Kite runner

Kite Runner & the History of Afghanistan

By grantcosovich

  • Baba is born

    "In 1933, the year Baba was born..."(24).

  • Ali is taken in by Baba's father

    "As for the orphan, my grandfather adopted him into his own household...That boy was Ali"(24-25). This decision lead to a lifelong friendship that would soon lead to the relationship between Amir and Hassan.

  • Amir's grandfather orders two young boys to serve a year in the military

    "...my grandfather ordered the two young to go to Kandahar at once and enlist in the army for one year..."(24). These two boys were the men who struck and killed Ali's parents, so if this hadn't happened, it is likely that Ali and Baba would not have met, much less become good friends.
  • Period: to

    Zahir Shah's reign

    "In 1933... the year Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan"(24). The reign began the same year Baba was born, and when it ended, both Baba and Amir lives began to worsen.

  • Amir is born

    6

  • Sofia Akrami dies while giving birth to Amir

    Unfourtunately, this death led Amir to be desperate for his father's approval, after killing his beautiful wife.

  • Sanaubar runs away from Kabul

    (6). In days of giving birth to Hassan, Sanaubar leaves him to run away with a group of singers and dancers. Later in the book, Sanaubar returns and tries to atone for this through caring for Hassan and Sohrab.

  • Hassan is born

    6
  • Period: to

    Baba builds orphanage in Kabul

    "In the late 1960s, when I was five or six, Baba decided to builld an orphanage"(13).

  • Amir tricks Hassan and makes up his own story

    "One day, in July 1973, I played another little trick on Hassan... I strayed from the written story"(30).

  • Zahir Shah's reign is overtaken by Dauod Khan

    "...that night of July 17, 1973, Kabul awoke the next morning to find that the monarchy was a thing of the past"(36). This power shift inspires Assef, who also idolizes Hitler, exhibit his newfound power in a country with a ruler with whom he had dined with previously.

  • Amir and Hassan have first encounter with Assef

    Amir and Hassan have their first expeience with the sociopath, which foreshadows many future meetings with him later in the novel.

  • Hassan gets plastic surgery to repair his cleft lip

    Hassan is always teased for his cleft lip, and this surgery is one of the many cases in which Baba treated him like a son, as realized by Amir later in the book.

  • Hassan is cornered an raped by Assef

    This horrific crime triggers the overall plot of the story, and leaves Amir with a guilty burden after he does not protect his friend.

  • Amir wins kite-fighting tournament

    This accomplishment was symbolic because Amir thought that it would bring acceptance and affection from his father.

  • Soviet Troops begin coming into Afghanistan

  • Period: to

    Soviet Occupation in Afghanistan

    When the Taliban took over from the Soviets, they were regarded as heroes, until Afghans discovered their cruel tactics.

  • Rahim Khan moves into Baba's house in Kabul

    1. Rahim Khan is sent to maintain the house in which Amir grew up, and the house is eventually lost to the Taliban when Khan lleaves to see a doctor.

  • Osama bin Laden makes his first documented trip to Afghanistan to aid anti-Soviet fighters.

  • Final Soviet Troops leave Afghanistan

  • Period: to

    Northern Alliance take control of Kabul

  • By the end of 1994, Mullah Omar had almost 12,000 followers

  • By 1996, the Taliban had taken control of Afghanistan

  • Osama Bin Laden arrives in Afghanistan

  • Al Qaeda attacks World Trade Center

  • Hamid Karzai named leader of Afghanistan

  • Karzai takes office as interim president

  • Obama announces plan to deploy 30,00 additional troops into Afghanistan

  • Rahim Khan is struck in the eye by a Taliban soldier at a soccer match at Ghazi Stadium

    198