Afghanistan/Kite Runner Timeline

By jusbere

  • Shah Becomes Ruler of Afghanistan

    In 1933, "Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan..." (Hosseini, 24). He obtained an evil reputation after killing many Innocent Hazara's.

  • Baba Builds Orphanage

    Amir reflects back on Baba wanting to build an orphanage, "in the late 1960s when [he] was five or six, Baba decided to build an orphanage" (Hosseini 13).

  • Hassan is Born

    In Amir's house, "in that little shack, thay Hassan was born in the winter of 1964" instantly Hassan is born into poverty.

  • Hassan's Surgery

    For Hasssan's birthday, Baba pays for a surgical procedure "meet you birthday present [...] Dr. Kumar is a plastic surgeon"(45).

  • Amir Wins Kite Running Competition

    Amir sliced one of the kite strings and caused the kite to "[spin] wildly like a tire come loose from a speeding car"(66). Amir won the contest and Baba was proud, but little did they know Hassan was about to have one of the worst things happen to him in his life.

  • Hassan is Raped by Assef

    While protecting Amir and his kite, Hassan was raped even though the kite wasn't his "Because today, it's only going to cost you that blue kite" (Hosseini, 72).

  • First Soviet Troops Arrive in Afghanistan

    (Afghanistan-an Overview)

  • Baba Diagnosed with Lung Cancer

    Baba is diagnosed with "Oat cell Carcinoma"(156) Baba refuses medical atention because he has to big of an ego.

  • Amir Gets Married

    It was a great time for Amir "the happiest day of [his] life."(165), but it also brought a lot of stress and worki in the future.

  • Un-needed Soviet Deaths

    Unnecesary deaths were caused by "Soviets stayed in the country for more than 9 years, ... cost them roughly 15,000 lives and undisclosd billons of rubles, while undermining the cherished image of an invincible Soviet Army"(Afghanistan- An Overview).

  • Soviet Troops Leave Afghanistan

    The troops left Afhanistan in shambles, "what was in effect a unilateral withdrawal. They left behind a country that was not only devastated but had become a beacon to Islamic extremists from across the globe who had come to assist in the fighting"(The New York Times 2). This left Aghanistan in a spot that was hard to recover from.

  • Warlords Take Over Afghanistan

    After the soviets had left, "power was anarchially divided among competing warlords adn individual fiefdoms"(Afghanistan- An Overview) this caused major problems all throughout Afghanistan

  • Taliban Takes Full Control of Afghanistan

    The Taliban created "strict enforcments of fundamentalist Islamic law" (The New York Times 3), these laws were very savage and made many flee from Afghanistan.

  • Taliban Assists Bin Laden

    The Taliban created a major world issue, especially with the US by"providing a haven for Mr. bin laden"(Afghanistan-An Overview).

  • Rahim Khan Asks Amir for a Dying Favor

    Rahim Khan asks for one last favor from Amir before he passes away, "I want you to go to Kabul. I want you to bring Sohrab here..'"(193).

  • Amir Learns Hassan is his 1/2 Brother

    Amir is shocked and angry about the news, "'..I'm thirty-eight years old and I've just found out my whole life is one big fucking lie! What can you possibly say to make things better? Nothing.'"(195)

  • Sohrab Atempts Suicide

    Amir tells of what happens as he finds Sohrab's body laying in the tub, "I pushed the door open. Stepped into the bathroom. Suddenly I was on my knees, screaming. Screaming through my clenched teeth. Screaming until I thought my throat would rip and my chest explode. Later, they said I was still screaming when the ambulance arrived."

  • Amir Tries to Atone for letting Hassan be Raped

    Amir needs to fight Assef if he wants to save Sohrab, but "He [Assef] tells his gaurds to only let one of them leave the room, whoever has 'earned' their freedom. "The guards left. Assef put down his prayer beads. Reached in the breast pocket of his black vest. What he fished out of that pocket didn't surprise me one bit: stainless-steel brass knuckles."(251)

  • Rahim Khan Asks Amir to Visit

    Amir knows that he has to go visit him in Pakistan because, "Rahim Khan is very sick"(Hosseini 191). So Amir heads off to Pakistan

  • 9/11

    Al- Queda orchestrates an "attack onthe world trade center in New York" (Afghanistan-an Overview)

  • Hamid Karzai Becomes Government Chairman

    Because of the exile of Mohammad Zahir Shah, "Hamid Karzai, a supporter and relative of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the exiled former king of Afghanistan, was named chairman of an interim government that replaced the defeated Taliban, making him the leader of the country" ("Afghanistan-An Overview).

  • Amir Runs Kite for Sohrab

    Amir and Sohrab have a very special moment " 'Do you want me to run that kite for you?' ...I thought I saw him nod. 'For you, a thousand times over,' I heard myself say. Then I turned and ran. It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make anything all right. Only a smile... But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting. I ran."

  • Obama Sends Troops To Afganistan

    "Mr. Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops" (Afghanistan-an Overview).

  • Obama Recalls Troops

  • Taliban is Removed fro Power in Afghanistan

    The US attackted Afgan leaders (Taliban), and they "succeeded in dislodging Al Queda and removing the Taliban from power" ("Afghanistan - An Overview").