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Foreshadow
In the first chapter of "The Kite Runner" there is constant foreshadoeing, one example is "I became what I am today at the age of twelve... crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley..." This tells us that some life-changing event took place, and completely changed Amir's Life. -
Amir and Hassan run into Assef
One day while walking in the streets, Amir and Hassar are approached by Assef. The boys got away, however, their escape has a price. Assef feels like now he has a score to settle with Hassan. -
Hassan's Birthday Gift From Baba
For Hassan's birthday instead of a toy that he would usually get from baba, he's given a gift of getting a surgery to frix his hare-lip. The surgery worked, and Hassan's only left with a faint scar. -
Amir Tells Hassas his dream
On the morning of the big kite contest, Hassan tells Amir of a dream he had. 'We were at Ghargha Lake, you, me... and thousands of other people... it was warm and sunny, and the lake was clear like a mirror. But no one was swimming because they said a monster had come to the lake. It was swimming at the bottom, waiting.' -
Amir Wins the Kite Contest
After a long day of intense competition, Amir wins the whole thing. "Then the moment came. I closed my eyes and loosened my grip on the string. It sliced my fingers again as the wind dragged it. And then... I didn't need to hear the crowd's roar to know. I didn't need to see either. Hassan was screaming and his arm was wrapped around my neck." -
Hassan is Raped By Assef
After Hassan runs the kite for Amir, he is cornered in an alley by Assef and his cronies. When he refuses to give up the kite, Assef gets his revenge, and rapes him. Amir is able to do something about it. "I had...One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that allaey, 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." -
Baba builds an orphanage
Amir tells that "when Amir was five or six, Baba decided to build an orphanage" (Hosseini 13). Baba was a good man, and used his money to build an orphanage. He succeeded and payed for the entire project. -
Baba dies
After Amir and Soraya help Baba to bed, "Baba never woke up" (Hosseini 173). Baba contracted cancer and has severe symptoms later. This ultimately leads to his death on the bed. Many respected him at his funeral. -
Amir graduates high school
After Baba and Amir move to America, in the "Summer of 1983, [Amir] graduated from high school at the age of twenty" (Hosseini 131). Amir studies at an American school and manages to graduate form it while Baba was still alive. After Amir graduates, he aims to become a world class writer. -
Back in America
Amir was at a video store when he spoiled a movie for some stranger, which was when Amir, "Learned that, in America, you don't reveal the ending of the movie, and if you do, you will be scorned" (Hosseini 357). Amir saw nothing wrong in telling someone a movie's ending, but in America you didn't do that, and like his relationship with Sohrab, they wouldn't know if there would be a happy ending until they see the whole thing through. Amir wanted the best for Sohrab and would do anything for him. -
Soviet Union Left Afghanistan (NYT)
The Soviet Union withdrawals from Afghanistan, after peace talks. The country was, "not only devastated by the war but that had become a beacon to Islamic extremists from across the globe who had come to assist in the fighting, including Osama bin Laden and the group he helped found, Al Qaeda" (NYT). -
Sanaubar Re-enters Hassan's Life
Hassan's long lost mother, Sanaubar, had appeared at his door step one day and Hassan, "Took Sanaubar's hand in both of his and told her she could cry if she wanted to but she needn't, she was home now" (Hosseini 210). Hassan's mother left him at birth and he never had even met the lady until now, causing him to feel angered towards her. Although, he came to realize that it was better to forgive and make ammends with Sanaubar, so that they may live together in harmony and make up for lost time. -
Amir's Thoughts While Driving Back Into Kabul
Amir was driving in the car with Farid as they entered Kabul and remembered that the, "Mujahedin forces [had] showered Kabul with rockets between 1992 and 1996, inflicting much of the damage [he] was witnessing now" (Hosseini 245). Amir was shocked at the condition he saw Kabul in, which made it hard to remeber it as the place it had been long ago, when he was young. Much had changed since Amir had last been there, and it wasn't pleasant for him to see his homeland in such a disasterous state. -
Mullah Omar has 12,000 followers
Acoording to the NYT, "By the end of 1994, Mullah Omar had nearley 12,000 followers and was rolling up the warlords to the north and east" (NYT 2). -
Taliban Take Over Afghanistan
With the help of Pakistan, the Talibans took over Afghanistan by, "imposing strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law, banning movies and music and forcing women out of schools and into all-enveloping burqa clothing" (NYT). -
Hassan Is Afraid for the Hazaras
