“For you, A thousand times over” By: Brady Ellingson In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir is haunted by the words “For you a thousand times over”. The quote meant loyalty to someone and a verbal oath Hassan pledged to him. We see Amir as he grows old living by Hassan's words more and more eventually returning the favor to Hassan. The first time the book mentions the quote is at the very beginning when Amir is summing up early events but it is not very notable yet because we have no idea who Hassan or anyone is but a little later in the novel we first hear Hassan says, “For you a thousand times over” (67). Through the beginning of the book and throughout most of it Hassan has an unbreakable loyalty to Amir but the feeling isn't mutual. …show more content…
Amir doesn't fully know why yet but he knows he has to go back, a chance at losing everything he has. Later Amir learns about Hassan. He has no chance at repaying him as he learns he has been gone for a while. Hassan had a son Amir learned. Amir’s new goal is to save Sohrab. When Sohrab attempts suicide Amir says, “My hands are stained with Hassan’s blood; I pray God doesn’t let them get stained with the blood of his boy too” (346). Amir's last chance at being good again is to save Sohrab and carry on Hassan's blood. Amir through the book takes what Hassan said on that winter day to heart, swearing by it even though he does not say it until the end to Sohrab: “The wind lifted his hair, I saw him nod. For you a thousand times over I heard myself say”(371). The book ends. After you piece everything together, you see that Amir started off being selfish. He knew he did not need to be loyal to Hassan and didnt feel like he owed him anything. Hassan could’ve felt the same as Amir but Hassan chose unbreakable loyalty. Amir is jealous of this and is hurt that he couldn’t match this for him and it haunts him his whole life. Amir accepts he just has to live with that fate but he gets a chance to redeem himself, and as he mirrors Hassan, going straight to the Taliban and saving Hassan’s