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Amir is born
In 1963, a year before Hassan is born, Amir is born. Sadly, on that same day, his mother was "hemorrhaged to death during childbirth" (Hosseini 6). Throughout the story, Amir holds guilt about being the cause of his mothers death. This guilt causes Amir to be distant and quiet in certain situations. -
Hassan is born
In 1964, a year after Amir is born, Hassan is born to his father, Ali, and his unloving mother, Saunabar. Unlike Amir, who lost his mother due to natural causes, Hassan lost his mother to "a fate most Afghans considered far worse than death: She ran off with a clan of traveling singers and dancers" (Hosseini 6). Hassan's mother did not care for him, and ran away shortly after he was born, leaving him in the care of Ali. Without a mother, Hassan was left to fend for himself. -
Hassan has surgery to fix his cleft lip
For his birthday, Baba gets Hassan surgery to fix his cleft lip. Amir and Hassan expect a toy, or an object, but they are greeted with "a slight Indian fellow who looked a little like a mathematics teacher" (Hosseini). Instead of an object for his birthday, Baba greets him with a doctor to cure his cleft lip. This action shows baba being fatherly toward Hassan, making up for his kept secret. -
Hassan is raped
After winning the kite tournament, Hassan offers to run the kite for Amir. However, Hassan is cornered by Assef and his friends who do not have kind intentions. When Amir finds Hassan, he is "standing at the blind end of an alley in a defiant stance" (Hosseini 171). Amir then debates helping Hassan or keeping what he sees as his only way to maintain Baba's affection: the kite. Amir chooses the latter, and this causes him massive guilt. -
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Kite Runner & the History of Afghanistan
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Amir celebrates his 13th birthday
A short while after Hassan gets raped, Amir celebrates his 13th birthday in the form of a large celebration thrown by Baba. Baba goes all out with the party, and as Amir looks over the invitation, and does not recognize "at least three-quarters of the four hundred-plus" guests that are coming to celebrate him (Hosseini 93-94). Amir is glad of the attention Baba is giving him, but is still upset and confused about how he handled the situation with Hassan. -
The Soviet Union invades
Afghanistan has known "little peace since 1979 when the soviet union invaded" (The New York Times). -
First Soviet troops come to Afghanistan
The first Soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on "December 27, 1979, to assist Babrak Karmal, who had become president in a coup within the Afghan communist leadership" (The New York Times). -
The Russians invade; Baba and Amir flee Afghanistan
Baba and Amir flee Afghanistan after the Russians invade, travelling away from Kabul and Afghanistan. Baba, Amir, and other refugees are cramped in the "tarpaulin-covered cab of an old Russian truck" (Hosseini 110). Afraid for their well being, Baba and Amir escape to home they have called their own for their whole lives. It is difficult for them to leave, but they face a hard choice to leave. -
Amir and Baba arrive in San Francisco
After fleeing their home of afghanistan, Amir and Baba arrive in San Francisco, and are nervous about what's in store for them. Baba loves the "idea of America. It [is] living in America that gave him an ulcer" (Hosseini 125). Baba has a hard time adjusting to the united States, and does not understand how to conform to the new society. -
Amir graduates from Highschool
After working very hard, Amir finaly graduates from highschool in the United States. Amir graduates from "highschool at the age of twenty, by far the oldest senior tossing his motarboard on the football field that day" (Hosseini 131). Although he is the oldest one on the field, Amir is very proud about graduating from highschool. This is also an opportunity for Baba to be proud of him. -
Amir and Soraya get married
After years of courting and silent affection, Soraya and Amir finally get married. As a last act of kindness twoard his son, Baba pays for the wedding, and spends "$35,000, nearly the balance of his life savings on the awroussi, the wedding ceremony" (Hosseini 161). Baba is guilty for not being an ideal parent, and tries to amend for his actions by paying for his son to get married. -
US Supplied missiles keep the soviet aircrafts at bay.
