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Hassan is born one year after Amir, and they nurse from the same woman
After Sanaubar leaves and Sofia dies, "Baba hired the same nursing woman who had fed me to nurse Hassan" (Hosseini 11). The kinship between those who have fed from the same breasts is remarked on throughout the novel, though unbeknownst to many, the two are in fact brothers. This is eventually used to expose Amir's true nature as a coward, in that he cannot even stand up for his own half brother when Hassan is raped. -
Baba and Amir go to a buzkashi tournament
Feeling that his son needed to become more manly, "Baba took [Amir] to the yearly Buzkashi tournament." However, during the tournament a rider "fell off his saddle and was trampled under a score of hooves...[Amir] cried all the way back home... Baba's hands clenched around the steering wheel" (Hosseini 21). Baba cannot understand why Amir doesn't enjoy the thrill of the game. This exemplifies the important conflict that Baba cannot connect with Amir due to his pensive and non-athletic nature. -
Hassan fends off Assef with his slingshot
Assef, an insane bully with brass knuckles, finds Hassan and Amir, and threatens to attack them purely because Hassan is Hazara. However, "Hassan held the slingshot pointed directly at Assef's face...'If you make a move, they'll have to change your nickname to...'One-eyed Assef''" (Hosseini 42). This foreshadows the books end, in that Sohrab will eventually be called upon to save Amir, like his father. It demonstrates that Amir is a coward, one of his core traits. -
Amir wins the Kabul kite-fighting tournament
The Kabul kite-fighting tournament is the biggest in years and after winning, Amir "saw Baba on our roof. He was...pumping both his fists... that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life" (Hosseini 66). Finally, Baba appreciates Amir for something he is good at, which is what Amir has always wanted. The conflict of the story seems to be resolved, but in the back of the reader's and Amir's mind, they know that Baba still does not really appreciate Amir for who he is. -
Assef rapes Hassan
After Hassan successfully runs the last kite of the year, he is caught in an alley, where "Assef... flung himself at Hassan, knocking him to the ground" (Hosseini 73). Amir hides behind a fence and watches, paralyzed, until he eventually runs away, guilt-ridden. The scene shows us again that Amir is truly a coward. It also demonstrates that Amir is willing to sacrifice anything, even his half-brother, for his father's love. -
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History of Afghanistan as it relates to The Kite Runner
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Hassan and Ali leave Kabul
As Ali says, "I'm sorry, Agha sahib, but our bags are already packed. We have made our decision" (Hosseini 106). Through treating Hassan poorly, calling him an imbecile, not standing up for him, and framing him (albeit by accident) for stealing, Amir drives Hassan to break up their friendship, and to leave the house completely. This portrays the theme that true friendship requires loyalty from both friends. -
The first Soviet troops invade Afghanistan
The invasion of Afghanistan began when "The first Soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on Dec. 27 1979, to assist Babrak Karmal, who had become president in a coup within the Afghan Communist leadership" (New York Times 2). -
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Soviet occupation of Afghanistan
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Baba stands up for a woman threatened with rape
On the way to Peshawar, when a Russian soldier threatens to rape a woman, Baba rises to defend the her, declaring that "I'll take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency take place" (Hosseini 116). This shows a clear contrast between Baba and Amir; Amir is the coward who is willing to sacrifice others for his own goals, while Baba is the hero who is willing to die in defense of the innocent. This also helps to illustrate the theme that parents and their children are often different -
Amir marries Soraya
Amir marries Soraya, an Afghan and daughter of one of Baba's friends. As he stares at her under a veil during their wedding ceremony, he begins "wondering if Hassan too had married. And if so, whose face had he seen in the mirror under the veil?" (Hosseini 171). Even during the happiest moments of his life, Amir is plagued by guilt from Hassan's rape, showing that choices people make during childhood shape who they become later. -
Baba dies
When Soraya's family comes over for dinner, "[Baba] watched me joking with Sharif, watched Soraya and me lacing our fingers together... I could see his internal smile... Baba never woke up" (Hosseini 173). Baba dies a happy death despite having no idea what happened to Hassan, his second son, showing that sometimes, people cannot do everything that they wish to do during their lifetime, and also suggesting that it is better just to be happy if there is nothing you can do about something. -
United States aids rebels fighting Soviet-backed Barbrak Karmal
Soviet efforts to protect the government were stymied in part by "advanced stinger antiaircraft missiles supplied by the United States" (New York Times 2). -
Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan
