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Hassan saves Amir from Assef with slingshot
Assef cornered Amir and Hassan with his brass knuckles, so to save himself and Amir, Hassan "held the slingshot pointed diretly at Assef's face" and said, "If you make a move, they'll have to change your nickname from Assef 'the Ear Eater' to 'One-Eyed Assef', because I have this rock pointed at your left eye" (42). This courageous move from Hassan was only one of the many sacrifices he made to be loyal to Amir. This incident displayed the way Hassan would take risks to be a hero to Amir. -
Assef sexually violates Hassan
After the kite compeition Hassan was cornered by Assef and sexually violaed, and Amir had "the opportunity to decide who [he] was going to be. [He] could step into that alley and stand up for Hassan...Or [he] could run... In the end, [he] ran" (77). Although Hassan had continually stook up for Amir so many times, Amir failed to save Hassan in his biggest time of need. This shows the way Amir's friendship with Hassan was lobsided, in that he was a selfish coward when should have been a friend. -
Amir turns thirteen
At Amir's huge birthday party, he saw "Hassan serving drinks to Assef and Wali from a silver platter", which disgusted Amir. This showed how Hassan delt with his pain and never complained. Even after his traumatizing experience with Assef, he still fulfilled his dutes to Amir, showing what a loyal and amazing friend he was. -
Soviet Union invades
The article states, "The first Soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on Dec. 27, 1979, to assist Babrak Karmal" (NYT 2). -
Period: to
Kite Runner & the History of Afghanistan
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Amir and Baba go to America
The Taliban caused Amir and Baba to flee to America, and Amir describes it when he says, "I thought of the way we'd left the house where I'd lived my entire life, as if we were going out for a bite: dishes smeared with kofta piled up in the kitchen sink...beds unmade; Baba's business suits hanging in the closet" (112). Amir and Baba were forced out of their house and could only take a few necessary items with them. They just deserted their old life, and left unresolved memories behind. -
Baba and Amir visit the flea markets
In the summer of 1984, "Baba sold his Buik and bought a dilapidated '71 Volkswagon bus", in which Baba and Amir would buy and sell items from nearby flea markets (136-137). This new tradition caused Baba and Amir to spend more quality time together, and enjoy each other's company. This demonstrates the way coming to America strengthened Baba and Amir's relationship, because of the may things they were able to to together. -
Baba starts to get sick
When Baba was starting to get sick, Amir explained, " It started with a hacking cough and the sniffles. he got over the cough, but the sniffles persisted. He'd hack into his hankerchief, stow it in his pocket. I kept after him to get it checked, but he'd wave me away" (153). Baba was developng cancer, and this is when the roled started to swich so Amir was taking care of Baba. this was Amir's chance to show he cared for his dad, and make up for all the years that their relationship was bad. -
Amir and Soraya get married
Usually, Soraya's family would have had an engagement celebration calle 'Shirini-khori', but "[they] all agreed that Soraya and [Amir] would forgo the 'Shirini-khori'. Everyone knew the reason, so no one had to say it: that Baba didn't have months to live" (169). Baba's poor condidtion made it so Amir didn't get to know his new family- Soraya's family- very well. This led to some tension between Soraya's dad, General Taheri, and Amir because post-marriage plans were not disussed prior. -
United States supplies missels to rebels
After 18986, "the Soviet Air Force was also rendered largely useless by advanced Stinger antiaircraft missiles supplied by the United States to the rebels"(NYT 2). -
Baba dies
One night, whenn Soraya came to give Baba his medicine, he said "not tonight...there is no pain tonight", and he never woke up (173). Due to the life Soraya had commited to meeting Baba'a every need, she also felt an emptiness when Baba died. This gave Amir someone to comfort him when he was grieving, which made it easier to deal with than if he was alone. -
Amir writes his first novel
With a typewriter given to him by Soraya's father, Amir "finished [his] first novel, a father-son story set in Kabul" (182). This shows that although Amir went to school and settled down in America, a part of him still missed his old life in Kabul with Baba. He said he tried to bury his feelings and memories of the days of his friendship with Hassan, but this quotation shows that he did not completely move on. This may be one of the reasons he left America to go back to Afghanistan. -
