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Amir and Hassan win Kite competition
At the kite competition in the winter of 1975, Amir won the competition and got to say the words "We won! We won! (66)" It was the "single greatest moment of his twelve years of life. (66)" After dissapointing Baba for so long, Amir finally felt valued. When he says that it is the single greatest moment of his life, it shows how he lives to make Baba happy and that is his number one priority. -
Amir abandons Hassan
At the beginning of the book, Amir narrates, "I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a friged overcast day in the winter of 1975.(1)" Amir remembers the event clearly, even after 26 years. It was when Amir betrays and abandons Hassan, his life changes completely. His past haunted him and that shaped who he became . -
Hassan and Ali leave
Amir, dealing with the guilt of what he had done to Hassan decides to set up Hassan to be accused of stealing his money and watch. After Hassan takes the fall, and Ali finds out everything, he says "We are leaving Agha Sahib, we can't live here anymore. (106)" Ali gives up everything he had known all his life for Hassan to have a better life, meaning he would do anything for him. It also showed that Hassan will do anything for Amir also,; taking the blame for something he didn't do. -
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
Since the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, "Afgahnistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, has known little peace. (NYT 1) -
Soviet Unions arrive
"The first Soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on Dec.27, 1979, to assist Babrak Karmal, who had become president in a coup within the Afghan Communist Leadership. (NYT 2)" -
Baba and Amir move to live in America
When Baba and Amir have to escape Kabul, "Baba loved the idea of America. It was living in America that gave him an ulcer.(125)" Baba had envisioned a life for him and Amir. He thought of life in America as similar to his back in Kabul. Because of his high hopes, when his status and wealth and everything he had dissapears, it impacted him more strongly. -
Amir graduates from high school
After living in America for a while, in the summer of 1983, Amir "graduates high school at the age of twenty.(131)" Baba is very proud of Amir. Amir offers to put off college and start working to help Baba but Baba refuses- putting Amir's education first, showing the high standards of his morals. -
Baba finds out he is sick
Baba and Amir finds out that Baba has "Oat Cell Carcinoma. Advanced. Inoperable. (156)" Baba refuses any treatment at all, choosing to lose on his own terms. But Amir worries what will happen to him, and that makes Baba mad. That conflict showed how different Baba and Amir were, especially about their morals and values. -
Amir finishes his first novel
In 1988, Amir finishes his "first novel, a father-son story set in Kabul. (182)" Then about two months later, a publisher "called and informed me I was going to be a published novelist. (183)" This was a very important event in Amir's life because he had always wanted to be a writer. But his accomplishment also comes with guilt- the feeling that he didn't deserve any of it. -
Soviet troops leave Afghanistan
After 10 years of fighting a conflict, and after "peace talks moderated by the US, the las Soviet troops left Afghanistan in Feb. 1989, in what was in effect a unilateral withdrawal. (NYT 2)" -
Amir and Soraya find out they can't have a baby
After trying very hard to conceive a child, they find out they can't. Soraya's mother tells them, "God knows best, bachem. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. (186)" They couldn't conceive a child for a reason, just like Soraya's mother mentions. Amir and Soraya were meant to take Sohrab in. -
Power is anarchically divided
After Soviet forces left, "by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms.(NYT 2)" -
Omar creates popular movement
Omar gains nearly 12,000 followers and has a "promise of restoring the centrality of Islam to daily life, he created a genuinely popular movement in a country weary of corruption and brutality. (NYT 2)" -
The Taliban seizes control of Afghanistan
With the help of Pakistan, "the Taliban by 1996 had taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict enforcement of fundementalist Islamic law, banning movies and mucis and forcing women out of schools and into all-enveloping burqa clothing. (NYT 3)" -
Hassan is killed
After Amir reads Hassan's letters, he finally builds up the courage to ask about him, but Rahim Khan explains how Hassan protested against the Talibs to protect Baba's house, and so they "shot him in the back of the head. (219)" Hassan's loyalty is evident in his letters to Amir. Even in the most dangerous circumstances, Hassan still chooses loyalty over his safety, even if it costs him his life. -
Amir finds out Hassan is his brother
When Amir arrives in Pakistan, Rahim Khan tells him multiple things- one of them being Hassan was Amir's brother, which Amir responds with "You goddamn bastards! All of you, you bunch of lying goddamn bastards! (222)" Amir finds out that he had been lied to his entire life. He also realizes that Baba was a thief and that they were actually very similar . This taints the perfect image of Baba that Amir has always seen. -
Amir goes to Kabul
After visiting Rahim Khan, Amir is given a lot of new information he had been kept in the dark about. Rahim pursuades him into going to Kabul to save Sohrab and sure enough Amir told him, "I was going to Kabul.(227)" Amir refuses to go to Kabul at first because it was too dangerous. But later on Rahim mentions his past and that it was his chance to be good again. So Amir goes to atone for himself. -
Amir goes to Pakistan
Rahim Khan is sick and he calls Amir to come to Pakistan, and also says "Come. There is a way to be good again. (192)" Amir goes to Pakistan to not only see Rahim Khan but also to hopefully redeem himself. Rahim's words confirm that he had known everything about the winter of 1975 all along. -
Amir finds Sohrab
Amir fights with Assef for Sohrab. He gets beaten very badly,"his body was broken... but I felt healed. Healed at last. (289)" After holding on to guilt for over 20 years, Amir's beating helps atone for what he did. He feels as if he deserved it and even wanted it. -
Sohrab comes to America with Amir
Sohrab never accepts nor declines Amir's offer to go with him to America, but he would have no other choice. So after Sohrab was out of the hopital, Amir "brought Hassan's son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty. (356)" General Taheri and Khala Jamila had mentioned that blood is a strong thing and that is why adoption was ruled out. But because Baba and Hassan were related, Sohrab was an exception. -
Attack on World Trade Center
Al Qaeda leads an invasion of the World Trade Center. (NYT 1)" -
Hamid Karzai is named chairman of an interim gov
After an interim government replaced the Taliban, Hamid Karzai was "named chairman...making him the leader of the country. (NYT 3)" -
Drives Taliban out of the major Afghan cities
After 9/11, when Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden, US joins forces with rebel groups and begins and air and ground campaign that "drove the Taliban out of the major Afghan cities by the end of the year.(3)" -
Sohrab and Amir go kite running
Amir wins the kite fight for Sohrab and Amir saw "one corner of his mouth had curled up just so. (370)" This brought Amir joy. It was the first time Sohrab had smiled ever since he arrived in America. This brought Amir some feeling of acceptance and he felt atoned because when he runs the kite for Sohrab he says, "For you a thousand times over. (371)" -
Hamid Karzai takes office as interim president
Hamid Karzai takes "office as interim president in June 2002, saying he hoped to secure peace for Afghanistan and win the country much-needed international aid.(NYT 3)"