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Ending Reign
The king, Zahir Shah was away in Italy while his cousin, Daoud Shah, ended his reign with a bloodless coup -
Flashback From The Past
As Amir thought about his childhood, the words from Rahim Khan came to him as he said, "There is a way to be good again"(2). This quote foreshadowed future events in the book and led Amir towards a path of atonement. This quote starts the whole story of the book and displays the theme of values and atonement. -
Witnessing a Tragedy
While Assef is raping Hassan, Amir ran away and believed he was doing the right thing as "[he] forgot what [he] did... and that was good"(79). Amir, being traumatized by the event, chose to run away for his own sake. However, this leaves a heavy toll on him and his values. -
Pomegranate Throwing
While Amir wanted Hassan to hit him, Hassan "opened it and crushed it against his own forehead"(93). Because of the past events that happened to the both of them, Amir wanted to atone as soon as possible but found himself unable to. Hassan's personality and actions left Amir being unable to atone for his sin. -
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War Between the US and Soviet Troops
As both sides have been fighting for years, the "Soviet Air Force was also rendered useless by advanced Stinger aircraft missles supplied by the United States to the rebels"(NYT). -
Soviet Entrance
As a way to assist Babrak Karmal, "the Soviet troops parachuted... [and] engineered the coup as a pretext to replace... the Afghan leader"(NYT). -
Life in America
Amir lives in America, and his part of his schedule included "walk[ing] into a small bookstore that sold used paperbacks"(127). Amir's life has changed greatly since his childhood as he matured much more. However, at this part of the book atonement isn't much of a part of the story. -
Graduation
Amir has become a more mature person, as he "graduated high school by the age of twenty, by far the oldest senior tossing his mortarboard on the football that day"(131). This illustrates more into the fact that Amir is now more mature than he was back in his childhood. This may be a huge change and rising action as his thoughts on atonement may change. -
Baba's Condition
Even though Baba is left with a bad cold, he still lives some of his daily life by going on those "garbage sale treks on Saturday, Baba the driver and [Amir] the navigator"(157). Baba's personality hasn't changed very much and he still does what he normally does. However, this may foreshadow something bad that might happen to Baba if he keeps it up. -
Proposal
Envious of many qualities of Soraya. Amir proposes to her, only for her to soon "br[eak] into fresh tears"(165). This leaves a huge impact on how things will play into the future for Amir. Amir still has his feelings of atonement and Soraya may leave a huge impact on them. -
Truth Almost Revealed
As Amir and Soraya were talking, Soraya reveals her secret while Amir almost revealed "how [he] betrayed Hassan, lied, driven him out, and destroyed a forty year relationship between Baba and Ali"(165). The thoughts of atonement are still in Amir and might of been boosted. More important events may occur relating to Amir and his relationships. -
Search For Hassan
While Amir had lots of reasons why he wanted to find Hassan, the biggest one was because "[he] was lonely"(203). Hassan still leaves a huge impact on Amir to this point and still influences him in the story. However, there are many struggles in finding Hassan at this point due to the influences of other groups. -
Published Novel
Amir publishes his novel about a "father-son story set in Kabul"(182). This is a result of his childhood but it is likely not containing any aspects of his tragedy with Hassan. Feelings on atonement and values of Amir may have been interpreted into this novel he made. -
Broken Anarchy
As the Soviet troops left Afghanistan, there was "power [that] was anarchically divided among competing warlords and indivdual fiefdoms"(NYT). -
Pakistan Aid
As Taliban would've withered away, "Pakistani intelligence officers began funneling arms, money, and supplies to Mullah Omar's men, as well as military advisers to help guide them in battle"(NYT). -
Afghanistan Military and Government
As it used to be a "relatively prosperous and secular country.. the turmoil and extremism... have dominated its history"(NYT). -
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Afghan Military and Government
As the Afghan military and police were inactive and didn't do much as the government was "weak, corrupt, and erratically led"(NYT) by Mr. Karzai's government. -
Hazara Massacre
As stated by Amir, the Taliban banned kite fighting and soon later, "massacred the Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif"(213). This leaves a huge impact and Hassan and Amir as it may foreshadow the death of Hassan as he is a Hazara. This influences many events that may happen later in the story. -
Sick Old Friend
Amir stresses out as "Rahim Khan is very sick... a fist clenched inside [him]"(191). Amir remembers those words once said by Rahim Khan and begins to atone for his sins again. He starts once again on his journey to atone for his sins. -
Past Truth Revealed
As Rahim Khan spoils the truth to Amir about his relationship with Hassan, Amir raged and "stormed out of the apartment"(223). With Amir learning the truth that he and Hassan are half brothers, his feelings for atonement are boosted even more. However, his rage is also induced as he was betrayed by Baba in a way that mentally weakened him temporarily. -
Revenge Against Assef
Fighting back against Assef, Sohrab takes a brass ball and the slingshot "made a thwiiiiit sound... then Assef was screaming"(291). As Assef was part of the Taliban and took in Sohrab, Amir took back Sohrab and the two of them fought their way out of the building. This fulfilled Amir's atonement but there was much left to finish. -
Post 9/11 Invasion
During the aftermath of the attack of the World Trade Center, Bush and the United States sided with rebel groups to drive "Taliban out of the major Afghan cities by the end of the year"(NYT). -
Satisfaction
As Amir finally atoned for his sins, he ran as he was a "grown man running with a swarm of children"(371). Although Sohrab almost committed suicide, he was still alive and leaves Amir with satisfaction. This marks the end of the story and leaves the theme of values and atonement for the readers. -
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Obama's War
During Mr. Obama's presidency, he "widen[ed] United States involvement in Afghanistan"(NYT). -
Extra US Backup
In an attempt to ease out the war, Obama "announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops"(NYT). -
Not Over Yet
As the US military was in combat, administration officials presumed the military would "be successful in fighting the Taliban that significant withdrawals would be under way the"(NYT).