*WARNING: The review contains major spoilers for the novel! *
“For you, a thousand times over,” is one of the most recognized quotes from the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It was one of the very first novels that I truly enjoyed reading. It focuses on the precious friendship between Amir and Hassan throughout war and hardship. If you decide to read the novel, you will see how beautifully the author writes about Afghanistan before the war, the level of discrimination that took place, how badly the war affected the country, how badly people wanted to leave, and most of all, how wonderful family, love, and friendship can be during periods of suffering.
This novel is a definite tear-jerker. During some scenes, I had to take a break and take a deep breath before continuing on. The quote, “For you, a thousand times over,” went viral on Tiktok previously, and before reading the book, I didn’t quite understand its significance. The first time I came upon this quote was when Hassan ran to take the Kite back for Amir upon his request, which leaves him to get assaulted both physically and mentally by his bullies. Amir watches, but does not have the courage to speak up, leaving Hassan to be abused and leaving Amir with immense guilt for the duration of the novel. When Amirś dad passed away, it left me shocked, as he was written as a strong man willing to make sacrifices for the betterment of his only son. But one death that really struck me, was when Hassan died before Amir had the chance to see him again. His lingering regret over what he witnessed as a child was still within him, and he was not able to reconcile as it was too late.
At the end of the book, Amir tries his best to compensate for his fault to Hassan by raising Hassan’s son – Sohrab. He had to go through so many challenges to find him. Throughout the journey, the author describes how terrible Afghanistan was during the war, detailing how much death and destruction there was. Another challenge is living with Sohrab, as he doesn’t say anything for the rest of his life. Amir tries his best to make sure Sohrab is happy and receives everything Hassan didn’t have in the past. When it comes to the kite running scene, memories come flooding back to Amir about Hassan, about all the times Hassan got to the place where the lost kite would land, and about the last time they had fun as a kid before they stopping talking. In this scene, “For you, a thousand times over” appears once again, but from Amir to Sohrab.
Another quote that I liked from the book is when Amir’s father said that,”When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband and 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.” The thing he hates in life is stealing and every sin can originate from it.
