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Hassan's Lip Surgery
For his birthday, Baba gives Hassan a surgery to fix his cleft lip. For an unusual present, Baba says, "'probably not what you had in mind, but this present will last you forever'" (Hosseini 46). Hassan's cleft lip has caused many problems for him such as Sanaubar leaving and him get bullied by other kids. Because Baba treats Hassan like his own child, he decides to gift him this surgery. -
Baba's Disapproval of Amir
When Rahim Khan and Baba are talking, Baba addresses Amir's weaknesses. He says that Amir cannot defend himself and needs Hassan to do that. Adding on, Baba states, "'A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything'" (Hosseini 22). With Amir eavesdropping, he feels like a disappointment to his father. Since Amir is not athletic and does not take interest in soccer, Baba cannot believe that Amir is his own son. -
Amir Wins the Kite Contest
For young boys in Afghanistan, winning the kite competition was something to be proud of. Amir ended up winning a big competition and looked over at Baba on their roof which to Amir was "the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last," (Hosseini 66). Amir has longed for Baba's love his whole life. Winning this competition to Amir meant that Baba would be proud and to accept him. -
Hassan's Rape
When Hassan is running a kite for Amir after a contest, Assef stops Hassan and demands for the kite. Hassan refuses which causes Assef to rape him with Amir watching in the background. After the incident, Hassan returned to Amir's house and "[s]wayed on his feet like he was going to collapse" (Hosseini 78). Since Amir watched the rape and did nothing, this feeling of guilt stayed with him throughout the book. This altered many of his decisions and eventually developed insomnia because of this. -
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Kite Runner & History of Afghanistan Timespan
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Hassan and Ali Leave
Ali decides to move with Hassan to Hazarajat because there were too many problems in Kabul including the rape. As Ali and Hassan headed out the door "I saw Baba do something I had never seen him do before: He cried. ... 'Please,' Baba was saying but Ali had already turned to the door, Hassan trailing him" (Hosseini 107). Baba and Ali grew up together and having Ali leave broke Baba's heart. Amir never realized how important they were to Baba's life until he saw him cry when he left. -
Soviet Union Invasion
On December 27, 1979, the Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan because they wanted "to replace Hafizullah Amin, the Afghan leader, who had lost their trust" (NYT). -
Amir and Baba move to California
Because of the war going on in Afghanistan, Baba and Amir decide to move to California. When Baba is buying fruits, the store owner asks him for his I.D.. Baba lashes out at them and becomes upset that they asked for his license. The store owner quickly responded, 'I don't want you here...'" (Hosseini 127). Here, Baba does not have power like he had in Afghanistan. He was known as a powerful business man, but in America, he is just a regular citizen. -
Amir and Soraya Get Married
Due to Baba's health, Amir and Soraya decide to get married after only meeting for a short while. During the ceremony, Amir thought to himself, "Looking at Soraya's smiling face in that mirror, in the momentary privacy of the veil, I whispered to her for the first time that I loved her" (Hosseini 170). Because of the Afghan culture, it is looked down upon if you do not have a spouse. Amir found someone he loved and was accepted into her family. -
Amir Returns to Kabul
After receiving a call from Rahim Khan, Amir decides to return to Kabul after being convinced from hearing the line, "There is a way to be good again" (Hosseini 192). Rahim Khan knew that Amir had watched Hassan's rape so Amir has the chance to atone for that mistake if he returns to Kabul. Since the rape has affected Amir ever since, he decides to return to Kabul in hopes to find why Rahim Khan had said this to him. -
Baba Dies
As time passes, Baba is getting weaker and weaker due to his cancer. After a family gathering, Baba decides to go sleep saying to Soraya and Amir that, "'There is no pain tonight.' ... We closed the door. Baba never woke up" (Hosseini 173). During Baba's funeral, Amir finally realized how Baba helped and affected many people's lives. Baba acted like a mentor, friend, and a role-model to many people not only in Afghanistan but in America too. -
Soviet Troops Left Afghanistan
In February 1989, the Soviet troops "left behind a country that was not only devastated by the war but had become a beacon to Islamic extremists from across the globe" (NYT 2). -
Mullah Omar and His Followers
