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Zahir Shah Starts his Reign
In the year 1933, "Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan..." (Hosseini, 24). People were killing Hazaras due to racism. The brothers influenced the people of Afghanistan to be racist towards Hazara's, which caused alot of Hazaras to be seen as worthless. -
Hassan is Born
In Amir's house, "in that little shack [in the back], that Hassan was born in the winter of 1964" (Hosseini, 6). Hassan and Amir were born/raised in the same house and grew up together. Over the years, while growing up in the house, they grew a brotherly bond, that made them extremely close. -
Baba Builds an Orphanage
When Amir was young (5 or 6 years old), "Baba decided to build and orphange" (Hosseini, 13). When Baba's success and compassion was recognized, he was very well respected. This impacted Amir by people always having high expectations for him due to his father's accomplishments. -
Amir Pranked Hassan
Amir was tricking Hassan by reading another story. Hassan didnt realize what was happening since he was illiterate, and Amir took advantage of the fact that Hassan couldn't read and tricked him. He "had abandoned the text altogether...Hassan was, of course, oblivious to this" (Hosseini, 30). This shows the reader that that Amir was acting rudely, and just wanted to make Hassan a joke. -
Amir Writes his First Short Story
Amir said "That same night, I wrote my first short story." (Hosseini 30). When Amir wrote his first short story, he presented it to his father, who couldn't care less. Baba's friend Rahim Khan asked to read Air's book instead. -
Kite Fighting Tournament
When Amir had won the Kite competition, he exclaimed, "We won! We won!'"(Hosseini 66) Although Amir had won the kite fighting competition, he would soon find out that this feeling of joy would be taken from him abruptly. It's pretty ironic how Amir is having one of the greatest moments of his life, then shortly after, have that happy moment turn to a traumatizing one. -
Hassan is Raped
Hassan was raped because he was protecting Amir's kite. Assef said, "Because today, it's only going to cost you that blue kite" (Hosseini, 72). Although it was Amir's kite, not Hassan's, he didn't even think of giving Assef Amir's kite. If Amir was in the same situation, he would've never protected the kite. -
Soviet Invasion
Afghanistan has "known little to no peace since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded." -
Soviets Descend
The "first soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on Dec 27, 1979." -
Baba and Amir go to Jalalabad
On March 21st, 1981, Amir and Baba were driving to Pakistan with family. Amir said, "There would be no truck, Karim told us after we'd spent a week in the rat-infested basement. The truck was beyond repair" (Hosseini, 120). Since the truck was not working, the large family was forced to bond and get along. Amir quickly understood the struggles of other families, and how fortunate he was. -
Baba and Amir Move to America
When Baba and Amir moved to the Americas, Amir said, "For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his" (Hosseini, 129). This shows us that Baba moved to America so that Amir could have a better life.Although they moved to the Americas, Baba still misses Kabul because it will always be his home and where he grew up, but now he has to take Amir's future into thought. -
Baba Dies
On January 17th, 1985, Amir's father died from cancer. After he had gone to sleep, "Baba never woke up." (Hosseini 173) Amir was left in charge of carrying on his father's legacy. He finds it difficult to cencentrate with everything happening around him. -
Amir Goes to Find Hassan
Amir said, "There were a lot of reasons why i went to Hazarajat to find Hassan in 1986. The biggest one...was that i was lonely." Seeing Hassan once more would give Amir a feeling of atonement for his sins, and would make him feel like he had his brother back again. Amir felt lost in his own hometown and being with Hassan would make him feel like he was not a stranger. -
Soviet Airforce Becomes Useless
After, "1986, the Soviet Air Force was also rendered largley useless by advanced Stinger antiaircraft missiles supplied by the united states to the rebels." -
Soviets Leave
The last of "the soviet troops left Afghanistan in Februrary 1989." -
Sanaubar Meets Hassan
When Sanaubar visited Hassan, she told him, "I have walked long and far to see if you are as beautiful in the flesh as you are in my dreams" (Hosseini, 210). Seeing his mother since she left, was emotional for Hassan. She was trying to atone for her transgressions as a mother, so she returned to her son. -
Amir Discovers the Horrors of Kabul
When Amir flew to Pakistan to visit Rahim Khan, Rahim tells him that, "people just stayed put, prayed the next rocket wouldn't hit their home" (Hosseini, 199). This is important because it shows how much has changed since Amir moved tothe Americas. He thinks about how much more peaceful things were in his childhood with Hassan -
Power is Divided Between Warlords
By the "summer of 1994, power was anarchally divided between competing warlords and individual fiefdoms." -
Taliban Provides Shelter for Msjor Terrorists
The taliban provided "a haven for Mr. bin Laden, who arrived by chartered jet at Jalalabad Airport in May 1996, and for Al Qaeda." -
Amir Rexcues Sohrab
As Amir and Sohrab flee from Assef, Amir "stumbled down the hallway, Sohrabs little hands in mine( his)" (Hosseini 291) Amir was having trouble escaping due to the fight he had with Assef. If sohrab hadn;t of intervened, Amir may have died. -
Sohrab and Amir Come Back to the US
On August 6th ,2001, "Soraya picked up Amir and Sohrab at the airport" (Hosseini, 357). Upon Sohrab's arrival to his new home in the Americas, he becomes stoick with the thoughts of his traumatizing past. Sohrab wouldn't speak for several days due to his depression. -
9/11 Attack
In an act of kamekaze, terrorists hijacked a plane and made an "attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept.11, 2001." -
Bush Gives the Taliban an Ultimatum
After the 9/11 attack, President George Bush "gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden." -
Hamid Kazari Becomes the leader of Afghanistan
In 2001, "Hamid Kazari, 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." -
Obama's Solution
On Dec. 1st 2009,"Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops."