes. I'd never believe he's my son." (Hosseini 23)
Assef boasting to Amir and Hassan
"Do you know what I will tell Daoud Khan the next time he comes to our house for dinner?..." (Hosseini 39)
Assef reveals his racism when speaking to Amir and Hassan (ironic because Assef is only 1/2 Pashtun)
"Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here..." (Hosseini 40)
Baba values strength as he states to Rahim Khan
"A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything." (Hosseini 22)
Baba questions Amir's courage
"There is something missing in that boy" (Hosseini 22)
Baba values truth over lies (Iran's power)
"But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie." (Hosseini 58)
Ali to Baba showing how their relationship parallels that of their sons
"But Agha sahib, tell them who was the architect of the mischief and who was the poor laborer?" (Hosseini 25)
Ali protects the boys on the night of the coup d'etat (Not Baba b/c to Baba -it is a lie and he does not lie)
"They're hunting ducks...They hunt ducks at night you know. Don't be afraid." (Hosseini 35)
Assef in alley to Hassan questioning his loyalty
"to him you're nothing but an ugly pet. Something he can play with when he's bored, something he can kick when he's angry. Don't ever fool yourself and think you're something more." (Hosseini 72)
Ali, concerned about Hassan's behavior after the kite tournament, questions Amir
"Lately, it seems all he wants to do is sleep. He does his chores - I see to that - but then he just wants to crawl under his blanket." (Hosseini 81)
An educated and encouraging Rahim Khan molds the young writer Amir
"God granted you a special talent... You have written your story with sound grammar and interesting style. But the most impressive thing about your story is that it has irony." (Hosseini 32)
Hassan vows his loyalty to Amir yet again
"Would I ever lie to you, ____ Agha?...I'd sooner eat dirt" (Hosseini)
Amir shows a lack of loyalty
"But he's not my friend...he's my servant!" (Hosseini)
Amir's thoughts after Hassan questions the plot hole in his first story. This shows Amir's jealous and cruel streak
"What does he know, that illiterate Hazara? He'll never be anything but a cook? How dare he criticize you?" (Hosseini)
Amir's intelligence and childish pranks can be cruel toward Hassan
"Let's see. 'Imbecile' It means smart. Intelligent. I'll use it in a sentence for you. When it comes to words, Hassan was an imbecile." (Hosseini 29)
Hassan uses the respectful "agha" and shows his desire for the written word
"Read it again please, Amir agha" (Hosseini)
Hassan uses this sentence to show loyalty to Amir. Amir uses it at the end of the novel as a promise to Sohrab.
"For you, a thousand times over." (Hosseini)
Hassan shows courage by standing up to Assef and protecting Amir
"You are right, Agha. But perhaps you didn't notice that I am the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, they'll have to change your nickname from Assef the Ear Eater to One Eyed Assef." (Hosseini 42)
Hassan innocently and respectfully questions Amir's story regarding the plot hole
"Well, he said, if I may ask, why did the man kill his wife? In fact why did he ever have to feel sad to shed tears? Couldn't he have just smelled an onion?" (Hosseini)
Hassan humbly accepts his lot in life
"You know...I like where I live...It's my home." (Hosseini)
Hassan tries to encourage Amir with a dream
"We were at Ghargha Lake...it was warm and sunny, and the lake was clear like a mirror. But no one was swimming because they said a monster had come to the lake. It was swimming at the bottom waiting...There is no monster, just water." (Hosseini)
Hassan begs for Amir's forgiveness after the kite tournament; thinking that he did something wrong
"I wish you'd come along...I don't know what I've done, ---- agha. I wish you'd tell me. I don't know why we don't play anymore." (Hosseini)
Baba's loyalty
"Hassan's not going anywhere...He's staying right here with us, where he belongs. This is his home and we're his family. Don't ever ask me that question again." (Hosseini 90)
Rahim Khan's advice to Amir
"There is a way to be good again." (Hosseini 1)
Ali's definition of family and responsibility
"There was brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that even time could not break."
Amir's redemption
"I brought Hassan's son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty."
Baba's black and white view of sin "theft"
"There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every 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."
Amir defends Sohrab (against Taheri) redeeming himself
"You see, General Sahib, my father slept with his servant's wife, and she bore him a son named Hassan. Hassan is dead now. That boy sleeping in the other room is Hassan's son. He's my nephew. That's what you tell people when they ask. And one more thing, General Sahib: you will never again refer to him as "a Hazara boy" in my presence. He has a name, and it's Sohrab."
Rahim Khan educates Baba regarding children
"Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors."
Amir's view of perseverance in America
"If America taught me anything, it's that quitting is right up there with pissing in the Girl Scouts' lemonade jar."
Amir notes the difference between peace and the silence of Sohrab
"Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it." (Hosseini 361)
Baba is a man of power and values in Afghanistan even as he attempts to flee its borders
"War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace."
Amir learns about forgiveness through Sohrab
"I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering it things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."
