Quotes on the Kite Runner
"I lifted Hassan's mattress an planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it. I waited another thirty minutes, Then I knocked on Baba's door and told what I hoped to be the last in a long line of shameful lies." (116)
"I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan, and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. I ran." (77)
"It was suprising how well we got alongin these weeks. Sometimes I found it hard to remember his treachery, sometimes I discovered myself thoughtlessly slipping bak into afection for him again."(55)
"He knew I'd betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time. I loved him in that moment, loved him more than I'd ever loved anyone..." (105)
"I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That's what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan. That's what I made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart: He was just a Hazara, wasn't he?"(77)
"I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense, any how." (25)
"...Baba would buy it for me and then he'd buy it for Hassan too... wished he'd let me be the favorite." (51)
"I watched Hassan get raped. I said to no one. A part of me was hoping that someone would wake up and hear so I wouldn't have to live with this lie anymore. That night I became an insomniac." (86)
"But he's not my friend! I almost blurted. He's my servant! Had I really thought that? Of course I hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well just like a friend, better even, more like a brother.
"I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan, and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. I ran." (77)
"It was suprising how well we got alongin these weeks. Sometimes I found it hard to remember his treachery, sometimes I discovered myself thoughtlessly slipping bak into afection for him again."(55)
"He knew I'd betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time. I loved him in that moment, loved him more than I'd ever loved anyone..." (105)
"I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That's what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan. That's what I made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart: He was just a Hazara, wasn't he?"(77)
"I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense, any how." (25)
"...Baba would buy it for me and then he'd buy it for Hassan too... wished he'd let me be the favorite." (51)
"I watched Hassan get raped. I said to no one. A part of me was hoping that someone would wake up and hear so I wouldn't have to live with this lie anymore. That night I became an insomniac." (86)
"But he's not my friend! I almost blurted. He's my servant! Had I really thought that? Of course I hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well just like a friend, better even, more like a brother.