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Sanaubar leaves Hassan
Today is Ali's big day because Hassan is born, but Hassan unfortunately has a cleft lip. Ali's wife Sanaubar is not pleased with how her son looks so she, "Lost her to a fate most Afghans considered far worse than death: She ran off with a clan of traveling singers and dancers" (Hosseini 6). Hassan's mother leaves Hassan because she doesn't want to take care of her son that has the cleft lip. She does not want to take care of him because she thinks he looks ugly and disgusting. -
Hassan gets surgery for his lip
It is Hassan's birthday and as a present Baba takes Hassan to the hospital to get surgery for his cleft lip. Baba takes Hassan to a hospital where the doctor is named Dr. Kumar and he says, "my job is to fix things on people's bodies. Sometimes their faces" (Hosseini 44). Baba has always known that Hassan did not like his cleft lip and wanted to get surgery, but could not afford it. Baba wanted to get a present that Hassan would keep and love so, this surgery was the winner. -
Period: to
Kite Runner & The History of Afghanistan
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Amir wins the kite competition
After starting the kite competition, Amir flies his kite and is the last standing kite in the air. Amir cuts the last opposing kite in the competition, he said, "I was throwing my free arm around Hassan and we were hopping up and down.. 'You won, Amir agha! You won!" (Hosseini 66). Throughout Amir's childhood, making his father feel proud of him was always one of his goals to pursue. After Amir brought the kite to Baba, Amir started crying because Baba was proud of him. -
Hassan gets raped
While Hassan is trying to grab the kite, Hassan runs into Assef and gets raped. When Amir arrives to the rape scene, he said "I opened my mouth, I almost said something. Almost" (Hosseini 74). Amir's choice to not stand up for Hassan changed their relationship completely, but especially affected how Amir viewed himself. Unfortunately, because of Hassan not giving Assef the kite, Hassan gets raped and their friendship starts to drift away. -
Assef brings a present for Amir's birthday
Summer comes along and Amir turns thirteen and Assef comes and greets Amir. Assef brings a present with his parents Tanya and Mahmood and says, "'I picked out your present myself" (Hosseini 95). Assef greets and brings Amir a present because he wants to show that they can be friends and not enemies. Amir makes a fake smile and starts to feel sick because his father is getting along with Assef. -
Ali and Hassan leave
Ali leaves because Hassan covers for Amir when Amir steals the watch. One morning, Ali has important news to share with Baba and announces, "We are leaving, Agha Sahib... we can't live here anymore" (Hosseini 106). The day that Ali and Hassan leave Baba's home has many hidden emotions within it. Baba is upset because Ali and him grew up together and have a sturdy relationship and he is leaving. Also, Amir and Hassan are best friends and Ali is making Hassan leave with him. -
Khan proposes a new constitution about women rights
Khan proposes a new constitution that grants women rights and works to modernize the largely communist state. He also, "cracks down on opponents, forcing many suspected of not supporting Khan out of the government" (www.Pbs.org). -
Amir and Baba leave Afghanistan
Amir and Baba leave Afghanistan and start to drive to Fremont to get away from all the Russians. Amir and Baba leave in a truck drive by a man named Farid, who "was a people smuggler... he was taking us to Jalalabad" (Hosseini 11). In order to get to Fremont, Amir and Baba had to switch to many different cars to hid themselves. The decision to move to the U.S. shifts their relationship and Baba starts to become more equal with Amir. -
Afghans fled to Pakistan
After the war, some of the 2.8 million Afghans, "fled from the war to Pakistan, and another 1.5 million have fled to Iran. Afghan guerrillas gain control of rural areas, and Soviet troops hold urban areas" (www.Pbs.org). -
Amir graduates from high school
One of Amir's proudest moments and was when he "graduated from high school at the age of twenty.. I remember losing Baba in the swarm families, flashing cameras, blue gowns" (Hosseini 131). Amir followed the path that he wanted to take in order to pursue his writing career. After this, Amir wants to go to college and major in english and writing. -
Saudi Islamist Osama bin Laden helps to aid anti-Soviet fighters
Although he claims to have traveled to Afghanistan immediately after the Soviet invasion, "Saudi Islamist Osama bin Laden makes his first documented trip to Afghanistan to aid anti-Soviet fighters [and]
The United Nations investigates reported human rights violations in Afghanistan" (www.Pbs.org). -
Baba compliments Amir in his writing
Baba is talking to General Taheri and compliments Amir for his writing. Baba talks to General Taheri and says, "Amir is going to be a great writer [and] he finished his first year of college and earned A's in all of his course" (Hosseini 139). Baba has never complimented Amir in his interest in English or Writing. Because Baba is about to die, he is making his time last with Amir. -
Amir decides to major in English
Amir enrolls in junior college classes in the fall and after Amir graduates he decides what he wants to major in. Amir talks to Baba about college and decides to major in "Creative Writing" (Hosseini 134). Amir decides to major in creative writing because he wants to make up stories. Baba disagrees with Amir and wants him to major in business because making up stories isn't very manly. -
