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Baba's Born
We first hear from Amir that Baba was born "In 1933, the year Baba was born," (Hosseini 19). In this quote we see how old baba is during the events of the book. this helps you understand how what Baba had in Afghanistan was his life accomplishment, and how one event changed everything. -
Hassan's Born
Amir states that "it was there in that little shack, that Hassan was born in the winter of 1964, just one year after my mother died giving birth to me," (Hosseini 4). This quote represents Hassan's s status to Amir. By telling us how Hassan is younger and lives in a shack, the author uses a child's assumption that older means better, and shows us Hassan's shack to convey how his family has a lower status. -
Hunting ducks
During the night of the coup Amir hears Ali say "'They're hunting ducks,' Ali said in a hoarse voice. 'They hunt ducks at night, you know. Don't be afraid,'" (Hosseini 28). This quote is a reminder of how young Amir and Hassan are at the start of the story. Amir and Hassan act quite mature for their age, showing how age isn't an important factor in the novel. -
Amir wins a Kite-fighting tournament
After the kite is cut Hassan starts to yell that "'You won, Amir agha! You won!' 'We won! We won!' was all I could say," (Hosseini 55). Hassan rewards Amir with their victory, then amir corrects him and says they did it together. This represents Amir seeing starting to see Hassan as an equal, and not a servent anymore. -
Hassan's rape
We see Amir thinking "I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be," (hosseini 65). Amir was a bystander, and trying to figure out if he should help. This quote represents how big this decesion was, how Amir knew he decided his fate and Hassan's. -
Amir's Thirteenth Birthday
After not knowing most of the people going to his part Amir "Then I realized they weren't really coming for me. It was
my birthday, but I knew who the real star of the show was." (Hosseini 78). Amir is having the realization that the party is really for Baba. All Baba wants is for the world to see him and his son as perfect. -
The U.S.S.R. invades Afghanistan
"Afghanistan... has known little peace since 1979, when the soviet union invaded," (New York Times 1). -
Amir and Baba's arrival in Pakistan
Baba's feelings are expressed when he states that "'We're in Pakistan, Amir,' Baba said. He was standing over me. 'Karim says he will call for a bus to take us to Peshawar.'" (Hosseini 100). Amir and Baba have arrived in Pakistan. Baba's tone conveys how he's just had his first time to think since they left, and has realized everything is gone. -
Living in America
Baba and Hassan's lives are changed as they start living in "Fremont, California. 1980s Baba loved the idea of America" (Hosseini 105). Baba loved the idea of America, he expressed this through purchases of American products. However, when he starts living in America he learns it is much different then he thought. -
Amir sees Soraya for the first time
Amir falls in love right when he hears "A young woman's voice. She was standing behind us, a slim-hipped beauty with velvety coal black hair, an open thermos and Styrofoam cup in her hand," (Hosseini 118). This is the first time Amir lays eyes on his future wife. Amir is shown to think she is beautiful by remembering every detail about her. -
Baba reads Amir's writing
Amir is shocked when he walks in and finds Soraya and baba reading his writing, and happy when he hears soraya say "'I can't believe you can write like this, 'Soraya said.
Baba dragged his head off the pillow. 'I put her up to it. I hope you don't mind.'" (hosseini 148). Amir walks in to find Baba and Soraya reading his writing. This represents Baba's pride in Amir and forgiveness towards his actions. -
Amir marries Soraya
Amir's marriage changes a lot for him, Amir states this by saying "When I married Soraya, the flowers and Johnny Carson took a backseat," (Hosseini 152). After his marriage Amir and soraya's love life is seen as less importent to them. It was a very important to them, but once they reached their goal of getting married it started to fade away. -
Baba's death
The author quickly brushes over Baba's death and only states how "'Okay,' she said. She pulled up his blanket. We closed the door. Baba never woke up," (hosseini 155). The author skips over Baba's death to the funeral. He does this since we all know Amirs reactions, and a funeral is more importent for the story. -
U.S.S.R. air force become useless in the fight for Afghanistan
"After 1986, was also largely rendered useless by advanced sting antiaircraft missiles supplied by the United States to the rebels," (New York Times 2) -
Amir's first book gets published
We learn this information from Amir when he metions "A month later, Martin called and informed me I was going to be a published novelist. When I told Soraya, she screamed." (hosseini 157). This information is used to show how amir's life is coming together. He know has a wife and a source of income, he's becoming an adult. -
The U.S.S.R leaves Afghanistan
"Eventually, after peace talks moderated by the United Nation, the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989," (New York Times 2). -
Period: to
Power Divided between warlords
"After Soviet forces departed, Afghanistan divided into vicious internecine strife; by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms," (New York Times 2). -
The Taliban is created
"By the end of 1994 mullah omar had nearly 12,000 followers and was rolling up the warlords to the north and east," (New York Times 2) -
The Taliban seizes control of Afghanistan
"The Taliban, The extremist Islamic group that had seized control [of Afghanistan] in 1996 after years of civil war" (New York Times 1). -
Taliban provides haven for Al Qaeda
The Taliban also provided a haven for Mr. Bin Laden... and Al Qaeda," (New York Times 2) -
Amir meets Sohrab
After a long search for sohrab, Amir finds him as "Sohrab raised his arms and turned slowly. He stood on tiptoes,spun
gracefully, dipped to his knees, straightened, and spun again. His little hands swiveled at the wrists, his finger snapped, and his head swung side to side like a pendulum," (Hosseini 240). Sohrab's actions represent both his talent and suffering. His skill with ballet show he's talented, well the guards taunting him shows he's forced to do this for their entertainment. -
U.S. Starts to help the rebels
"The United States joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted Taliban rule." (New York Times 3) -
New leader of Afghanistan
"Hamid Karzai... was named chairmen of interim government that replaced the defeated Taliban," (New York Times 3) -
The return of the Taliban
"The Taliban continued to wage guerrilla warfare from a base in the... Pakistan-Afghanistan border," (New York Times 3) -
Sohrab in America
Sohrab doesn't feel like at home in America, this is shown through how "Sohrab's silence wasn't the self-imposed silence of those with convictions, of protesters who seek to speak their cause by not speaking at all." (hosseini 320). Sohrab is lost and feels alone in America. He lost his parents when he was 10, and has had not one who cared about him since them and doesn't feel like he belongs with Amir.
