-
Baba takes Amir to the lake
Baba offers to take Amir and Hasan to, "Ghargha Lake a few miles north of Kabul" (Hosseini 13), but Amir lies to Baba saying Hassan is not able to go. This point of the book begins to show the depth and dynamics of Amir's relationships.With Baba, Amir desperately craves his attention and is willing to lie to get It. With Hassan, Amir has no problem with lying to Baba at the expense of Hassan, showing that he does not care for Hassan that much, also foreshadowing a future event. -
Hassan's surgery
Once again on Hassan's birthday, Baba got him a gift just as every other year since he, "never missed Hassan's birthday" (Hosseini 44), but this year Hassan's gift is something much more significant, a surgery to fix his harelip. This gift from Baba displays how much he truly cares for and loves Hassan. This also foreshadows the book by making the reader wonder why Baba cares so much about Hassan. -
Amir wins the kite tournament
After winning the kite tournament, Amir finally wins Baba's pride, which Amir considers as, "the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last," (Hosseini 66). This is huge for Amir because the one thing he wanted was to gain Baba's pride which he was not able to do until he wins the kite tournament, putting Amir into a state of high. This also shows that Baba's pride is the most important thing in his life at the moment. -
Baba does not understand Amir
Amir overhears Baba talking to Rahim Kahn about Amir. As baba complains to Rahim Kahn about Amir, Rahim Kahn reminds Baba that, "'Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them in with your favorite colors'" (Hosseini 21). This conversation begins to show that Rahim Kahn may become a supportive outlet for Amir in the future. It also becomes clear that it will be almost impossible for Amir to win over his father. -
Period: to
Kite Runner & the History of Afghanistan
-
Hassan's Rape
Amir's life changes forever as he watches Hassan get raped and acts cowardly by deciding to either, "stick up for Hassan- the way he had stuck up for me all those times in the past- and accept whatever happened to me. Or I could run"(Hosseini 77). This is a pivotal point in Amir's life because Amir must live with this terrible action until he is able to fix it or atone for it. Amir's regret will haunt him until he dies if he is not able to atone for this mistake. -
Ali leaves with Hassan
Hassan tells Ali about the rape causing Ali to decide to leave. When Ali tells Baba that he is leaving, Amir, " 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). Ali and Hassan were a part of Baba, and seeing them leave was just unbearable for Baba. Even Amir was shocked to see how much Ali and Hassan had meant to Baba. -
Invasion of the Soviet Union
The Soviets engineer a coup as an attempt to, "replace Hafizullah Amin, the Afghan leader, who had lost their trust"(New York Times). The Soviets continue to fight a conflict, lasting more than nine years that caused the death of 15,000 soldiers. -
Baba and Amir escape Afghanistan
Fleeing the ongoing war in Afghanistan, Baba and Amir move to California. In California, Baba has difficulties adjusting to the new environment, even lashing out on a store owner for asking for Baba's ID, to which the store owner told Baba he didn't, "want you here"(Hosseini 127). Even this store owner has power over Baba, showing a major power shift for Baba and Amir who went from upper class to middle class. This is another turning point to see how Baba and Amir adapt to this drastic change. -
Baba reads Amir's story
One day, Amir returned home and caught Soraya reading one of his stories to Baba. Baba claims that, "I put her up to it. I hope you don't mind" (Hosseini 172). Hassan has desired Baba's validation his entire life and Baba asking to hear one of his stories was exactly the validation Amir wanted. Amir seems to have finally come to peace with his father, foreshadowing Baba's near death. -
Baba asks for Soraya's hand in marraige for Amr
After meeting Soraya at the flea market, Amir is immediately drawn to her. Eventually after several more encounters with Soraya, Amir asks Baba for one last thing, "'to ask General Taheri for his daughter's hand.'" (Hosseini 161). Baba's kind final act for Amir before dying from his cancer, is Baba's atonement for all that he put Amir through in his childhood. This act shows that Baba has finally accepted Amir for who he is and is doing this act out of respect for the man that Amir has become. -
Baba's death