Baba and Amir work at the Flea Market
Once Amir and Baba have gotten situated in the U.S., they start their new job at the market, and Amir said, "I ran the stand sometimes as Baba sauntered down the aisle, greeting people he knew form Kabul" (Hosseini 138). Baba and Amir experience the different statuses during their stay in the U.S. Baba and Amir experienced the difference between their statuses in Afghanistan and the U.S. because in Afghanistan Baba was respected and in American they are not respected. -
Amir marries Soraya
Amir and Soraya finally marry, and Amir says, "I remember walking toward the stage in my tuxedo, Soraya veiled Pari in white, our hands locked" (Hosseini 170). This marriage created pride and happiness between the couple and family because Baba was proud and the two families got along. Amir's perseverance to have Soraya as his wife resulted in a war, stable life that he provided for himself and his sick father, who needed the extra care. -
Osama bin Laden and 15 other Islamists continue their jihad
Osama bin Laden & 15 other Islamists form the group al-Qaida to continue their jihad against the Soviets, and other who say they oppose their goal of a pure nation governed by Islam. With their belief that the Soviet’s faltering war in Afghanistan was directly attributable to their fighting, "they claim victory in their 1st battle, but also begin to shift their focus to America, saying the remaining superpower is the main obstacle to the establishment of a state based on Islam" (www.Pbs.org). -
The U.S., Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union sign peace accords
The U.S., Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union sign peace accords in Geneva guaranteeing Afghan independence and the withdrawal of 100,000 Soviet troops. Following Soviet withdrawal, "the Mujahadeen continue their resistance against the Soviet-backed regime of communist president Dr. Mohammad Najibullah, who had been elected president of the puppet Soviet state in 1986" (www.Pbs.org). -
Soraya can't have a baby
Amir and Soraya find out that Soraya can not have and carry kids. Amir and Soraya feels the emptiness that is in their marriage because of the baby and Amir says, "I could almost feel the emptiness in Soraya's womb, like it was a living, breathing thing" (Hosseini 189). Not having a baby has seeped into their marriage, effecting laughs and their lovemaking. Amir and Soraya are really sad because the emptiness settles between them like a newborn chid. -
Mujahadeen and other rebel groups storm the capital
The Mujahadeen and other rebel groups, with the aid of turncoat government troops, storm the capital, Kabul, and oust Najibullah from power. Ahmad Shah Masood, legendary guerrilla leader, leads the troops into the capital and "The United Nations offers protection to Najibullah [and] the Mujahadeen, a group already beginning to fracture as warlords fight over the future of Afghanistan. They form a largely Islamic state with professor Burhannudin Rabbani as president" (www.Pbs.org). -
More than 1 million Afghans flee to neighboring Pakistan
Continuing drought devastates farmers and makes many rural areas uninhabitable and "More than 1 million Afghans flee to neighboring Pakistan, where they languish in squalid refugee camps" (www.Pbs.org). -
The Taliban publicly executes Najibullah.
Ethnic groups in the north, under Masood’s Northern Alliance, and the south "aided in part by Hamid Karzai, [and] continue[d] to battle the Taliban for control of the country (www.Pbs.org). -
President Clinton orders cruise missile attacks against bin Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan
Following al-Qaida’s bombings of two American embassies in Africa, "President Clinton orders cruise missile attacks against bin Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan. The attacks miss the Saudi and other leaders of the terrorist group" (www.Pbs.org). -
President Barack Obama helps Afghanistan
President Barack Obama announced that U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan would end in December 2014. He says that, "residual force of 9,800 troops would remain in the country, training Afghan security forces and supporting counterterrorism operations against remnants of al-Qaeda" (www.whitehouse.gov). -
Baba helped Amir with asking General Taheri for his daughter's hand
Baba on his last days of life, helped Amir ask General Taheri for his daughter's hand in marriage. Baba talking to Amir calls out General Taheri and says, "I want you to go khastegari. I want you to ask General Taheri for his daughter's hand" (Hosseini 161). This was the first time Baba helped Amir with something and didn't disagree with Amir. Baba helped Amir with the hand in marriage because Baba was starting to die and they never did anything together. -
Rahim Khan showing signs that he was getting ill
When Amir was visiting Rahim Khan, Amir saw that Rahim Kahan would spit in his handkerchief and it would immediately be stained red. Amir asked Rahim Khan how he was doing and he responded, "Dying, actually" (Hosseini 201). Rahim Khan coughing another round and Amir seeing more blood on the handkerchief. Amir is worried about Rahim Khan and asks him how long does he have, and he says that he has maybe the end of this summer.