Afghanistan/Kite Runner

By Ally Wright

  • Baba's Birthday

    Baba, Amir's father's life began "In 1933, [which was] the year Baba was born...". (24)

  • Amir's Birthday

    By saying "I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975." (1), we can assume that Amir was born in the year 1963.

  • Hassan's Birthday

    Amir tells us Hassan's birthday by saying "...Hassan was born in the winter of 1964..." (6).

  • Amir and Hassan Fear Over a Shooting

    Hassan and Amir panic when they hear gunshots in the middle of the night "...they hadn't shot much of anything that night of July 17, 1973. Kabul awoke the next morning to find the monarchy was a thing of the past." (36).

  • The Day Everything Changed

    After a kite flying tournament, Amir witnesses his friend Hassan be sexually assaulted which was a traumatic experience. In the book he explains that the event "...came along and changed everything." (2)

  • Soviet Union Invades

    Afghanistan has been a very unstable country "since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded." (NYT)

  • Hassan and Ali Move Away

    After Hassan explains the rape to his father, they make the decision to move away while being discrete to not tell Baba by vaguely saying "'Life here is impossible for us now..." (106)

  • Baba and Amir leave Kabul

    After horrific events continue to occur in Arabia, Baba and Amir decide to leave Kabul which Amir tells us by saying "My innards had been rolling since we'd left Kabul..." (110)

  • Baba Stands Up for a Stranger

    While immigrating via truck to Pakistan, a Russian solider stops the vehicle Baba and Amir are a part of and demand that in return for allowing them to pass they can commit adultery with a woman who is traveling with them. Baba defends her, when the soldiers pull a gun on him he says "...I'll take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency take place." (116). This event gave Amir a new perspective of what bravery is.

  • Amir Graduates

    Amir successfully graduates from high school "...at the age of twenty, by far the oldest senior tossing their mortarboard.." (131)

  • Amir Meets His Wife For the First Time

    Amir meets a young woman named Soraya and expresses his love for her and foreshadows the future marriage between them because his "...heart shuttered at the thought of her." (142)

  • Soviet Union Leaves Afghanistan

    Eventually, all Soviet troops had "...left Afghanistan in February 1989..." (NYT)

  • Anarchy For Afghanistan

    Unfortunately, after the Soviet troops left Afghanistan, "...by the summer of 1994, power was anarchy divided..." (NYT)

  • The Taliban Take Over

    In their own extremest attempt to purify the country, "...the Taliban, the Islamic group that had seized control in 1996" (NYT)

  • Afghanistan Gives Osama Bin Laden Asylum

    After Osama Bin Laden became wanted The Taliban "...provided a haven for Mr.Bin Laden...in May 1996..." (NYT)

  • USA Military Enters Afghanistan

    As a result of the September 11th attacks, "The United States has been militarily in Afghanistan since 2001" (NYT, 1)

  • Amir Returns

    Amir has to return to Afghanistan because his friend "Rahim Khan is very sick." (191)

  • Amir Has a Realization

    After returning to Afghanistan and meeting back up with his old friend Rahim, he is overwhelmed with the information that he and Hassan are actually half brothers related by their father. Rahim does not directly say this but implies this by reacting to Amir's questions with "I think you know who." (222) since Baba was the only male who had contact with her at the time.

  • Sohrab's Rescue

    A couple of days after learning about he and Hassan's relationship, Amir is asked as Rahim's dying wish to rescue Sohrab, who is his half nephew and Hassan's son. However, Sohrab's capture was done by Assef who was the same person to sexually assault Hassan. Contrary to the two's prior interaction, Amir agrees to a fight where "...only one of us will walk out of this room alive." (287)

  • Shorab Comes to America

    After much difficulty, Amir is successfully able to bring home Sohrab and arrived "...on a warm day in August 2001." (357)

  • USA Terrorist Attack

    Afghanistan's terrorist organization Al Qaeda executed an "...attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11 2001..." (NYT)

  • Amir's Reflection

    In the beginning of the book, Amir introduces the story from his own personal reflection after these events already took place stating the events were important because he "... became what I am today at the age of twelve..." (1)

  • President Karzai

    A friend of a former overthrown king, Hamid Karzai was "...elected to a five-year term as president in 2004." (NYT)

  • The Beginning of American Troops Exiting Afghanistan

    President Obama reveled on "...Dec. 1, 2009... his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops." (NYT)

  • Obama's Deadline

    After spending years fighting "...the 2014 date was based on the presumption that the American military would be successful enough in fighting the Taliban..." (NYT)