Shortly after 1986, "the soviet Air Force was also rendered largely useless by advanced Stinger antiaircraft missiles supplied by the United states to rebels" (The New York Times). -
Baba dies
One night, after refusing to take his medicine, Baba dies in his sleep. Soraya and Amir Say goodnight and close his bedroom door. The next morning, "Baba never woke up" (Hosseini 173). Amir has to finally say good bye to his father, and the only parent he has known. With this, Amir also looses his only connection to his homeland, Afghanistan. -
Amir gets his first novel published
After long hours of work, Amir gets his first novel published. Amir's novel is "a father-son story set in Kabul" (Hosseini 182). Amir finishes his first novel after Baba dies. His story closley resembles that of his own and he wrote the story to give voice to himself and his past in a way he is comferatable with. -
The last of the Soviet Union leaves Afghanistan
Eventually, after peace talks moderated by the United Nations, "the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989, in what was an effect a unilateral withdrawal" (The New York Times). -
Power in Afghanistan is distributed throughout competing warlords and individual fiefdoms.
After Soviet forces departed, "Afghanistan descended into vicious inter scene strife; by the summer of 1994, power was anarchialy divided among competing Warlords and individual fiefdoms. but one group would eventually gain control" (The New York Times). -
Mullah Omar gains 12,000 followers, and promises to restore the centrality of Islam to daily life
By the end of 1994 Mullah Omar had nearly 12,000 followers and was "rolling up the warlord's to the north and east. With his promise of restoring the centrality of Islam to daily life, he created a genuinely popular movement in a country where he of corruption and brutality" (The New York Times). -
Pakistani intelligence officers began funneling supplies to the Taliban
The Taliban might have withered were it not "for the intervention of Pakistan, the neighbor to the east. As early as 1994, Pakistani Intelligence Officers beginning funneling arms, money and supplies to Mullah Omar's men, as well as military advisers to help them guide them in battle" (The New York Times). -
The Taliban Gains Control of Afghanistan
After years of civil war, the Taliban, "The extremest Islamic group ... had seized control in 1996" (The New York Times). -
The Taliban takes control of Afghanistan
Buoyed By Pakistani age, the Taliban by 1996 had "taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict enforcement of fundamentalism Islamic law, Banning movies and music and forcing women out of schools and into all enveloping burqa clothing" (The New York Times). -
The Taliban offers Bin Laden protection
The Taliban also provided a "Haven for Mister Bin Laden, who arrived by chartered jet Jalalabad airport in May 1996, and for Al Qaeda." -
Hassan and Farzana are killed by the Taliban
In the year 200, Hassan and his wife Farzana are killed in the street after denying housing to Taliban members. When Hassan refused to house the Taliban Members, they took him into the street, and "shot him in the back of the head" (Hosseini 219). After hearing this news, all of Amir's regrets and faults come back to him, and he becomes angry. -
US Military leads attack on Al Qaeda
The US has been militarily involved in Afghanistan since 2001, when it "lead an invasion after the September 11 attacks by Al Qaeda" (The New York Times). -
Al Qaeda is diminished, and the Taliban removed from power
The 2001 invasion succeeded in "dislodging Al Qaeda, and removing the Taliban from power, but not in eradicating either group." -
The Taliban makes a comeback in Pakistan
With american millitary efforts focoused in iraq, "the Taliban made a steady comeback...And safe havens in Pakistan." (The New York Times). -
Sorhab attempts suicide
After Amir breaks the news that he will have to put Hassan in an orphanage for the time being. Amir goes to sleep, and then wakes and checks on Sorhab taking his nightly bath. When Amir goes to the bathroom, he is startled to see a bloody Sohrab, and is "suddenly on [his] knees, screaming" (Hosseini 343). Amir is in shock when he finds Sohrab in the state he is in. Amir is scared that his only chance to atone for his mistakes, and feels like he has let down Hassan. -
Amir stands up for Sorhab when he is called by a Hazara by the General.
Amir brings Sorhab to dinner to meet Soraya's parents. The General is upset with the state of the boy. When the General inquiries about why Amir has a Hazara boy with him, and Amir gets defensive, and tells the general to "'never again refer to him as 'Hazara boy''" (Hosseini 361). Amir gets defensive when General Taheri referes to him as a Hazara boy, and wants to defend his last ties to Hassan and his past, wich mean alot to him. -
Attack on the world trade center in New York
After the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11th 2001, President George W bush gave the Taliban "an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden" (The New York Times). -
Sorhab smiles for the first time
After his ordeal, Amir brings Sohrab back to San Francisco with him. Sorhab is distant and does not talk. Amir and Hassan fly kites, and Amir looks down at Sorhab to see "one corner of his mouth had curled up just so' (Hosseini 370). Amir is relieved to see Sorhab smile because it means that things are looking up for him and his situation.