Soviet troops leave Afghanistan
After the war, "the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989, in what was in effect a unilateral withdrawl" (NYT 2). -
Power divided among competing warlords
In 1994, "power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms" (NYT 2). -
Mullah Omar gained support
"By the end of 1994 Mullah Omar...a Pashtun who has lost an eye fighting the Soviets... had nearly 12,000 followers and was rolling up warlords to the north and the east" (NYT 2). -
Taliban takes power
After a period of fighting for power, in 1996 the Taliban had "taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law, banning movies and music and forcing women out of schools and into all-enveloping burqua clothing" (NYT 3). -
Amir goes to Pakistan
When Amir gets a phone call from Rahim Khan when he is sick saying, "there is a way to be good again", he tells Soraya, "I have to go to Pakistan...when I was a kid, he was the first grown-up I ever thought of as a friend" (191). Although Amir was vey close to Rahim Khan growing up, a big reason he went back to Pakistan was because of his unresolved feeling of guilt from many years before. This showed the way Amir went to seek atonement in some way, rather than just going to see an old friend. -
Amir discovers that he and Hassan were half-brothers
When Rahim Khan explained how Baba actually had two sons, Amir thought, "We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us. And with that I came to this realization: Rahim Khan had summoned me here not to atone just for my sins but for Baba's too" (226). Now that Amir knew the lie he had been living his entire life, he felt obligated to find Sorhab. This meant that even though he now wanted to atone, it wasn't atonement because he didn't initiate the action himself. -
Amir plants money under Farid's matress
Amir felt bad for eating all of Farid's family's food, so he "did something [he] had done twenty-six years earlier: [He] planted a fistful of crumpled money under a matress" (242). In attempt to atone for eating all the famly's food, Amir did the same thing he did to Hassan when he tried to get rid of him, except this time he did it to be good. The fact that Amir did the same act shows that he may have been trying to atone for doing that same thing to Hassan, but it isn;t succeseful atonement. -
Amir goes to rescue Sorhab from Assef
Assef told Amir the only way he would get Sorab back is if he fought him, so Amir agreed because he knew he deserved it. So, when Assef was brutally beating up on him, Amir "hurt [his] jaws, his] ribs, [his] throat...laughing and laughing" (289). Amir was laughing because his guilt was finally lifted after over twenty years of pain. Amir was even willing to die because his guilt was lifted, showing the way to fully recover through atomement, the new act must be equal to the original act. -
Sorhab tries to commit suicide
Amir went to tell Sorhab he didn'y have to goto the orphanage, but he finds him with " water drops dripping from the faucet and landing with a plink into the bloody bathwater; the left arm dangling over the side of the tub, the blood-soaked razor sitting on the toilet tank" (347-8). The orphanage was so traumatizing for Sorhab, so he no longer felt comfortable with Amir. This made it so Amir would have trouble regaining Sorhab's trust, and Sorhab would have even more bad memories to haunt him. -
Attack on the World Trade Center
After the attack on the World trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush have the Taliban and unlimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden." When it refused, the United States joined forces with the rebel groups and drove taliban out by the end of the year. -
Hamid Karzai took the place of Taliban
Hamid Karzai, "the exiled former king of Afghanistan, was named chaiman of an interim government" became leader and replaced Taliban (NYT 3). -
Sorhab comes back to America with Amir and goes to the kite competition
Ever since Sorhab left the hospital, he hadn't spoken a word, but when Amir took him to the kite competition he "looked down at Sorhab. One corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile" (370). This is when Amir finally got through to Sorhab again, even though it was only slight. This incident foreshadowed that Sorhad would eventually open up and live a happy life in America with Amir and Soraya. -
Mr. Karkazi was elected president
Mr. Karkazi was "elected to a five-year term as president in 2004". -
Obama engages in war
In his speech at West Point, Obama "announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops. He vowed to start bringing American forces home frtom Afghanistan in the middle of 2011" (NYT 4). -
Obama removes Gen
In June 2010, "President Obama removed gen" (NYT 4).