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The Kite Runner & the History of Afghanistan
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(TKR #1) Hassan Gets Raped
When Amir watches Hassan gets raped where he thinks, "I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan--the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past--and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran." (77). This portrays the imbalance of power and friendship between Amir and Hassan, when Hassan valiantly protects Amir, Amir cannot return the favor. -
USSR Invasion of Afghanistan
In the background section, the author writes, "Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, has known little peace since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded." (NYT 1). -
(TKR #2) Moving to America
When Baba and Amir are moving to America, Amir thinks, "Baba loved the idea of America. It was living in America that gave him an ulcer." (125). The contradiction between what Baba expected of America and what it really is gives us insight into Baba's character. He believes in the American dream, and we see this influencing the choices he made in Afghanistan. An example would be buying the bike for Amir, or owning a Mustang. -
(TKR #3) The Nyugens Kick Baba Out
When Baba was buying some oranges from a local store, Baba actually "had had no cash on him for the oranges. He'd written Mr. Nguyen a check and Mr. Nguyen asked for an ID." (127). Baba's socioeconomic status in Afghanistan has misguided him in America. Baba expected his reputation to create trust, so he got enraged when it seemed like Mr. Nguyen didn't trust Baba. -
(TKR #4) Amir Meets Soraya
After Amir meets Soraya, he becomes infatuated and thinks of her ever night, comparing her to "yelda [,] the starless night tormented lovers kept vigil, enduring the endless dark, waiting for the sun to rise and bring it with their loved one. After I met Soraya Taheri, every night of the week became a yelda for me." (143). Amir seems like he is taking the steps to finally move on from Afghanistan and all the guilt he has built up. It appears he has shoved it to the back of his mind. -
(TKR #5) Amir Marries Soraya
During the marriage ceremonies, General Taheri says, "Your pain will be our pain, your joy our joy. I hope that you will come to see your Khala Jamila and me as a second set of parents, and I pray for your and our lovely Soraya jan's happiness. You both have our blessings." (168). It is ironic that the General says that Amir's pain will be the entire family's pain, yet Amir still decides not to share the rape nor share the pain he felt and still feels. -
(TKR #6) Baba's Death
While at Baba's funeral, Amir comes to the realization that, "How much of who I was, what I was, had been defined by Baba and the marks he had left on people's lives. My whole life, I had been 'Baba's son.' Now he was gone. Baba couldn't show me the way anymore; I'd have to find it on my own." (174). Amir has always imagined life with Baba around, it is now up to him to atone for his sins, he can't have Baba holding his hand anymore. -
Soviet Troop Departure from Afghanistan
We learn in the next section that "after peace talks moderated by the United Nations, the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989, in what was in effect a unilateral withdrawal." (NYT 2). -
Division of Power Post-USSR Occupation
In the next paragraph, it is said that after Soviet forces left, Afghanistan "descended into vicious internecine strife; by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms." (NYT 2). -
Rise of the Taliban
In the divided country, an Islamic extremist group called the Taliban, which "by the end of 1994... had nearly 12,000 followers and was rolling up the warlords to the north and east." (NYT 2). -
Takeover of the Taliban
After its rise in Afghanistan, the Taliban "by 1996 had taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law, banning movies and music and forcing women out of schools and into all-enveloping burqa clothing." (NYT 3). -
Return of the Monarchy's Blood
After the Taliban had been pushed out, the country needed leadership, and in December of 2001, "Hamid Karzai, a supporter and relative of Mohammed Zahir Sha, the exiled former king of Afghanistan, was named chairman of aninterim government that replaced the defeated Taliban, making him the leader of the country." (NYT 3). -
The Taliban's Revival
Even though the Taliban were defeated, in 2001 the "Taliban continued to wage a guerrilla warfare from a base in the mountainous and largely lawless tribal area on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border." (NYT 3). -
(TKR #7) Rahim Khan's Call (for atonement)
