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Zahir Shah's Reign
In 1933 "Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan"(24). This shows that Afghanistan is quite politicly corrupt because Zahir Shah is able to maintain control over Afghanistan for 40 years acting like a king. This in someways is a foreshadowing to the Taliban because good leaders are not supposed to remain in power for such a long time and when Hosseini mentions Zahir's reign it reminded me of another bad leader (the Taliban). -
Baba's Birth
Khaled Hosseini states that baba was born "in 1933, the year Baba was born"(24). This is important in the novel because often times we forget that characters are not like us and Baba being born in 1933 would have many differences. Baba is 39 years older than Amir. -
Amir's Birth
Amir was born during the winter of December 1963. "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"( pg 6). From the beginning of the novel Hassan is portrayed as a shadow of Amir since he is both one year younger and was born in a shack. This sets the pace of the novel as Amir is the social acceptable one of the two brothers. -
Sanaubar leaves
Sanaubar abandons her family shortly after her son is born "None of us had seen Sanaubar since she had eloped with a band of singers and dancers in 1964"(210). This changes Hassans life because now he also had no mother like Amir. Sanaubar abandoned Hassan because of his clef palate. -
Orphanage was built
Baba decides to atone for his mistakes in the late"1960s when I was five or six, Baba decided to build and orphanage"(13). Baba does this because similar to Amir he made mistakes and he attempts to atone for them. Baba is very proud of the orphanage later in the novel. -
Hassan's Rape
Amir sees Hassan's last kite running in the winter "of 1975 I saw Hassan run a kite for the last time"(55). This is because when Hassan is running the kite he gets raped. Amir could stop it but he is too much of a coward to, this is when he discovered he was a coward. -
Amir's thirteenth Birthday
Amir " turned thirteen that summer of 1976"(93). This is important because he uses the gifts from the birthday to get rid of Hassan. Amir does this because it is a way of dealing with his guilt. -
Russian tanks affect Amir
Amir says that peace in Afghanistan ends in "December 1979, when Russian tanks would roll into the very same streets where Hassan and I played"(36). This affects Amir because he is forced to escape Afghanistan later in the novel due to Russian tanks. These tanks forever change Amir's life. -
Tracing back the turmoil
The war strciken history "that have dominated its history since then can be traced to the 1979 invasion by the Soviet Union and the reaction both by Afghans and by their allies in the United States and Pakistan"(Background New York Times). -
Russians enter Afghanistan
The initial 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"(Background New York Times). -
Highschool graduation
In the summer of "1983, I graduated from high school at the age of twenty, by far the oldest senior tossing his mortarboard on the football field that day"(131). This is important because it is an important milestone for Amir. This also allows Amir to pursue his dreams in college. -
Fles market business begins
In the summer "of 1984--the summer I turned twenty- one--Baba sold his Buick and bought a dilapidated '71 Volkswagen bus for $550 from an old Afghan acquaintance who'd been a high-school science teacher in Kabul"(136). This brings Amir and Baba closer because they work together and use the bus to sell items at the flea market. This is also foreshadowing because Baba bought the bus from an old Afghan acquaintance because it shows he finds and Afghan community which he also finds at the market. -
Baba meets the general
One early Sunday morning in "July 1984, while Baba set up, I bought two cups of coffee from the concession stand and returned to find Baba talking to an older, distinguished-looking man" (138). The general ends up being Amir's father in law. Baba and the general are also close members of an Afghan community at the flea market. -
Rahim Khan looks for Hassan
Rahim Khan states that "there were a lot of reasons why I went to Hazarajat to find Hassan in 1986" (203). This shows that Rahim Khan still thought of Hassan after all these years. He brings Hassan to Amir's house in Afghanistan. -
U.S. Fights Soviets in Afghanistan
After 1986 "the Soviet Air Force was also rendered largely useless by advanced Stinger antiaircraft missiles supplied by the United States to the rebels"(Background New York Times). -
Amir writes his first novel
In the summer of "1988, about six months before the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, I finished my first novel, a father-son story set in Kabul, written mostly with the typewriter the general had given me" (182). This shows that the general accepts and embraces Amir's career path. Amir's novel seems to be influenced by his childhood in Afghanistan -
Farzana becomes pregnant
Hassans wife becomes pregnant "In early 1990, Farzana became pregnant again" (209). This is when Sohrab is conceived. Farzana already had one child but it died so Sohrab is her second. -
Soraya can not get pregnant
Soraya tells "her parents the weekend after our last visit with Dr. Rosen. We were sitting on picnic chairs in the Taheris' backyard, grilling trout and sipping yogurt dogh. It was an early evening in March 1991"(186). The news is that Soraya and Amir can not make a kid. Later in the novel this leads to Amir bringing in his step nephew from Afghanistan. -
Power Vacuum in Afghanistan
After Soviet forces left "Afghanistan descended into vicious internecine strife; by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms"(Background New York Times). -
Pakistan funds Taliban
As soon as 1994 "Pakistani intelligence officers began funneling arms, money and supplies to Mullah Omar's men, as well as military advisers to help guide them in battle"(Taliban New York times). -
Taliban takes control of Afghanistan
the Taliban became powerful in Afghanistan "by 1996 and 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 burqa clothing"(The Soviet Invasion and After, New York Times) -
U.S. Military Involvement
The United States "has been militarily involved in Afghanistan since 2001"(Afghanistan overview New york Times). -
George W. Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden
After the attack on the "World Trade Center in New York on Sept 11, 2001, President George W. Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden"(post 9/11 invasion New York Times). -
Taliban continue to wage war
Even though they were defeated 200 "the Taliban continued to wage a guerrilla warfare from a base in the mountainous and largely lawless tribal area on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border"(Karzai government New York Times) -
plan to deploy 30,000 to Afghanistan
In Obama's speech delivered on "Dec. 1, 2009, at West Point, Mr. Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops"