Kite Runner & the History of Afghanistan

By brendancreeks

  • Mohammed Daoud Khan declares himself president

    Wikipedia states, overthrew the Musahiban monarchy of his first cousin Mohammed Zahir Shah and declared himself as the first President of Afghanistan from 1973 until his assassination in 1978 as a result of the Saur Revolution led by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Afghan_history).

  • Hassan stands up to Assef for Amir

    Assef and his cohorts approach Amir and Hassan. Just as Assef is about to beat Amir, "Hassan had pulled the wide elastic band all they way back.In the cup was a rock the size of a walnut. Hassan held the slingshot pointed directly at Assef's face" (Hosseni 41). In this moment, Hassan truly demonstrated his loyalty to Amir. Amir had almost just tried to save himself by saying that Hassan was just his servant, not his friend.

  • Amir and Hassan win the kite flying competition

    Amir had just cut the only other kite and he recalls, "I opened my eyes, saw the blue kite spinning wildly like a tire come loose from a speeding car" (Hosseni 66). It was the happiest day of Amir's life so far. Baba was finally proud of him and he got what he had always wanted: Baba's love.

  • Amir witnesses Hassan getting raped and does nothing

    Amir was debating if he should stand up for Hassan or save himself. Amir thinks, "In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward" (Hosseini 77). This demonstrates that Amir and Hassan had an unbalanced friendship. Hassan would do anything for Amir, but Amir would not return the favor. Amir cared more about his own well-being and ultimately, betrayed Hassan.

  • Amir frames Hassan

    It was recently Amir's birthday and he had gotten several presents, including money. Amir remembers, "I lifted Hassan's mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it" (Hosseini 104). Amir was framing Hassan in an attempt to force Hassan and Ali to leave. Amir did this because he could not face the guilt and shame he had from allowing Hassan to get raped.

  • Hassan and Ali leave for Hazarajat

    Baba was reluctantly driving Ali and Hassan to the bus station. Amir recalls, "I watched Baba's car pull away from the curb, taking with it the person whose first spoken word had been my name" (Hosseini 109). Amir had driven away his best friend. He had caused so much pain for Baba, Ali, Hassan, as well as himself.

  • Soviet war in Afghanistan

    Fearing the collapse of the Amin regime, the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan. Wikipedia states, "The Soviet–Afghan War lasted over nine years from December 1979 to February 1989. Insurgent groups fought against the Soviet Army and allied Afghan forces" )https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet–Afghan_War)

  • Operation Storm-333

    Wikipedia says, "Operation Storm-333 was an operation that took place on 27 December 1979, in which Soviet Union forces stormed the Tajbeg Palace in Afghanistan and captured Afghan President Hafizullah Amin" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Storm-333).

  • Amir and Baba flee to America

    Amir remembers he and Baba "walking through Lake Elizabeth Park in Fremont, a few streets from our apartment" (Hosseini 125). Baba loved the idea of America but disliked living there. He missed Afghanistan and the life he and Amir used to have.

  • Amir marries Soraya

    Amir recollects, "For all the frenzied preparations that went into the wedding night---most of it, blessedly, by Khanum Taheri and her friends--- I remember only a handful of moments from it" (Hosseini 170). It seems that Amir and Soraya get married very suddenly and they hadn't known each other very long before getting married. Nonetheless, their marriage seems to be a happy one overall.

  • Baba dies happy

    Baba declines morphine and says "'There is no pain tonight'" (Hosseini 173). Baba dies peacefully in his sleep after that. This happens a month after the wedding. Amir recognizes that Baba died happy because he got to see Amir get married and find happiness.

  • Soviet government signed the Geneva Accords

    Wikipedia expresses, "The agreements also contained provisions for the timetable of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. It officially began on 15 May 1988 and ended by 15 February 1989, thus putting an end to a nine-year-long Soviet occupation and Soviet war in Afghanistan" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Accords_(1988)).

  • The Taliban began to form

    The Taliban's promise was to "restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power" (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11451718).

  • The Taliban kills the leader of the Hazaras

    A biography of Abdul Ali Mazari states, "Mazari was captured by the Taliban on March 12, and was taken to Charasyab, the Taliban base 25 kilometers south of Kabul. A Western journalist photographed Mazari with tied hands and feet. On March 13 1995, Mazari along with nine of his followers were murdered by the Taliban" (http://www.afghan-web.com/bios/yest/mazari.html).

