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Baba was born, Zahir Shah gained power, and Amir's grandfather took Ali into his care
The year of 1933 brought many changes that would later affect Amir. It was "the year Baba was born and the year Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan...the police brought...dead couple's five-year-old orphan boy before [Amir's] grandfather...adopted him into his household, and told the other servants to tutor him, but to be kind to him. That boy was Ali"(25). In Amir's lifetime, he witnessed the fall of the Zahir and the strange relationship between Ali and his father. -
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Kite Runner & the History of Afghanistan
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Zahir Shah was overthrown by his cousin
One night, when Amir was alone with Ali and Hassan, they heard gunfire echoing through the streets of Kabul. Ali told the boys that someone was just shooting ducks, however"they weren't shooting ducks at all...Kabul awoke the next morning to find the monarchy a thing of the past...[the king's] cousin Daoud Khan had ended the king's forty-year reign with a bloodless coup"(36). This change created a republic in Afghanistan, which transitioned the country into one much similar to the western world -
Baba arranged for Hassan to get his cleft lip
Baba always made sure to get Hassan something for his birthday. However, this year"there was no gift-wrapped box in sight. No nag. No toy. Just Ali standing behind us, and Baba with this slight Indian fekllow who looked a little like a mathematics teacher...'I'm Dr. Kumar,' he said"(45). This year for Hassan's birthday, Baba got a doctor to fix up Hassans cleft lip. This revealed how much Baba truely cared about Hassan because he would not have gone through so much trouble if he didn't care. -
Amir won the Kite Flying Tournament
In the winter of 1975, Amir won his first Kite Tournament. He felt so acomplished and happy when he won, describing the time as "the single greatist moment of [his] twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of [him] at last"(66). All of his life, Amir wanted Baba to be proud of him. Despite his efforts, Baba always wished he were more athletic, independent, and manly. However, when he won the Kite Tournament, Baba was finally proud. -
Hassan was raped by Assef
As always, after winning the kite tournament, Hassan ran the kite for Amir. However, once Hassan was gone longer than usual, he began to worry. He found him in an alley, pinned down by Assef and his friends. They began beating him, and eventually raped him, but "in the end, [Amir] ran"(77). Even though he had more then one opprotunity to stand up for Hassan, he never did it. Looking back on the event, Amir wished he had done something but realized he was too much of a coward to do so. -
The Soviets Invade
Up until 1979, Afghanistan was fairly peaceful, however that did not last long because "the first Soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on December 27, 1979..." (The New York Times) to assist the new communist president. -
Baba and Amir left for America
Afghanistan had gotten far too dangerous for Amir and Baba to stay, so they feld to Pakistan where they could fly to the Untied States. They nicklected to tell their servant what they were doing because "you could not trust anyone in Kabul anymore..."(112). Amir and Baba wanted to get out of Afghanistan as safetly as possible so that they could start a new life in America. If they stayed in Afghanistan, their lives would have been very different than what they were used to. -
Amir graduated from high school
In 1983, at the age of twenty, Amir graduated high school. This was the beginning of the successful life he was hoping to live in America. However, the best moment of the day was when Baba came up to him and said " 'I am moftakhir Amir' he said. Proud" (131). After trying so hard to make his father proud in Afghanistan, Amir learned that all he really needed to do was make his own choices and work for things himself to earn Baba's respect. -
Baba and Amir began buying things at garage sales and selling them at Afghan flea markets to make some extra money
Baba and Amir had to work very hard to support themselves, and one of the ways they did that was by re-selling items they bought at garage sales at the Afghan flea market. These markets helped Baba and Amir in transitioning to their new life in America by having "an unspoken code of behaivor among Afghans at the flea market: you greeted they guy across the aisle..."(137-138) which created a sense of community among the Afghan immagrants. -
Baba was diagnosed with cancer
For many weeks, Baba told Amir that he had a cold. However, after a while, Amir convinced Baba to go to a doctor and they found out that Baba had cancer. The cancer was so advanced that all the doctors could do was prolong the process of it taking over his body. In the end, Baba said, "No chemo medication for me."(156). Being the Afghan that he was, Baba was not going to let them preform chemo therapy on him. If it would not change the outcome, Baba felt that there would be no point. -
Amir and Soraya got married
Amir and Soraya got married much sooner then traditionally acceptable becaus everyone knew that Baba did no have long to live. Also because of this, "Baba spent 35,000, nearly all ofnhis life savings on awrousi, the wedding ceremony"(169). This quote explains how finally, at the end of his life, Baba gave Amir everything he had. Baba's actions revealed how since coming to the U.S., he was willing to do a whole lot more for Amir. -