After fighting off the cancer for as long as he could, Baba died peacefully in bed. Baba's death is mourned and remembered by many, especially by Amir who remembers the story of Baba fighting off a bear, but realizes that, " Baba had wrestled bears his whole life" (Hosseini 174). Amir remembers the significance of Baba's life and how he was able to beat every challenge that came his way. Now Amir is left to face the horrors of life without the guidance of Baba. -
Unilatiral withdrawl in Afghanistan
The Soviet Union retreated from Afghanistan sparking a, "beacon to Islamic Extremists from across the globe"(New York Times). -
The Taliban Receives Support
Pakistani forces perhaps save the Taliban movement by, "funneling arms, money, and supplies to Mullah Omar's men, as well as military advisers to help guide them in battle" (New York Times). -
A Split in Control
After the retreat of the Soviet Union, Afghanistan was left in a leaderless state where, "power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms" (New York Times). -
The Taliban takes control of Afghanistan
The Taliban grows in popularity and followers with its promise of "purifying the country"(New York Times), eventually gaining full control of Afghanistan by 1986. -
The Taliban's retreat
The Taliban loses a battle and is forced to retreat but still continues to, "wage a guerilla warfare from a base in the mountainous and largely lawless tribal area on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border" (New York Times). -
Amir goes to meet Rahim Kahn
Amir receives a call from Rahim Kahn telling Amir that, "There is a way to be good again" (Hosseini 192). From this call, Amir is convinced that Rahim Kahn knows that Amir let Hassan get raped. Amir has been haunted by this mistake his whole life and this invitation could help Amir finally atone for his mistake. -
World Trade Center terrorist attack
After the events of 9/11, the U.S. demands the Taliban to turn in Bin Laden and the Taliban refuses, causing the U.S. to drive, "the Taliban out of the major afghan cities by the end of the year"(New York Times). -
Amir discovers that Hassan is his half-brother
Rahim Kahn tells Amir that he and Hassan are half-brothers and Amir is flooded by emotions. Anger overtakes Amir at first, causing him to yell at Rahim Kahn, "How could you hide this from me" (Hosseini 223). This changes everything for Amir, his view of Baba, Hassan, and even his view of himself is completely altered. Baba had committed his own biggest sin, and Amir had betrayed his own brother. -
Amir encounters Assef
Amir is on a mission to get Sohrab, Hassan's son from a Taliban official. Amir quickly realizes that this official is Assef, his childhood bully who Hassan had stopped from terrorizing Amir, but, "now it was my turn" (Hosseini 286). Amir is now standing up for Sohrab, Amir's first act of atonement. Amir knows he must do this as Hassan had once done for him. -
Sohrab attempts suicide
Amir realizes that he might not be able to get Sohrab out of Afghanistan and tells this to Sohrab. Sohrab, already traumatized by Assef, refuses to go back, and just, "want my old life back"(Hosseini 354), so he attempts suicide. Amir has now hurt Sohrab just as he had hurt Hassan. If Sohrab dies, Amir will never be able to forgive himself for the blood of his brother and his nephew. -
Hope in Sohrab
1 year after bringing Sohrab to California, Sohrab is still yet to speak. Amir takes Sohrab to the park, where they end up flying kites and Amir notices Sohrab smiling which brings him hope that Sohrab will get better. Bringing the story full-circle, Amir uses Hassan's line saying that he would run for Sohrab's kite, "a thousand times over" (Hosseini 371). This last set of dialogue is like a continuation of Amir and Hassan's relationship. This is Amir's second chance. -
Obama deploys more troops
Obama makes his plan of deploying 30,000 more troops public and also, "vowed to start bringing American forces home from Afghanistan in the middle of 2011"(New York Times). -
Obama fails to follow through with his vow
Despite vowing to bring American troops home by the middle of 2011, the Obama administration announces the need for troops in Afghan until the end of 2014, in order to, "convince Afghan that the United States is not walking away and to warn the Taliban"(New York Times). -
Death of Bin Laden
The raid of Bin Laden's compound in which he is in hiding, results in his death and is considered by Obama to be the, "most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda"(CNN).