Kite Runner

  • Amir and Hassan attend a kite flying competition

    Amir tells Hassan"I'm not sure I want to fly a kite today,' I said.'It's a beautiful day,' Hassan said.(59)Here, Amir does not want to go to the competition because Baba got a Hassan a nice kite. Amir is jealous because Hassan is a Hazara. This is significant because it shows that Amir has a selfish side.
  • Period: to

    kite runner time span

  • Hassan gets rapped

    Amir narrates "I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975.(Hossieni 2)After Amir witness' Hassan's rape he is faced with guilt for being a bystander. He holds himself to his guilt which affects him later in life.
  • Amir's thirteenth birthday

    When Amir opens up his presents he "didn't want any of it-it was all blood money; Baba would have never thrown [Amir] a party like that if I hadn't won the tournament."(Hosseini 101) This quote suggusts that Baba only threw the party for Amir's accomplisment not for Amir himself. It's significant because it shows that Baba and Amir don't have a strong relationship.
  • Soviet troops invade Kabul

    The article states "The first soviet troops parachute into Kabul on December 27, 1979 to assist Babark Karmel, who had become president in a coup within Aghan Communist leadership. Mosocow insisted that the troops came in response to a plea for help from Karmel Government."(New York Times)
  • Amir and Baba move to America

    Amir narrates "Kabul had become a city of ghosts to me. A city of harelipped ghosts. America was different. America was a river, roaring along unmindful of the past.[...] I could embrace America.(Hosseini 136) Here, this shows Amir's new mindset in America. He wants to leave the past behind and move forward.
  • Amir graduates high school

    As Amir sees Baba at his graduation he “smiled for him-in a way, this was his day more than mine. [...] ‘I am moftakhir, Amir,’ he said. Proud. HIs eyes gleamed when he said that and I liked being on the receiving end of his look.(131 Hosseini)” Amir and Baba's relationship improves when they move to America.
  • Amir and Soraya get married

    Amir looks at "Soraya's smiling face in that mirrior, in the momentary privacy of the veil, i whispered to her for the first time that i loved her. A blush, red like henna, bloomed on her cheeks."(Hosseini)
  • Soviet Air Force is rendered

    "After, 1986 the Soviet Air Force was also rendered largely useless by advanced Stinger aircraft missiles supplied by the United States to the rebels."( New York Times)
  • Baba is diagnosed with cancer and dies

    Amir finds out that " like Satan, Cancer has many names. Baba's was called 'Oat Cell Carcinoma'"(Hosseini 156) Baba refuses to receive treatment, evenutually he dies. Amir mourns over his dead father.
  • The Soviet troops fight

    The Soviet army "stayed in the country for more than none years, fighting a conflict that cost them roughly 15,000 lives and undiclosed billions of rubles, while undermining the cherished image of an invincible Soviet Union army."(New York Times)
  • Amir's first novel

    "IN the summer of 1988, about six months before the soviets withdrew from Afganistan, I finished my first novel, father-son story set in Kabul,written mostly with the typewriter the general had given me.(Hosseini 182)"
  • Soviet troops leave Afghanistan

    The article states "Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1986, in what was in effect an unilateral withdrawal. They left behind a country that was not only devastated by the war but that had become a beacon to Islamic extremists." (New York Times)
  • Rolling up warlords

    By 1994 Mullah Omar had a "promise of restoring certrianilty of Islam to daily life, he created a guineuine popular movement in a country weary of corruption and brutality."(New York Times
  • Afghanistan descends

    When the soviet union departures "Afghanistan descended into vicious internecine strife; by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms."(New York Times)
  • The Taliban takes control of Afghanistan

    With the Pakistani aid "the Taliban by 1996 had taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict enforcement of fundamentalism Islamic law, banning movies and music forcing women out of schools and into all enveloping burqa clothing."(New York Times)
  • Destruction of Statue

    The Western diplomats think "Al Qeada persuaded Mullah Omar to order the destruction of the 800-year-old Buddah statue at Bamiyan, an act condemned around the world."(New York Times)
  • The Taliban kill Hassan and Farzana

    Rhaim Khan tells Amir "a rumor spread about a Hazara family was living alone in a big house[...]Taliban officals came to investagate and integragated Hassan. They accused him of lying[...]'and shot him in the back of the head"(Hosseini 219) When Hassan and Farzana die their son Sorabh is left by himself and taken to an orphangae. Amir must go to save him from Assef.
  • Rahim Khan calls Amir and tells him to get Soharb

    Rahim Khan calls Amir telling him he needs to come back to Afghanistan immediately."I lowered the phone into the cradel and stared at it for a long time.[...] 'Ihve to go to Pakastan.(Hosseini 191) "This is significant because Amir is going to be able to atone his past.
  • Amir returns to Kabul

    When Farid is driving Amir, Amir says"'Where are the trees?' I said. 'People cut them down for firewood in the winter,' Farid said. 'The Shorawi cut a lot of them down too.' Why? 'Snipers used to hide in them.' A sadness came over me Returning to Kabul was like running into an old friend and seeing that life had'nt been good to him."(Hosseini 246)
  • Assef fights Amir

    After Assef fights Amir, he says" for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace.(Hosseini 289)"Here, Amir escapes from his childhood guilt. This is significant because Amir feels he was able to atone for sins.
  • Sohrab attempts suicide

    Sohrab tells Amir "I want my old life back."(Hosseini 335) Amir and Sohrab connect with each other on a deeper level. They both have a dissire for the past.
  • Amir takes Sohrab to America

    Sohrad didn't have anywhere to go so "What he got was [Amir] and America. Not that it was such a bad fate,everything considered, but I couldn't tell him that. Perspective was a luxury when your head was constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons.(Hosseini 356)This quote is significant because Amir takes in Sohrab and shows him the love he never gave Hassan, atoning his sins of guilt.
  • 9/11 invasion

    The article states "The United States has been militarily involved in Afghanistan since 2001, when it led an invasion after the Spet. 11 attacks by Al Queda."(New York Times)
  • Hamid Karzai

    "In December 2001, Hamid Karzai a supporter and relative of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the exiled former king of Afghanistan, was named chairman interim government that replaced the defeated Talibhan, making him the leader of the country."(New York Times)
  • Amir and Sohrab fly a kite

    With the kite in Amir's hand he narrates "It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make anything all right. Only a smile.[...] I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lips. I ran."(Hosseini 371) This quote provides that Amir relieved and was finally able to escape his guilt.