Baba went to General Taheris' house to ask for permission for Amir to marry Soraya
After meeting Soraya at the flea market many times, Amir decided to ask Baba to do the honors of asking General Taheris for his daughter's hand. Amir dropped Baba off at the Taheris house and as he was driving away, he described how "Baba was hobbling up the Taheris' driveway for one last fatherly duty," (163) demonstrating his new love and respect for Amir. Baba was proud of who Amir became, and proved this by going out of his way to make sure his son would get to marry the girl of his dreams. -
Amir wrote his first book and got it published
After Baba's death, Amir spent a lot more time writing, which made sense because Baba was one of the main reasons Amir didn't write more. This time, Amir sent his novel to a publisher, and about a month later, "[the publisher] called to inform [him] that [he] was going to be a published novelist"(183). This made both Amir and Soraya very excited because Amir was finally doing what he always had wanted to do. Now Amir was staring to make his own choices in life, which would have made Baba proud. -
The Soviets Leave
The New York Times explains, "Eventually, after peace talks moderated by the United Nations, the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989, in what was in effect a unilateral withdraw" (The New York Times). However, the Soviets left behind a country in ruins. One that was full of war and extremists who continued the fighting. -
Mullah Omar created the Taliban and started to gain followers
Mullah Omar, a man who lost his eye to the Soviets, made a group with other men to attack a group of men that raped a girl. As time went on, "Mullar Omar had nearly 12,000 followers...created a genuinely popular movement in a country weary of corruption and brutality." (The New York Timea) -
Taliban took control of Afghanistan
Since the early 1990's, the Taliban had been gaining support, but by 1996, they had "taken conrtol 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." (The New York Times) -
Rahim Kahn called Amir
Even though they had not heard from each other in many years, Rahim Khan finally called when he knew he would not live much longer. Rahim Khan asked for Amir to come to Pakistan, saying that "there was a way to be good again"(192). After all those years of wondering, Amir finally realized that Rahim Khan knew about all of the wrongs that he did in Afghanistan. He knew about the rape and setting up Ali and Hassan to make them leave, yet he told Amir there was still a way to be good again. -
The World Trade Center was attacked
After the Taliban attacked The World Trade Center, the United States "joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted the Taliban rule...drove the Taliban out of the major Afghan cities by the end of the year." (The New York Times) -
The Taliban was removed from power
The Tabliban was came back from being defeated many different times. The New York Times states, "The 2001 invasion succeeded in dislodging Al Qaeda and removing the Taliban from power, but not eradicating either group. With American military efforts focused on Iraq, the Taliban made a steady comback..." -
Hamid Karzai relpaced the Taliban and became the leader of Afghanistan
Hamid Karzai, who was a supporter and friend of the former king Mohammad Zahir Shah, who was exiled, became the leader of Afghanistand. He hoped to "secure peace for Afghanistan and win the county much needed international aid." (The New York Times) However, many Afghan blamed him for the lack of progress in the country. -
Amir brought Sohrab to an Afghan gathering
Sohrab had not said a word since coming to America, which was heart-breaking for Amir and Soraya. However, Amir did not loose hope. At one of the Afghan gatherings, people began flying kites. Amir took this opprotunity to show Sohrab what he and Hassan used to do all those years ago. When Sohrab cut his first kite, "one corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile"(370). This smile brought Amir hope that one day Sohrab would talk to him again. -
General Petraeus took charge of the U.S. Central Command
General Petraeus "recieved much of the credit for the success of the surge there [Iraq]" and became the U.S. Central Command. He was responsible "for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the region." (The New York Times) -
President Obama announced that he would deploy 30,000 additional Troops
President Obama delivered a speech at West Point where he stated that he would deploy more soldiers in Afghanistan and "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." (The New York Times) -
President Obama removed General McChrystal
President Obama removed General McChrystal, who was was appointed by General Petraeus. He was removed "after contemptuous quotes from the general and his staff about senior admisitration officers appeared in an article in Rolling Stone magazine." (The New York Times) -
Baba passed away
After struggling more and more with his cancer, Baba passed away in his sleep. The night before, when Soraya asked if he would like some pain medicine, Baba responded "There is no pain tonight,"(173) revealing that Baba knew what was coming and decided to except it. He felt that since moving to America, Amir had become a real man and was confident that he would do alright without having his father around.