  • Operation Infinite Reach

    The cruise missile strikes launched by President Bill Clinton occurred in August 1998. Operation Infinite Reach "was undertaken as retaliation against al-Qaeda for the terrorist group’s bombing of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania"(http://warontherocks.com/2013/09/syria-signaling-and-operation-infinite-reach/).

  • Hassan and his wife die

    Rahim Khan tells Amir, "Hassan's and Farzana's murders were dismissed as a case of self-defense. No one said a word about it" (219). Again, nobody stands up for Hassan because of fear. People were afraid of the Taliban and they wouldn't risk their lives for two Hazara servants.

  • Amir gets a phone call from Rahim Khan

    In an attempt to get Amir to go to Pakistan, Rahim Khan says, "Come. There is a way to be good again" (Hosseini 192). This is the main reason Amir agrees to go to Pakistan. Amir wants to atone for what he did to Hassan and he will do whatever he can to achieve atonement.

  • Amir finds out that Hassan was his half brother

    After Rahim Khan tells Amir that Baba is Hassan's father, Amir reacts with anger. Amir yells, "I'm thirty-eight years old and I've just found out my whole life is one big fucking lie!" (Hosseini 223). The reason that Baba builds an orphanage and does so many good deeds is that he is trying to make up for lying to Amir and Hassan. It takes Amir a bit to come to terms with what Rahim Khan had just revealed to him.

  • Amir rescues Sohrab

    Assef was beating Amir and Sohrab couldn't bear to watch it anymore, so he pulls out his slingshot. Amir remembers, "The slingshot made a thwiiiiit sound when Sohrab released the cup. Then Assef was screaming. He put his hand where his left eye had been just a moment ago" (Hosseini 291). This is one of the many parallels that occur in the book. Earlier in the book, Hassan said that he would make Assef "One-Eyed Assef". In a way, he achieved this when Sohrab shot Assef in the left eye.

  • Sohrab attempts suicide

    Amir tells Sohrab that he might have to stay at an orphanage temporarily. Sohrab then goes to take a bath and later Amir walks in and sees Sohrab in a bath reddened with blood. The doctor says, "the boy had cut himself deeply and had lost a great deal of blood" (Hosseini 348). Sohrab has gone through so much already in his short life. His parents were murdered, he stayed in a run-down orphanage, he was sold to the Taliban, he was sexually abused. It's understandable why he tried to kill himself.

  • Amir brings Sohrab back to the United States

    Amir is finally able to achieve his seemingly impossible goal. Amir thinks,"I brought Hassan's son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty" (Hosseini 356). By this, Amir means that America is just as hectic as Afghanistan, but in a different way. At some points, it seemed unlikely that Amir would be able to bring Sohrab back to America. It's ironic that Sohrab didn't really want to go after everything Amir went through.

  • Operation Enduring Freedom

    The U.S. correlated The 9/11 attacks to al Queda, a terrorist group located in Afghanistan. CNN states, "The operation was launched to stop the Taliban from providing a safe haven to al Qaeda and to stop al Qaeda's use of Afghanistan as a base of operations for terrorist activities" (http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/28/world/operation-enduring-freedom-fast-facts/).

  • Amir runs the kite they cut for Amir

    Amir and Sohrab cut a kite they were fighting, people cheered and applauded, and Sohrab cracked a small smile. Amir thinks, "It was only a smile, nothing more... It didn't make anything all right. Only a smile" (Hosseini 371). This smile is very significant because Sohrab hadn't smiled or spoken for 8 months. Ever since Sohrab had attempted to take his own life, his eyes had looked dull and lifeless. In this moment, Sohrab had began to be himself again.

  • New Afghan constitution

    An assembly of 502 people was brought together to draft a new constitution. The constitution "creates a nation that pledges to be both Islamic and democratic. It establishes a presidential system that roughly follows the U.S. model, dividing government power among executive, legislative, and judicial branches" (http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/afghanistan-new-constitution/p7710).

  • Afghanistan National Front was created

    Tajik leader Ahmad Zia Massoud, Hazara leader Mohammad Mohaqiq and Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum created the new party. A major goal of the Afghanistan National Front "is to change Afghanistan's present presidential system into a parliamentary democracy, where provincial and municipal governments will enjoy greater autonomy from Kabul" (http://www.rferl.org/a/new_afghan_political_party/24388461.html).