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Ali Joins Baba's Family
The year that Baba was born two men went on a drive and killed Ali's parents. When brought before a judge (Baba's father) the men were punished and "[Baba's dad] adopted [Ali] into his own household." (24). This was a real turning point in Baba's life because not only was a random child adopted into his house, that child would grow up to be like the brother he never had, despite their master/servant relationship. Ali being under Baba's employ was given more power than he otherwise would have. -
First Gunshots Go Off
While relaxing one evening, Amir, Hassan, and Ali hear "something that roared like thunder... we heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire." (35). This is a noise that is new to Afghanistan and especially Amir and Hassan since at the time they were only around 10. The gunshots are really a turning point in the book because up until then life had been easy for the boys, little did they know that the gunshots would be the first of many in a life-changing experience. -
Hassan Gets Plastic Surgery
Since he was born, Hassan has had a cleft lip-- something that drove his own mother to abandon him. For his birthday he was gifted plastic surgery. And when the surgery was over "he was smiling." (47). The removal of the cleft lip was a huge gift to Hassan, in more than just physical ways. Although he had never been bothered by it, it had changed others' opinions of him-- including his own mother's when he was too little for her to truly know who he'd be as a person. -
Hassan Gets Raped
After running a kite for Amir, Hassan gets cornered in an alley by Assef and his cronies. Despite what was happening, "Hassan didn't struggle. Didn't even whimper... [his face had] resignation in it." (75-76). The fact that Hassan didn't ever fight back shows how truly powerless he was in this society. There was nothing he could do. Being a Hazara, he knew that he just had to take what was being given to him or suffer more. -
Amir Hits Hassan With Pomegranates
Eventually, Amir's guilt breaks him and leads him to "[hurl] a pomegranate at him. It struck him in the chest..." (92). Amir's actions here are ridden with guilt and anger at himself, however he couldn't express them well. Instead of dealing with the guilt, anger, etc., Amir feels that the only way for him to feel redeemed is to be punished be the person he had wronged-- Hassan. Thoughts of the punishment were what drove him to chuck pomegranates at him. -
Amir's Birthday
Among everything that happens, and all the gifts he receives, there is only one that matters to him, "a brown leather-bound notebook" (99) gifted to him by Rahim Khan. This notebook is what allows Amir to seriously pursuit his passion for writing. It could be argued that with out Rahim Khan's thoughtful gift, Amir would not have ended up as an English major at San Jose State. -
Hassan and Ali Leave
After some complications surrounding Amir's birthday gift, Ali and Hassan decide to leave Baba's family. While it did not greatly effect Amir, but Baba "cried... [there was] pain is plea, [there was] fear." (107). While Amir and Hassan's relationship was already ruined, Baba and Ali had been like brothers since they were young. Ali's leaving had impacted Baba on a deeper level, and Baba then lived with the guilt of knowing that something he or his son had done drove away his brother. -
Soviets Invade
"The first Soviet troops prachuted int to Kabul on Dec. 27, 1979"; an event that would eventually be traced to the cause of violence, chaos, and extremism that would plague the country in the decades to come (The New York Times). -
Amir and Baba Leave Afghanistan
Since the Soviets had invaded, life in Afghanistan had been less than ideal which is why Baba and Amir had "left Kabul just after two in the morning." (110). Especially for a man of Baba's power running away was no easy thing to do. The situation that had driven them to do such a thing, then was grave as the power shifted from rich Afghan men to the Soviets. -
Amir And Baba Move To America
America was a huge adjustment for Baba, as he was coming from a place where he held the power. However, in America, he wouldn't
enroll in ESL classes to improve his broken English." (126). Not being able to speak the language is already a hindrance for anybody, but for a man as prideful as Baba, it cost him dearly. Instead of being able to get a decent job, he was stuck as a gas station manager, which also prompted a shift in the power from him to Amir. -
Amir Graduates High School
After going through the American school system, Amir finally graduates high school. Amir is overjoyed especially when Baba says, "I am [proud] Amir."(131) After decades of fighting for his fathers approval, Amir has finally earned it through something he worked hard for. Baba's approval and respect is what empowers Amir to continue to college, get his degree, and have a career. The support of loved ones really drove Amir to do better, be better. -
Amir Meets Soraya
After his first year of college, Amir and Baba start working at the flea market, to bring in some extra money. One day, Amir comes across a "slim-hipped beauty with velvety coal black hair" (140). This woman is Soraya, who will eventually be his wife. Since meeting her at the flea market, Amir begins to put more effort into his sales, in order to impress her. However, in that process, he also makes more money, only further fueling Baba's pride in him. -
Baba Dies
After battling cancer, one night Baba went to sleep, "and never woke up." (173). The death of a loved one would be hard on anyone, but Baba's death was especially difficult on Amir. Since they had just started to get close, his dying meant the end of their relationship, the end of a father figure, and the end of Amir's need to make someone proud. Without Baba their to urge him to do better, Amir's life and career slowly began to deteriorate. -
Soviets Leave
After ten long years, "the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989" (The New York Times). -
Taliban Power Grows
A student-organized group started to come to power fueled by legitimate supporters and "by the end of 1994 [the Taliban] had nearly 12,000 followers." (The New York Times). -
Taliban Take Control
Due to the constant support they received, the Taliban became strong and "by 1996 had taken control of Afghanistan." (The New York Times). -
Amir Learns He And Hassan Are Half-Brothers
When Amir returns, at 38 years old, Rahim Khan tells him that he and Hassan are brothers. He feels betrayed, and remembers Baba saying to him that the only sin was theft-- but "the things he'd stolen had been sacred." After finding out that Baba had kept secrets, Amir comes to terms with the fact that maybe, all those years of striving for Baba's attention would have been better spent striving to atone for what he did to his brother. -
Amir Meets Assef Again
While rescuing Sohrab, he realizes that the Taliban leader he was rescuing him, he realizes that the Taliban leader was "already here, in the flesh, sitting less than ten feet from me. After all these years... Assef." (281). Since moving away from Afghanistan, Amir had hoped to wash his hands of Assef and all the tragedy he brought with him. However, in order to atone for his sins, he rescues Hassan's child, while also bringing back all the memories of his time in Afghanistan full circle. -
9/11
On September 11, 2001 there was an "attack on the World Trade Center in New York." (The New York Times), which due to a US-aided campaign forced the Taliban out of major cities. -
Sohrab Smiles
After many silent months in Amir and Soraya's household, during the kite flying competition, "one corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile. Lopsided." (370). Finally, Sohrab begins to heal, and bond with Amir. The fact that it is over a kite flying competition brings the fact that what Amir did for him was to atone for what he did to Hassan one day, during a kite flying competition. -
Hamid Karzai Takes Power
After the previous Afghan king was exiled, his relative, Hamid Karzai "was named chairman of an interim government that replaced the ... Taliban." (The New York Times). -
Taliban Starts To Return
Even though they were defeated and exiled in 2001, the Taliban "continued to wage guerrilla warfare from a base in the...lawless tribal area on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border" (The New York Times), and eventually gained more power to the opium trade, which put money in the group's pockets. -
Hamid Karzai Wins Election
After leading the country in a government system that replaced the Taliban's, Karzai was officially "elected to a five-year term as president in 2004." (The New York Times). -
Gen. Petraeus
Under Obama's lead, General Petraeus "had taken charge of the U.S. Central Command" (The New York Times). -
Obama Deploys More Troops
During one of his speeches, President Obama "announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops." (The New York Times).