After forgetting about his past atoned sins, he suddenly gets a call from Rahim Khan, who asks him to "Come see him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to [Amir's] ear, [he] knew it wasn't just Rahim Khan on the line. It was [his] past of unatoned sins." (1). Amir finally has to open up the wounds of his past. He has to rip off the proverbial band-aid he put there to cover them up. This really is the beginning of his path to atonement. -
(TKR #8) Amir's Secret Relation to Hassan
Amir learns that Hassan is actually his brother, which is when he thinks, "I felt like a man sliding down a steep cliff, clutching at the shrubs and tangles of brambles and coming up empty-handed. The room was swooping up and down, swaying side to side." (222). The way Amir thought he lived his life was is crumbling in front of him. In addition to this, it only increases his guilt over not helping Hassan, not only did he fail to protect his servant, he failed to protect his brother. -
(TKR #9) The Public Stoning
When Amir and Farid are in Afghanistan, they attend a public stoning where they see a "Talib, looking absurdly like a baseball pitcher on the mound, [hurl] the stone at the blindfolded man in the hole. It struck the side of his head." (271). If the new setting with the Taliban takeover wasn't clear enough, the way they treat their fellow muslims indicates why so many people have fled Afghanistan, and further supporting Amir's newfound desire to rescue Sohrab. -
(TKR #10) The Confrontation with Assef
Amir confronts who he soon finds out to be Assef to try to get Sohrab. They start fighting when Sohrab's slingshot "made a thwiiiiit sound when Sohrab released the cup. Then Assef was screaming. He put his hand where his left eye had been a moment ago." (291). The story comes full circle. In the beginning, Hassan threatened to hit Assef with his slingshot. Now, like father like son, Sohrab actually hits Assef in the eye to protect Amir. -
(TKR #11) Denial For Adoption
When Amir goes to the US consulate in Afghanistan to try to bring Sohrab home, he talks to a man who says, "If you want to help, send money to a reputable relief organization. Volunteer at a refugee camp But at this point, we strongly discourage U.S. citizens from attempting to adopt Afghan children." (331). This is the first time we see Amir stand up for Sohrab in a sense. He tries to force Andrews' hand to get him to issue Sohrab a visa. -
(TKR #12) Amir's Promise to Religion
After Sohrab's suicide attempt, Amir begins to pray for Sohrab. This is when he thinks this, "There is a God, there has to be, and now I will pray, I will pray that he will forgive that I have betrayed, lied, and sinned with impunity only to turn to Him in my hour of need, I pray that He is as merciful, benevolent, and gracious as His book says He is." (346). Amir's ethics/values/morals do a complete about-face. Sohrab's suicide attempt made Amir pray in the one thing he can: God. -
(TKR #13) Sohrab's Arrival in the States
Sohrab is not the same person as he was after his suicide attempt. Amir describes him starting with how "the color still hadn't seeped back into his face, save for the halo of dark circles around his eyes. He was looking at us now in the impassive way he looked at the plates of boiled rice... " (358). Sohrab feels betrayed by Amir because Amir broke his promise of not sending Sohrab back to an orphanage. Sohrab has lost all personality he may have had, just like Hassan after Hassan was raped. -
(TKR #14) Amir Being an Upstander
At the dinner table, when the General makes some rude inquiries about Sohrab, Amir responds with, "'And one more thing, General Sahib,' I said. 'You will never again refer to him as Hazara Boy in my presence. He has a name and it's Sohrab.'" Amir is actively defending Sohrab in front of his family, who he has always just went along with. Amir's motivation for atonement has made him like Baba, standing up for what he believes in. -
(TKR #15) Sohrab's Smile
At the end of the book, Sohrab and Amir are flying kites. Amir looks at Sohrab and sees "a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make anything all right... But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting." Amir has done what he wanted to, build a life for Sohrab. Just like the book says, in the spring when the snow melts, he will have finally reached atonement. -
Obama and the United States' Later Involvement
Later on in the timeline, President Obama gave a speech on "[December 1st, 2009], at West Point, Mr. Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops [to Afghanistan]." (NYT 4). -
Initial Date to Recall US Troops
In the following sentence, it is said that Obama "vowed to start bringing American forces home 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 4). -
True Date of Withdrawal
In the next paragraph, Obama "changed [his] tone to increasingly emphasize the idea that the United States will have forces in the country at least until the end of 2014." (NYT 4).