Kite Runner & the History of Afghanistan

By allylanglinais

  • Amir overhears how Baba is talking to Rahim Khan about how he's a coward.

    In the book as Baba is talking to Rahim Khan about Amir he says, "A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything" (22). This proves that Baba thinks Amir is a coward and that something is missing from him. Baba doesn't understand why he doesn't fight back when kids pick on him.

  • Hassan stands up for Amir against Assef.

    Before Amir was about to be punched by Assef, Amir said, "I turned and came face to face with Hassan's slingshot" (41). This shows that Hassan is brave and is willing to stick up with his friend even when he has a greater chance of being hurt based on race. He loves Amir and would do anything for him, he did not want to see his friend get pushed around by a bully.

  • Amir and Hassan win the kite tournament.

    During the kite race Amir opens his eyes and sees "the blue kite spinning wildly like a tire come loose from a speeding car" (66). Amir is so happy he won because now he feels that his dad will finally be proud of him. Him and Hassan are so happy and are so excited to celebrate that night.

  • Hassan is violated.

    As Assef is violating Hassan, Amir thinks, "I could step into that alley, 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" (77). Sadly in the end Amir decides to run because he is a coward. Hassan was being violated because of his loyalty to Amir, he wants to get Amir the winning kite and goes through all of this just to do it. This shows Hassan's an amazing friend that would do anything for Amir.

  • Amir frames Hassan for stealing his birthday presents.

    Amir, "lifted Hassan's mattress and planted [his] new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it" (104). He does this to try and frame Hassan so he never has to see him again. He feels that he can't live with the guilt so does this to make Baba mad at Hassan and have them leave.

  • Hassan and Ali leave Baba's house.

    Due to all the things that have been going on Ali says, "Life is impossible for us now, Agha sahib. We're leaving" (106). He knows about everything and looks at Amir with disgust. He is letting his son take the blame for stealing something that he never took because he knows that Amir is too coward to say anything about everything's that happened. Ali doesn't want his son to be around Amir anymore because he is not a good friend at all to Hassan and he knows Hassan can't live like this.

  • "Afghanistan, officaially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, has known little peace since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded" (1).

  • "The first Soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on Dec. 27, 1979, to assist Babrak Karmal, who had become president in a coup wothin the Afghan Communist leadership" (2).

  • Amir and Baba move to America.

    When Amir and Baba move to America, Amir said, "Baba loved the idea of America" (125). He liked how he was always safe and how everyone was close In the community. He also loved the chance to give Amir a good American education and give him hope for a successful future here in America.

  • Amir marries Soraya.

    After Soraya tells her deepest secret, she asks If it changes Amir's mind about them getting married and he said, "Nothing you said changes anything. I want us to marry" (165). He is. It affected by it because he knows that he cannot base anyone off their past based on what he had done in the past. He also loves her so much and knew that nothing would have ever gotten in the way of those feelings for her.

  • Baba dies.

    Baba's cancer became really bad and Amir started to think, "I had been 'Baba's son.' Now he was gone. Baba couldn't show me the way anymore. I'd have to find it on my own" (174). This shows that Amir's whole life has been defined by Baba and now that he is gone he will have to start defining his own life. He loved Baba more than anything and losing him was so hard for him especially since he guided him through most of his life.

  • "After 1986, the Soviet Air Force was also rendered largely useless by advanced Stinger antiaircraft missiles supplied by the United States to the rebels" (2).

  • "Eventually, after peace talks moderated by the Unites Nations, the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989, in what was in effect a unilateral withdrawal" (2).

  • After Soviet forces departed, Afghanistan descended int vicious internecine strife; by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms" (2).

  • "The Taliban also provided a haven for Mr. bin Laden, who arrived by chartered her at Jalalabad Airport in May 1996, and for Al Qaeda" (3).

  • Amir gets Rahim Khan's phone call.

    After Rahim Khan called him saying he's very sick and to go to Pakistan Amir dwells on something Rahim Khan says which was, "Come. There is a way to be good again" (192). He discovers that Rahim knew what happened with Hassan and everything that went down during that summer of 1975. He wa to to go to Pakistan to see if there is anything that he can do to make him good again, because he still cares about Hassan.

  • "The United States has been miliatarily involved in Afghanistan since 2001, when it led an invasion after the Sept. 11 attacks by Al Qaeda" (1).

  • "After the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush have the Taliban and ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden" (3).

  • Hassan dies.

    When Hassan protested to leave Amir's old house to the Taliban they, "took him into the street--and shot him in the back of the head" (219). Thus broke Amir's heart because he never got to atone for his mistakes he made towards Hassan. Hassan was loyal to Amir until the day he died, he would have done anything for Amir.

  • Amir finds out Hassan and him are half brothers.

    After Rahim Khan hints at Amir that Baba is Hassan's real dad he starts to yell "my whole life is one big ******* lie" (223). Amir is disappointed that he never knew about this and that Hassan never found out either. He was lied to his whole life so how can he trust anything now, he was angry and sad.

  • Amir rescues Sohrab.

    As Amir is getting beat up by Assef to come save Sohrab, Sohrab holds a slingshot up to Assef and says, "No more, Agha. Please. Stop hurting him" (290). Sohrab helps save Amir and gets them out of there and back to safety. He was very brave to do this, just like his father.

  • Sohrab attempts suicide.

    When Amir wakes up he gets scared "when [he] looked to Sohrab's bed and found it empty" (313). He later finds him at the mosque when he tried to kill himself. He doesn't remember what his parents look like anymore and that just makes him incredibly sad.

  • Amir and Sohrab go back to the United States.

    Amir and Sohrab "left late that afternoon, tired from the heat, but tired in a pleasant way" (323). They were finally on their way home to the United States and both could not be any happier. There Amir and Soraya were going to adopt Sohrab because he was family, and family sticks together.

  • "President Obama made Afghanistan the central military forceof his administration, drawing troops out of Iraq and increasing the number in Afghanistan by 50,000" (1).

  • "In a speech delivered Dec. 1, 2009, at West Point, Mr. Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops" (4).