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Baba and Ali
1933, the year Baba is born and Zahir Shah becomes king of Afghanistan. Around the same time, two young men who are driving while drunk and high hit and kill Ali’s parents. Amir’s grandfather takes the young Ali in, and Ali and Baba grow up together. -
New born.
Hassan was born in the winter of 1964, in a little shack, one year after Amir's mother died after giving birth to him. Hassan's mother ran off with a clan of traveling singer and dancers right after given birth to Hassan. -
Cutting strings
The day of the competition comes. The kites tournament lasts all day, and Amir is doing well. He can see Baba sitting on a rooftop, watching. Eventually all that remain are Amir’s kite and one other, a blue kite. They battle and Amir wins, sending the blue kite flying loose. Amir and Hassan cheer and hug, but Amir sees Baba motioning for them to separate. Hassan vows to bring the kite back for Amir and sets off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TroueqxAtM -
Blue kite
. Hassan has the blue kite, and he is surrounded by Assef and the two other boys that are always with him, Kamal and Wali. Amir watches from around the corner. Assef tells Hassan they will let him go only if he hands over the kite. Hassan refuses. He ran the kite fairly, and it belongs to Amir. Assef says Amir would not be as loyal to him, an ugly pet Hazara. Hassan is not shaken. He says he and Amir are friends. Assef and the other boys charge Hassan. Amir almost says something, but ultimately -
The beggining of the end.
One night, gunfire erupts in the street. Ali, Hassan, and Amir hide in the house until morning. Amir says that night was the beginning of the end of the Afghanistan they knew. It slipped away further in 1978 with the communist takeover, and it disappeared completely in 1979 when Russia invaded. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/russia_invasion_afghanistan.htm -
Hero
Amir and Baba are in the back of a truck with several other Afghans on the way to Pakistan.The truck driver, Karim, has a business arrangement with the soldiers guarding the road. But when they arrive at the checkpoint, the Russian guard eyes a woman in the truck and says the price of passing is half an hour with her. Baba won’t allow it. The Russian threatens to shoot Baba and raises his handgun, but another Russian officer stops him. -
Adoption
In the summer of 1988, Amir finishes his first novel. He gets it published, and then he and Soraya start trying to have a baby. They are unable to conceive, however, and after numerous tests doctors cannot explain why they can’t have a child. They talk about adoption, but General Taheri says he doesn’t like the idea. -
Taliban take control of Kabul.
The Soviets had been pushed out of Kabul, but fighting continues between rival Afghan groups. Hassan, meanwhile, is teaching Sohrab to read and to run kites. In 1996, the Taliban take control of Kabul. Two weeks later they ban kite fighting. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11451718 -
Phone call
Amir has just received a call from Rahim Khan, who wants Amir to see him in Pakistan. Amir tells Soraya he has to go. Rahim Khan, the first grownup Amir ever thought of as a friend, is very ill. Rahim tells Amir that there is a way to be good again. -
'' For you, a thousand times over.''
One rainy day in March 2002, Amir takes Sohrab, Soraya, and Kamila to a gathering of Afghans at a park. Soraya points out kites flying in the sky. Amir finds a kite seller, and with the new kite he walks over to Sohrab. Amir and Sohrab sever the other kite’s string, cutting it loose. People cheer around them, and a brief smile appears on Sohrab’s face. Amir asks if he should run the kite for Sohrab, and Sohrab nods. “For you, a thousand times over,” Amir says (p. 371), and sets off running.