Baba's belief about religion
"If there's a God out there, then I would hope he has more important things to attend to than my drinking scotch or eating pork." (Hosseini 18-19)
Sanaubar's disgust over Hassan's deformity
"There- now you have your own idiot child to do all your smiling for you!" (Hosseini 10)
Rahim Khan encourages Amir's writing
"My door is and always will be open to you, Amir jan. I shall hear any story you have to tell. Bravo." (Hosseini 33
Farid's suspicious of Amir's motives for returning to Afghanistan
What brings them all back to Afghanistan, dear brother." (Hosseini)
Farid's disdain for returning Afghan's
"Sell this land, sell that house, collect the money, and run away like a mouse. Go back to America, spend the money on a family vacation to Mexico" (Hosseini)
Mr. Andrews is from the American embassy
Your petition to adopt this young fellow. Give it up. That's my advice to you."
Mr. Andrews explains the realities of Afghan adoptions
You wanted the long answer and I'm giving it to you. Your next problem is that you need the cooperation of the child's country of origin. Now, that's difficult under the best of circumstances, and, to quote you, this is Afghanistan we're talking about....That makes things extremely complicated. Just about impossible."
Mr. Andrews discourages Amir's attempts to rescue Sohrab
I'm saying that if you want to help, send money to a reputable relief organization. Volunteer at a refugee camp. But at this point in time, we strongly discourage US citizens from attempting to adopt Afghan children.
General Taheri's view of adoptions
"Bachem, this adoption... thing, I'm not so sure it's for us Afghans."
General Taheri on Aghan ties and adoption
We all knew his father, I know who his grandfather was in Kabul and his great grandfather before him, I could sit here and trace generations of his ancestors... when you adopt, you don't know whose blood you're bringing into your house."
General Taheri upon Baba's request for marriage
We are honored to welcome the son of a man such as yourself into our family... your reputation precedes you... we are honored that your family and ours will be joined."
Khala Jamilla on Afghan ties
"You know, your grandfather, Ghazi Sahib, the judge? Now, his uncle and my grandfather were cousins... so you see we're related"
Khala Jamilla shares her feelings about Amir
"Sit down, Amir jan... Soraya get him a chair, hachem. And wash one of those peaches. They're sweet and fresh."
General Taheri on the proper career for his daughter
"I don't know why you're wasting your talents like this... she earned nothing but A's in high school... could become a lawyer, a political scientist, and inshallah, when Afghanistan is free, you could help write the new constitution."
Soraya's regret
"I make one mistake and suddenly everyone is talking nang and namoos, and I have to have my face rubbed in it for the rest of my life."
Soraya's father threatens and guilt makes her leave
"my father showed up with a gun that night. He told him that he had two bullets in the chamber, one for him and one for himself if I didn't come home."
Soraya's past continues to rear its ugly head
When he brought me home...he handed me a pair of scissors and calmly told me to cut off all my hair. He watched while I did it... I heard whispers or imagined them everywhere I went. That was 4 years ago and 3000 miles away and I'm still hearing them."
Kamal echoes Assef with a tremor in his voice in the alley
"That's generous...especially after the rude manners he showed us last time."
Kamal echoes Assef
"More than fair"
Zaman caught between a rock and a hard place
"What choice do I have?"
Zaman's humanity
"I haven't been paid in over six months. I'm broke because I've spent my life's savings on this orphanage. Everything I ever owned or inherited I sold to run this godforsaken place... I could have run like everyone else... I stayed because of them"
Zaman tells about Sohrab
"He's great with the slingshot. He's inseparable from that thing. He tucks it in the waist of his pants everywhere he goes."
Sohrab and waiting
"One time, when I was really little, I climbed a tree and ate these green, sour apples. My stomach swelled and became hard like a drum, it hurt a lot. Mother said that if I'd just wait for the apples to ripen, I wouldn't have become sick. So now, whenever I really want something I try to remember what she said about the apples."
Wahid's response to learning that Amir has come to rescue Sohrab
"You are an honorable man, Amir Agha, a true Afghan" (Hosseini 238)
Wahid's hospitality
"We're hungry but we're not savages! He is a guest! What was I supposed to do?" (Hosseini 241)
Baba's regret
"I wish Hassan had been with us today." (Hosseini 133)
Amir's guilt at not defending Hassan
"I thought about Hassan's dream, the one about us swimming in the lake...I was that monster." (Hosseini)
Baba's immigrant experience and trust
"He wants to see my license...Almost 2 years we've bought his d*** fruits and put money in his pocket, and the son of a dog wants to see my license." (Hosseini 127)
Farid on the Taliban and power
"Keep your eyes on your feet when Talibs are near." (Hosseini 248)
Rahim Khan on redemption
A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer. I hope your suffering comes to an end with this journey to Afghanistan. (301)
Rahim Khan on fathers and sons and loyalty
He loved you both, but he could not love Hassan the way he longed to, openly, and as a father. So he took it out on you instead-Amir, the socially legitimate half, the half the represented the riches he had inherited and the sin-with-impunity privileges that came with them. (301)
Rahim Khan on Baba's regret
When he saw you, he saw himself. And his guilt... Your father, like you, was a tortured soul. (301)
Rahim Khan on redemption
Sometimes, I think everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was alla way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption is Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.(302)
Rahim Khan on forgiveness
I know that in the end, God will forgive. He will forgive your father, me, and you too. I hope you can do the same. Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But, most important, forgive yourself. (302)
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