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Amir's Mother Dies Giving Birth
An importnat event which to the destruction of Amir and Hassan's relationship occured before Hassan's birth. Amir stated, "It was there, in that litle shack, that Hassan was born in the winter of 1964, just one year after my mother died giving birth to me"(Hosseini, 6). Amir constantly fought for his father's love, which eventually lead to the destruction of his relationship with Hassan. Had Amir's mother lived, Amir would have been able to turn to her for love. -
Hassan is Born
On page six Amir states, "It was there, in that litle shack, that Hassan was born in the winter of 1964, just one year after my mother died giving birth to me"(Hosseini). The closeness of Amir and Hassan's age was vital to their relationship. Had they been born further apart, their age gap would have prevented them from having such a strong friendship. -
Baba Fixs Hassan's lip.
When Hassan went to go see his birthday pressent from Baba, he was met by a doctor who said, "my job is to fix things on people's bodies, sometimes their faces"(Hosseini, 45). This forshadows the suprise that Baba is Hassan's father. By giving Hassan such a costly gift, Baba illustrates how he treats Hassan like a son at every opportunity he gets. -
Amir witnesses Hassan get raped.
In the winter of 1975, Amir witnessed "Assef [kneel] behind Hassam, put his hands on Hassan's hips and [lift] his bare buttocks"(Hosseini 75). Amir saw Hassan about to get raped, yet he did nothing to stop it. Thus demonstrating how Amir and Hassan's relationship was one-sided. Hassan would get raped so Amir could bring home a kite, but Amir wouldn't try to prevent Hassan from being raped. Hassan cared for Amir much more than Amir cared for Hassan. -
Tensions between Amir and Hassan increase.
Just as tensions between Amir and hassan began to cease, Amir ruined their progress by hitting Hassan with a pomegranate and yelling, "Get up! Hit me!"(Hosseini, 92). By telling Hassan to get up and hit him, Amir was hoping he would have been able to release some of the guilt he felt becasue he would no longer have been the only one who had done something to harm the other. This blew back on Amir and resulted in him feeling more guilty than before. -
Communists take over Afghanistan in a Coup
Amir described, "The end, the official end, would come first in April 1978 with the communist coup d'état"(Hosseini, 36). The communist takeover marked the end of Afghanistan's stability, both in the novel and in real life. Following the communist takeover, the Taliban gained control, installing fear in the general public. -
Soviets Invade Kabul
According to a New York Times article on Afghanistan, the Soviet troops first, "parachuted into Kabul on Dec. 27, 1979" To assist the president Babraj Karmal (2). -
Amir and Baba leave for America.
On the journey away from Afghanistan and into America Amir remembers the state of their house.He recalls that "Tapestries [were] still hung on the walls of the living room and [his] mother's books still crowded the shelves"(Hosseini,112). Not only was Baba moving to a new country for Amir, he was giving up his whole life for Amir. Everything he had owned, every memory from his past life was left behind in the house. -
Amir graduates from college.
At Amir's graduation Baba said, "I am moftakhir, Amir" (131). This was one of the firsrt times Baba actually said something to Amir that showed affection. Although he had done much for Amir, like moving to America, he never told Amir that he loved or that he was proud of him. This was a major breakhrough in their relationship. -
Amir meets Soraya
While speeking to the general at his van at the market, Amir catches a glimpse of his daughter and "For the rest of that day, [he] fought the urge to look toward the gray van."(141). The interest that Amir shows in the general's daughter forshadows their future marriage. His initial interest in her grows as he speaks to her more, and eventually asks for her hand in Marriage. -
Amir and Soraya ger married
On page 168, the general says,"Amir jan, as for you, I welcome you to my home as a son, as the husband of my daughter who is the noor of my eye"(Hosseini). This statement marked the marriage of Amir and Soraya. Soraya was the reason Amir kept his sanity. When Baba was sick, she helped him so that Amir could go to work When Baba died Soraya was there to comfort Amir. Without her, Amir would not have been able to work and would have been alone when Baba died. -
Baba dies.
Just before bed, Soraya offered to get Baba his morphine, but Baba said, "Not tonight There is no pain tonight."(Hosseini,173). Baba didn't wake up the next morning. Baba's death occured shortly after Amir's wedding, which suggests that he was finally willing to die. He had finally seen Amir in love and happy, so he stopped fighting to stay alive. This is also shown through him stating that there was no pain that night. Seeing Amir happy, Baba was happy and thereby felt no pain. -
Soviet Troops Leave Afghanistan
The Soviet troops left Afghanistan in february 1989 after, "peace talks moderated by the United Nations" (New York Times, 2). When they left the country was a center for Islamic extremists. -
Amir publishes his first novel.
Amir sent his first novel to a publisher in 1998, but and it was released in 1989. Following the publication, Amir had become "a minor celebrity in the Afghan community."(183). After everything that happened in Amir's life, he had finally settled down and was a reletivley successful writer. This calm and successful life later becomes why he is reluctant to save Sohrab from Afghanistan. -
Mullah Omar beomes increasingly more popular.
The New York Times states that, Mullah Omar had nearly 12000 followers and was rolling up the warlords to the north and east" (2) -
bin Ladenarrives in Afghanistan
bin Laden, "arrived by chartered jet at Jalalabad Airport in May 1996" (NYT, 3). -
Taliban Takes control of Afghanistan
According to the New York Times. "the Taliban by 1996 had taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict enforcementof fundamentalist Islamic law" (3). -
Rahim Khan Calls Amir
Mid-summer of 2000, Rahim Khan called amir and told him "There is a way to be good agian"(Hosseini, 2). This phone call marks the beginning of Amirs atonement for what he did to Hassan.Amir realized there was a way to make up for his actions and he took it. After Rahim's call, Amir flew to Peshwar in order to being atoning. -
Amir saves Sohrab from Assef
When Amir asks Assef for Sohrab Assef tells the guards they will fight for him. He also says, "When it's all done, only one of us will walk out of this room alive"(187). Amir stayed and fought for Sohrab even though he knew he would most likely be killed. He does end up saving Sohrab. By saving Sohrab, Amir atoned for what he did to Hassan in 1975. -
Amir finds out that Hassan was his half brother.
In Peshwar Rahim Khan tells Amir that Ali wasn't Hassan's father. When Amir asks who was, Rahim says, "I think you know who" suggesting that it was Baba (Hosseini, 222). Because Hassan was also Baba's son, Baba could never have been a good father to Amir until Hassan was no longer around. Baba wanted to be able to care for Hassan like the son that he was, but couldn't due to the social setting. Baba's inability to care for Hassan angered him. He took out that anger on Amir. -
George Bush gives Taliban an Ultimatum
George W. Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Osama bin Laden, "After the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001" (NYT, 3) -
Hamid Karzai Takes Office as Interim President
Hamid Karzai hoped to secure peace in Afghanistan when he, "took office as interim president"(3). -
Karzai elected to a Five Year Term Presidency
Hamid Karzai was, "elected to a five-year term president in 2004"(NYT, 3). -
Obama announces plan to deploy troups
At a speech given in West Point, "Mr. Obama annouinced his plan to deploy 30000 additional troups."(NYT, 4). -
Obama Changes Date To remove Troups
Obama changed the date to remove troups from Agphanistan, and decided that, "the United States will have forces in the coubntry until at least the end of 2014"(NYT, 4)