-
KITE RUNNER- Hassan's birth
A year after Amir is born, "Hassan was born..."(Hosseini 6) His birth is significant because Hassan was Amir's half-brother. In addition, the plot of the book mainly revolves around Hassan. -
KITE RUNNER- Hassan's lip surgery
When Hassan is presented with his birthday present, Hassan sees a man who explains "my job is to fix things on people's faces. Sometimes their faces"(Hosseini 45). Hassan proceeds to "[touch] his upper lip"(Hosseini 46). Since Hassan was constantly bullied for his harelip, having this surgery to fix it helped give him more confidence. -
KITE RUNNER-Amir wins the kite contest
After Amir was able to take down the last remaining kite in a neighborhood kite contest, he ecstatically screamed, "We won! We won!"(Hosseini 66) Amir winning the kite contest was important to him because he wanted to win Baba's love. Amir did gain Baba's love, but it was at the expense of Hassan. Hassan running for the last kite falling from the kite resulted in him getting raped. -
KITE RUNNER- Hassan gets raped by Assef
When running the kite, Hassan encounters Assef and his friends. Hassan starts to get beat up in the alley when "[Assef] positioned himself behind Hassan"(Hosseini 75). Hassan getting raped and Amir not doing about it led to over 20 years of guilt for Amir. It also lead to Ali and Hassan leaving Baba and Amir, which was the end of Hassan's and Amir's relationship. -
KITE RUNNER-Hassan and Ali leave Baba and Amir
Ali finds out that Hassan was raped, and Amir falsely accused Hassan for stealing. Ali and Hassan think it is too much for them and says "We are leaving, Agha sahib,"(Hosseini 106) After Hassan and Amir left, it was the end of Hassan and Amir. Amir still felt guilty after many years because he was the reason that Hassan and Ali walked out of Baba and Amir's life. -
Soviet Union invasion
Afghanistan is known for their non-stop wars, and their reason for this dates back to, "1979 when the Soviet Union invaded" (NYT). -
Period: to
Afghanistan Overview
-
KITE RUNNER- Baba and Amir leave Afghanistan
Afghanistan started to become unsafe, and invasions started happening. Therefore Baba and Amir made the ultimate decision to "[leave] Kabul..."(Hosseini 110) Amir and Baba going to America led to many more major events. It also led to the close relationship between the two; however their wealth was no longer exsistent in the U.S. -
KITE RUNNER- Amir meets Soraya
While Baba and Amir have a conversation with General Taheri, a young woman came in. Amir saw her as " a slim-hipped beauty..."(Hosseini 140) Meeting Soraya was like a blessing in disguise. It helped him meet the love of his life. -
KITE RUNNER- Amir marries Soraya
After falling in love with Soraya, the General gives Amir the blessing to marry Soraya by saying "I welcome you to my home as a son, as the husband of my daughter..."(Hosseini 168) Amir marrying Soraya made Amir feel happy. He could rely on Soraya when he needed to, and Soraya always made Amir feel at peace. -
KITE RUNNER- Baba passes away
After Baba suffered long from his illness, there was one night where baba went to bed and "[he] never woke up"(Hosseini 173). Baba was always looking over Amir, especially in America. Without Baba, Amir was officially parentless. Baba taught many life lessons to AMir and everyone. -
Soviet Union leaves Afghanistan
After a rough 10 years of the Soviet Union invasion, "the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989," (NYT) -
KITE RUNNER- Sohrab is born
Hassan and his wife, Farzana, married and had a child, "It was Sanubar who delivered Hassan's son..." Sohrab brought Amir a way to atone for his sins. Amir cared greatly for Sohrab, and through him Amir felt there was a way to start iver. -
Taliban takes control of Afghanistan
After the Soviet Union departure, groups started to form to fight for power. There was one group called the Taliban, and by "1996 had taken control of Afghanistan,"(NYT) -
KITE RUNNER- Hassan and Farzana are killed
When the Talibs came looking at Baba's house where Hassan and his wife lived, they "shot [Hassan] in the back of the head... [and] shot her too"(Hosseini 219). This was a loss for Amir and Sohrab. Amir wanted to talk to Hassan again to apologize as an attempt to atone for his sins, but he could no longer do so. For Sohrab, the loss of his parents at his young age took a toll on him because he was put into the orphangage early on, which led to sexual abuse. -
KITE RUNNER- Assef and Amir fight
As an attempt to get Sohrab, Amir meets with the Taliban leader unaware it is Assef. Assef strikes a deal saying "only one of us will walk out of this room alive... if it's him, then he's earned his freedom..."(Hosseini 287) This fight was the moment where Amir finially atoned for his sins. Amir always felt that in order to be relived from the bad things he's done, he deserves to be punished. This moment was his punishment for not protecting Hassan, and letting him leave. -
New leader in Afghanistan
There was a new leader of Afghanistan, named Hamid Karzai, "in December 2001," -
KITE RUNNER- Rahim Khan asks Amir to go back to Afghanistan
Since Rahim Khan is sick, he asks Amir to "go to Pakistan"(Hosseini 191). Going back to Afghanistan was the start of AMir's atonement journey. He finially faced all his sins, and met Sohrab. -
KITE RUNNER- Amir goes to America with Sohrab
After a long struggle to get Sohrab to America, "[they] finally arrived [to america] about seven months ago,"(Hosseini 357) This was a way for Amir to start fresh again, and to make it up to Hassan. Taking care of Sohrab for Hassan was the last thing he could do for Hassan and Farzana. Amir brought Sohrab to America because Afghanistan was dangerous, and he did not want SOhrab to get assulted again. -
9/11 Attack
There was an infamous attack on New York led by groups from Afghanistan on "Sept. 11, 2001,"(NYT) -
KITE RUNNER- Amir and Sohrab fly a kite
When celebrating the Afghan New Year's day, Amir notices a kite competition forming again. Amir asks Sohrab if he wants to run the kite for him, and Sohrab nods and Amir replies with "[f]or you, a thousand times over," (Hosseini 371) This moment of kite flying reminded Amir of his childhood with Hassan. Through Sohrab, he could almost rewind time and do everything right. It was his way of starting over. -
Mr. Karzai gets elected for president
After being a temporary president, "Mr. Karzai was elected to a five-year term as president in 2004" (NYT). -
General Petraeus takes control
General Petraeus was a commander for Iraq who "had taken charge of United States Central Command in October 2008," (NYT) -
Obama plans to send troops to Afghanistan
At West Point, Mr. Obama said "[i]n a speech delivered Dec.1, 2009... [that he plans] to deploy 30,000 additional troops (to Afghanistan)" (NYT). -
The removal of Gen. McChrystal
After making rude remarks, "In June 2010, President Obama removed Gen. McChrystal..." (NYT). -
Obama says troops will remain in Afghanistan until 2014
Obama said that "the United States will have forces in the country until at least the end of 2014" (NYT).