After losing thousands of lives and rubles, and "after peace talks moderated by the United Nations, the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989" (New York Times 2). -
Division of Afghanistan into competing regions
Following the fall of the reigning regime, "Afghanistan descending into vicious internecine strife; by the summer of 1994 power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms" (New York Times 2). -
Taliban, headed by Mullah Omar, gains steam
After becoming popular by usurping local warlords, "Mullah Omar, a Pashtun who had lost his eye fighting the soviets... had nearly 12,000 followers and was rolling up the warlords to the North and East" (New York Times 2) -
Pakistan helps Taliban to take over Afghanistan
Pakistan, a supporter of Islamic law, "began funneling arms, money, and supplies to Mullah Omar's men, as well as military advisers to help guide them in battle... By 1966, [The Taliban] had taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic Law." -
Amir returns to Kabul, searches for Sohrab
Upon Rahim Khan's request, Amir returns to Kabul, where he sees the cruel reign of the Taliban. When he finally finds the orphanage where Sohrab was housed, he finds that Sohrab has been given to a Taliban official. The director explains that "If I deny him one child, he takes ten. So I let him take one" (Hosseini 257). The director of the orphanage must sacrifice some children so that he can save the rest. This illustrates that safety for many is more important than the safety of one. -
Amir speaks with Rahim Khan
Amir flies back to Kabul upon Rahim Khan's request, and Rahim Khan tells him, among other things, that he is Hassan's half-brother, and that Hassan is dead. He then says "I want you to go to Kabul. I want you to bring Sohrab here."Amir eventually goes to fetch Sohrab, risking his life. This demonstrates that a person's dying wish is a powerful thing, deserving of respect, and that atonement is worth risking everything. For after all, the unatoned, unforgiven life is hardly worth living. -
Amir fights with Assef
Amir finds Sohrab at the house of Assef, he asks for Sohrab, but instead ends up fighting Assef. As Amir gets hit, "for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I'd even been looking forward to this" (Hosseini 289). Amir feels better because he'd always felt that he hadn't gotten what he deserved for what he let Hassan go through. This illustrates that oftentimes, atonement is a painful process. -
Sohrab attempts suicide
Sohrab attempts suicide after Amir warns that he might have to be placed in an orphanage. When he wakes up, he explains that he is just so "tired of everything" (Hosseini 354). Sohrab's mother, father, house, and uncle are gone, depicting a clear image of the toll an oppressive regime like the Taliban can have on its inhabitants. The lack of feeling Sohrab expresses towards life reflects the lack of consideration that war gives to those effected. -
Sohrab and Amir return to America
After Sohrab is released from the hospital, he comes to America to live with Amir and Soraya. However, as Amir puts it "It would be erroneous to say Sohrab was quiet. Quiet is peace. Silence is pushing the off button on life" (Hosseini 361). Amir could save neither Hassan nor Sohrab from the societies that robbed each of them of their virginity and safety, respectively. This explains why each incident produces a similar response, that of detached resignation to the unfairness of life. -
Taliban forced out of Afghanistan
After the attack on the World Trade center in New York, the United states began an offensive "that drove the Taliban out of the major of Afghan cities by the end of the year." (New York Times 3) -
Al Queda attacks Landmarks in the United States
Al Queda, an Islamic extremist group sheltered in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, attempted to fly hijacked passenger planes into "the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City... The Pentagon... [and] Washington D.C." However, though the others succeeded, the plane headed for Washington "crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers" (Wikipedia). -
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U.S. War on terror in Afghanistan
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Sohrab smiles
After Amir cuts down an opposing kite with Sohrab watching, "One corner of [Sohrab's] mouth curled up just so. A smile." (Hosseini 370). The beauty of this smile is what makes this such a great novel; Through all the pain and suffering that Sohrab has been through, he can still smile, inspiring hope, surely, in the hearts of any who read this passage. In the end, the novel leaves us with the message that the most important thing in life is to forgive, forget, and find something to enjoy. -
Taliban regroup and take back parts of Afghanistan's countryside
While American military interests turned elsewhere, "the Taliban continued to wage a guerrilla war from a base in the mountainous and largely lawless tribal area on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border...the American-led coalition has held the cities and highways, but...[has] ceded large parts of the countryside to the Taliban" (New York Times 4). -
President Obama deploys 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan
In 2009, "Mr. Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops" (New York Times 4).