The Taliban takeover, a student movement dedicated to "restoring the centrality of Islam to daily life" (NYT) first started when Mullah Omar "gathered a small band of men and attacked a group of warlords who had raped a girl and shaved her head" (NYT). Mullah Omar gained popularity in this country of corruption and "by the end of 1994 Mullah Omar had nearly 12,000 followers and was rolling up the warlords to the north and east" (NYT). -
Help From Pakistan
The Taliban movement, even with popular support, might have died out if the neighboring country, Pakistan, did not help out by "funneling arms, money, and supplies to Mullah Omar's men, as well as military advisers to help guide them in battle" (NYT). -
Power Divided in Afghanistan
Since the Soviet Union retreated, "power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms" (NYT). -
Taliban Control
In 1996, the Taliban had taken control of Afghanistan with at the help of Pakistan aid. The Taliban had imposed "strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law, banning movies and music and forcing women out of schools and into all-enveloping burqa clothing" (NYT). -
Hassan and Fazara are killed
Hassan and his wife, another Hazara, were accused of lying when they told the Taliban that they were living with Rahim Khan. They forced Hassan and his family to move out of the house but he protested. The Taliban "'order[ed] him to kneel ... and shot him in the back of the head ... Fazara came screaming and attacked them ... shot her too'" (Hosseini 219). The Taliban tried to get rid of all Hazaras and the only way is to kill them. This showed the harsh reality of what the Taliban did. -
After 9/11
After the 9/11 invasion, President George W. Bush demanded the Taliban for Mr. bin Laden. When they refused, "the United States joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted the Taliban rule ... An air and ground campaign began that drove the Taliban out of the major Afghan cities by the end of the year" (NYT). -
The Karzai Government
In December 2001, Hamid Karzai was named chairman of a government that replaced the Taliban, making him the leader of the country. His goal when he took office as the president in 2002 was to "secure peace for Afghanistan and winch country much-needed international aid" (NYT). -
Taliban Still Continues
Still after their defeat in 2001, "the taliban continued to wage a guerilla warfare from a base in the mountainous and largely lawless tribal area on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border" (NYT). -
Amir and Hassan are Half-Brothers
During his time with Rahim Khan, Amir also finds out that he and Hassan are half-brothers because Ali could not have children. In shock, Amir yelled, "'How could you hide this from me'" (Hosseini 223). Amir discovered why Baba had always treated him and Hassan the same yet Amir was Baba's child. Baba could never tell his secret to anyone or people would look down upon him. -
Amir Meets Assef Again
In order to get Sohrab, Amir must meet a Taliban official. Amir discovers that the Taliban guard is Assef. From an incident that occurred when they were kids, Assef still wanted revenge and to get that, he would beat up Amir. Assef "[r]eached into the breast pocket of his black vest ... stainless-steel brass knuckles" (Hosseini 287). Since his role model is Hitler, Assef joining the Taliban was no surprise to Amir. When they were kids, Assef also despised the Hazara in Kabul. -
Sohrab Attempts Suicide
After finding out that Amir could take Sohrab back to America with him, Amir goes to tell him the good news when "[s]uddenly I was on my knees, screaming" (Hosseini 343). Sohrab thought he had to go back to the orphanage where he was tortured. He wanted his old life back with his parents. If he died, it would like part of Hassan would die again to Amir. -
Sohrab Smiles
After a year of arriving in San Francisco with Amir, Sohrab has never spoken a word since after his suicide attempt. Amir and Sohrab discover kids flying kites when they joined. Amir explained to Sohrab that Hassan was the best kite runner in Kabul. When Amir demonstrates Hassan's favorite trick, he sees that "[o]ne corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile" (Hosseini 370). Amir finds it exciting that Sohrab has finally smiled. He learns that Sohrab enjoys kite flying just like his dad. -
Amir Goes to Save Sohrab
Because Hassan and Fazara were killed by the Taliban, their child, Sohrab, was taken to an orphanage. Rahim Khan asks for Amir to save Sohrab but was not sure. In the end, he thought, "Hassan had loved me once ... [h]e was gone now, but a little part of him lived on. It was in Kabul" (Hosseini 227). In order to make up for what he did to Hassan years ago, Amir has decided to get Sohrab. This symbolized his effort to atone for what he did and keep the memory of Hassan alive. -
Obama's War
Though "Mr. Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops" (NYT) to Afghanistan, "he vowed to start bringing American forces from Afghanistan in the middle of 2011, saying the United States could not afford and should not have to shoulder an open-ended commitment" (NYT).