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Hassan Safes Amir from Assef
One afternoon Amir and Hassan run into Assef and some of his friends and Assef threaten to beat both of them up. However, just before Assef starts to fight, " Hassan had pulled the wide elastic band all the way back [of his slingshot]," (42). Hassan shows emend courage in doing so as they are out numbered by Assef and his friends. Pulling out the sling shot also shows Hassan's loyalty to Amir. -
Hassan is Raped
Amir goes to look for Hassan after the Kite Contest but when he find Hassan he find Assef with him. Just before Assef decides to rape Hassan, Amir thinks, "I opened my mouth and almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life would have turned out different if I did," (73). Hassan is clearly in trouble and Amir says nothing and just watches. Also, Amir saying his life would change suggest that this is a major event in the story of both Amir and Hassan. -
Amir Wins the Kite Flying Contest
When the contest finally ends, Hassan yells, "You won, Amir Aga, you won!" (66). Then Amir corrects him and says, "We won! We won!" (66). Amir acknowledges that Hassan was a big part of winning the contest when he corrects him. Another reason that Amir is so exited to win is that he knows that Baba will be extremely proud of him and Baba approval is Amir's most wanted treasure. -
Hassan and Ali Leave
After Amir frames Hassan of theft, Ali feels he and Hassan have no other choice than to leave. On that night that they leave Baba pleads for them to stay, "'Please,' Baba was saying but Ali had already turned to the door, Hasan trailing him," (107). Afghanistan's cultural norms around Harazas, are that they are below people like Amir and Baba. Thus, Ali, in his mind, has no other choice but to leave because he is a loyal man. -
Amir's 13th Birthday Party
For Amir's 13th birthday, Baba throws him a very lavish party. As Amir is looking over the 400 plus people long guest list he realized, "They were not really coming for me. It was my birthday, but I knew who they really star of the shows was," (94). As Amir notices that he dose not know most of the people, he knows that they party idk mostly for Baba. This is for Baba to see all the people he has not seen in a long time or to make business deals not completely to celebrate Amirs birthday. -
Sovit Union Invades Afghanistan
Fighting, disagreement, and cayuse has been present in Afghanistan since, "1979, when the Soviet Union invaded. Now its seen of what has become the central military struggle for the United States," (The New York Times). -
Baba and Amir Leave Afghanistan
Amir and Baba end up fleeing Afghanistan, " My innards had been rolling sine we'd left Kabul just after two in the morning," (111) Sadly, Amir and Baba have to leave their lavish life in Afghanistan behind. This because of the increases violence present in Kabul and in Afghanistan. -
Amir Meets Soraya
On day, when Amir and his father visit the flee market, Amir meet Soraya, "Her eyes, walnut brown and shaded by fanned lashes, met mine. Held for a moment. Then, flew away," (140). It seems as Amir has a taken a likely in Soraya. Thus, she may become an important character in the story. -
Amir Graduates High School
As a present for grunting high school Baba buys Amir a car, " We got out and sat inside the ford. It was a Gran Torino," (133). Baba making this huge kind and loving jester shows how their relationship has changed since moving to the US. In Afghanistan, they two did not speak very often and where not close at all but now in the US the dynamic of their relationship has changed. -
Amir and Soraya Get Married
After Soya's father gives Amir her hand in marriage, "Looking at Soraya's smiling face in that mirror, in the momentary privacy of the veil, " (171). This moment shows the calm in the storm that was there very traditional wedding. It is very clear that Amir and Soraya have a real connections and will go one to live a long and meaningful life together. -
Baba Dies from Cancer
Since Baba refuses to revive treatment for his cancer, a month after Mair gets married, he, " went to bed and never woke up again," (173). Baba decision not receive treatment and the fact that he was getting older speed up the process of his death. However, he did get see Amir get married, which was he life goal and dream. -
Soviet Troops Leave Afghanistan
After many years of being unsuccessful, "the last Soviet troops leave Afghanistan in February 1989.... They left behind a country that was not only devastated by war but had become a beacon for islamic extremists," (The New York Times). -
Afghanistan is Divided
After the Soviet troops left, Afghanistan had no strong government or leader so, "By the summer of 1994, power was anarchically dived among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms," (The New York Times). -
Mullah Omar Gains Followers
Mullah Omar lead a movement and group of people that wanted to make the country 'clean', "By the end of 1994 Mullah Omar [and the Taliban] had nearly 12,000 followers and was rolling up the war lords to the north and east," (The New York Times). -
The Taliban Takeover
When the Taliban take over, "in 1996, [they] imposed strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law, banning movies and music," (The New York Times). -
US Military Invades Afghanistan
The US invades Afghanistan, "after the Sept. 11 attacks by Al Qaeda... President George W. Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden," (The New York Times). -
Sohrab Attempts Suicide
While Amir is in the hospital by Sohrab's bedside, he prays to god that, " My hands are already stained with Hassan's blood; I pray God doesn't let them get stained with the blood of his son," (346). Meaning that, Amir feels responsible for Hassan's death and he dose not want to be responsible for Sohrab's death too. When Amir finally realized that he played major role in Hassan's death and he wants to atone his sins. -
Hamid Karazi becomes President
After the September 11 attacks in the US, in December 2001,"Hamid Karzai, supporter and relative of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the exiled king of Afghanistan, was named chairman of the interim government," (346). -
Sohrab Saves Amir from Assef
Before Assef can hurt Amir anymore then he already has, Sohrab steps in, " [he] had a slingshot pointing at Assef's face....The slingshot made a thwiiiit sound when Sohrab released the cup," (291). Again, the story comes full circle with Amir and Hassan getting bother hurt by Assef at some point. However, this time around the by stander, in Amir's case was Sohrab, steppes in and says something about what they are witnessing. -
Amir Finds Out that Hassan is His Half Brother
After finding out that Hassan shares a day with him, through Rahim Kahn, Amir becomes angry with Baba for hiding the truth for many years. Then he thinks about all the thing that Baba stole from Hassan, " He took Hassan's identity and from Ali his honor. His nang. His namoos," (225). Baba really did steal Hassan's life both mentally and physically. Hassan could have grown up similar to Amir and would most likely be in the US. -
Amir Goes to Kabul to Find Sohrab, His Nephew
After having a very heated conversation with Rahim Kahn, Amir ultimately decides to go back to Kabul, "Then I told him I was going to Kabul," (227). Amir changes his mind about going back to Kabul after he realizes that he can start to atone his sins by going's to find Hassan's son in Kabul. He also finds out that Hassan's son is his nephew, which is another reason he decides to go back 'home'. -
Taliban Continues
Even though the Taliban where defeated in 2001, it dose not mean that they where completely wiped out, "they continue to wage a guerrilla warfare from a base in the mountainous and largely lawless tribal area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border," (The New York Times). -
Amir Runes a Kite for Sohrab
While flying kites in the Park one day in New York, Sorab asks Amir to run a kite for him and he resounds by saying, "' For you, a thousand times over," (371). The act of running someone's kite for them and how that represent loyalty have now come full circle in the story. A long time ago Hassan ran the kites for Amir, but now Amir is running the kites for Hassan's son, Sohrab. -
Obama Sends Troops to Afghansitain
While giving a speech on December 1, 20009, "Mr. Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops," (The New York Times). -
Obama Administration Changed its Plan
In 2010 Obama started to move away from, "the July 2011 deadline....and moved its tone to....the United States with have forces home from Afghanistan in until at least the end of 2014," (The New York Times).