Everyone thought the daily fighting was over when the Taliban came to Kabul, but Hassan said, "God help the Hazaras now" (Hosseini 213). Hassan was right to talk of the Taliban that way, because the Taliban were a curse more than a blessing, which everyone came to know soon enough. He knew the Hazara people would be in touble, so Hassan feared very much for himself and his family about what was to come in the future. -
Osama Bin Laden arrives at Jalalabad Airport in AFghanistan
The Taliban supported Bin Laden, whom "arrived by chartered jet at Jalalabad Airport in May 1996" (NYT 3). -
Power in Afghanistan was anarchially divided among warlords and fiefdoms
According to NYT, "by the summer of 1994, power was anarchially divided among competing warlords an individual fiefdoms" (NYT 2). -
Taliban takes control of Afghanistan
During the Taliban movement, they were "Buoyed by Pakistani aid, [and] the Taliban by 1996 had taken control of Afghanistan" (NYT 3). -
Baba lying
Amir Finds out that Hassan is his brother and that Baba has been lieing to the both of them for so long. -
Hassan and Farzana are Killed
Rahim Khan told Amir that Hassan and Farzana died and all Amir could say was, "No. No. No." (Hosseini 219). Amir could only speak these words because he had never even gotten to apologize to Hassan or what he did to him when they were young, and he could never do it now. Hassan had been so selfless that he was killed because he was taking care of Baba's house in Kabul, and after what happened in that house when he was young, Amir never expected him to go back, which made him feel even worse. -
Amir leaves for Pakistan
After Amir recieves a phone call from Rahim Khan, Amir "sat on a window seat aboard a Pakistani International Airlines flight..." (Hosseini 194). Amir hears that Rahim Khan is sick, and must ravel to Pakistan to take care of him. Later, Amir learns of the truth from Rahim Khan. -
(Kite Runner) Assef is seen again
In a meeting with a Taliban leader, the Taliban leader says "Whatever happened to the old Bablu, anyway?" (Hosseini 281). Amir realizes it is Assef due to him being one of the only ones whom he knew insulted Baba this way. Assef could identify Amir even with a fake beard on. -
Amir and Farid see the Taliban execute someone with stones
In a speech at the stadium, the cleric says "what manner of punishment, brothers and sisters, befits the adulterer?... WE SHALL THROW THE STONES BACK!" (Hosseini 270). In an attempt to find the pserson responsible for taking children from an orphanage, Amir and farid travel to find a Talibe leader. This lead them to a stadium and an execution of a couple by throwing stones. -
Amir arrives home at America
After all the chaos, Amir "arrived home... on a warm day in August 2001" (Hosseini 257). Amir finally manages to get Sohrab to America in August 2001. Soraya planned many things for Sohrab, bu Sohrab instead walks around the house most of the time. -
September 11 attacks (NYT)
There was an "attack on thw World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001..." (3). -
sohrab tries to commit suicide
Amir leaves Sohrab to take a shower, and when Amir "pushed the door open... suddenly [Amir] was on [his] knees, screaming" (Hosseini 343). Amir opened up the bathroom door and finds that Sohrab tried to kill himself. Sohrab hated orphnages so much, he was willing to die than go to one. -
Amir Goes Back Home with Sohrab
Amir had helped Sohrab run a kite, which made Sohrab smile for the first time since he arrrived in America and, "It didn't make evrything all right. It didn't make anything all right...But I'll take it. With open arms" (Hosseini 371). Amir had tried so hard to make Sohrab feel loved, but him not smiling made him feel hopeless, as if it was a mistake bringing him to the US. Though, when he smiled, it showed there was a chance that everything would be alright one day and that they'd live happily. -
Karzai elected to a five-year term (NYT)
After taking the place of chairman, "Mr. Karzai was elected to a five-year term as president in 2004" (NYT 3). -
Petraeus Takes Charge of US Central Command
General Petraeus was an Iraq commander who got most of the credit for the successful surge there. He took charge of the US Central Command with, "responsibility for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the region" (NYT). -
Obama plans to deploy 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan
According to NYT "a speech delivered Dec. 1, 2009. Obama announcedhis plan to deploy 30,000additional troops." (4) -
Happy Sohrab
Sohrab gets mad because he thinks Amir and his wife would get tired and annoyed of him in America and that he might have to go back to an orphanage so he cuts himself and almost dies. Once they get to America Sohrab doesnt speak at all but when there is a Kite Fight in the Park Amir and Sohrab participate in it and it makes Sohrab happy. -
Fight with Kites
Amir and Hassan were in the Kite Fight and they won the whole thing and impressed Baba -
Amir and Hassan Return Home
Amir returns home, vhe is super happy. Neither he or Hassan speak about what happened in the alley. Baba is finally proud of Amir. -
Amir Overhears Baba's Dissaproval of Him
Amir hears him talking about his disapproval to Rahim Khan. Baba is a large, intimidating man. Everybody likes him, and when he was child, he was very athletic. Amir, however, is completely opposite.
