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Period: to
Timespan
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The Ford Roadster Killing
During the year that Baba was born, 1933, "two brothers...got behind the wheel of their father's Ford Roadster. High on hashish and mast on French wine, they struck and killed a Hazara husband and wife on the road to Paghman" (24). At this time in history, Hazaras were not known as good people, so many must have thought that the car accident was on purpose because of everyone's opnions on Hazaras at the time. But, this was just an accident so people were misunderstood most likely about the event -
Amir Talks to Old Beggar
As Amir was walking talking to an old beggar on the street, they were talking about a subject and the old beggar said "I should know. I used to teach it at the university...From 1958-1996" (249). This shows that the old beggar used to be a teacher. This concluded to showing that the old beggar knew Amir's mother. -
Connections Between Old Beggar and Amir's Mother
When the old beggar and Amir started talking about a lecture that the old beggar gave in 1971, Amir told him that his mother used to be a college professor, and when he found out that they knew each other, the beggar said that "[they] used to sit and talk after class" (249-250). This shows that the old beggar really did know Amir's mother. Amir wanted to talk more because he knew that the old beggar knew things about Amir's mother that Amir did not know, but wanted to find out from him. -
The Overnight "Shooting"
On the night of July 17, 1973, the Russians were shooting in the villages of Afghanistan for hours nonstop. But, "As it turned out, they hadn't shot much of anything" at all (36). On this night, Ali was trying to calm Hassan and Amir, saything that the Russians were shooting ducks. But really they were just trying to scare the Afghans. -
Hassan Runs a Kite
During the time near to when Hassan got raped, during that "winter of 1975, [Amir] saw Hassan run a kite for the last time" (55). This eludes to showing that something bad was going to happen to Hassan. And eventually it did, which is what led to Amir seeing him run a kite for the last time. -
Commmunist Coup
At one point in the story, Amir was explaining that "The end, the official end" to many afghan childhoods "would come first in April 1798 with the communist coup d'e`tat" (36). This shows that the way children grew up now would be very different the was Amir grew up. The communists started all the revolutions in Afghanistan -
Afghanistan and Peace
Afghanistan has not been known as a peaceful country "since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded" (New York Times 1). -
Russian Tanks enter Afghanistan
After the communist coup d'e`tat, in "December 1979, Russian tanks [rolled] into the very same streets where Hassan and [Amir] played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan [he knew as a child]" (37). Although the coup was bad, bringing in Russian tanks made it all worse. This means that the Russians were killing Afghans for no reason whatsoever. -
Soviets Enter Kabul
To assist the president of Kabul, "The first Soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on December 27, 1979, to assist Babrak Karmal" (New York Times 2). -
Amir Graduates High School
During the summer of 1983, "[Amir] graduated high school at the age of twenty" (131). This shows that Amir was able to graduate from a good high school in America. Even though he was twenty when he graduated, it shows that no matter the age, he wanted to get a good education before it was too late. -
Living in America
In the 1980's when Baba and Amir were living in Fremont, "Baba loved the idea of America" (125). This shows that when they had arrived to Fremont, they were still over the moon about their new life they were about to begin. Although they had left friends behind, they new that moving to America would give them a better life. -
Searching for Hassan
In the year of 1986, Amir went to search for Hassan back in Afghanistan. Amir said "There were a lot of reasons why [he] went to Hazarajat to find Hassan...The biggest one...was that [he] was lonely" (203). Amir had felt guilty that he hadn't kept in touch with any of his friends or family in Afghanistan. This is why Amir felt lonely, he had no friends or family from his chilhood. -
Taliban Massacres Hazaras
About two years after Amir told Hassan that the war was over, the Taliban "massacred the Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif" (213). This shows that Hassan really knew that something bad was going to happen. This made everyone else believe that nothing would ever be back to normal again, and that the war would never end. -
Amir Finishes his First Novel
During the summer of 1988, "about six months before the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, [Amir] finished [his] first novel, a father-son story set in Kabul" (182). This shows that once Amir had settled into America, he was able to finish his first novel. It was based on a story similar to his childhood, showing that Kabul would always be a part of him. -
Soviets Leave Afghanistan
The Soviets finally withdrawaled from "Afghanistan in February 1989" when peace talks had moderated the United Nations (New York Times 2). -
Amir's Novel is Released
During the summer of 1989, "[Amir's] novel was released, and the publisher sent [him] on a five-city book tour" (183). Not only did he finish his book, but it got published too and he became famous in the Afghan community. This shows that moving to America gave Amir the calmness and inspiration for him to write and publish a book. -
After the Soviet Invasion
After the Soviet groups had left the invasion, "...by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms. But one group would eventually gain control" (New York Times 2). -
The Taliban Takeover
Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban "had nearly 12,000 followers" towards the end of 1994 (New York Times 2). -
Taliban Celebration
In 1996, Amir and the community celbrated when the Taliban ended daily fighting in their community. But when Amir saw Hassan in the kitchen and asked what was wrong, Hassan replied: "God help the Hazaras now, Rahim Kahn sahib" (213). Amir then tried to convince him that the war was over and that there would finally be peace. But, little did he know, it really was not over. -
Taliban Allied with Al Qaeda
The Taliban became an ally with Al Qaeda because Osama bin Laden, "who arrived by charted jet at Jalalabad Airport in May 1996", it was a safe place for Al Qaeda to plot thier next terror attack (New York Times 3). -
9/11 Attacks
Our country has been involved with Afghanistan militarily since 2001, "when it led an invasion after the September 11 attacks by Al Qaeda", the terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden (New York Times 1). -
The Karzai Government
When the Taliban was finally overthrown, a new leader of the country was named "In Decmber 2001, [when] Hamid Karzai ...was named chairman of an interim government" (New York Times 3). -
Obama Takes Soldiers Out
When the war was coming to an end, Obama delivered a speech in West Point on December 1, 2009, when "[he] announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops" (New York Times 4). -
Obama's Deadline Changed
At first Obama stated that he would start to pull troops ouf Afghanistan in July of 2011, but "the Obama administration changed its tone to increasingly emphasize the idea that the United States will have forces in the country until at least the end of 2014. [We] are trying to convince Afghans that the United States is not walking away and to warn the Taliban that aggressive operations against them would continue" (New York Times 4). -
Going to America
In March of 1981, Amir found himself, his father, and about a dozen others "sitting with [their] suitcases between [their] legs, cramped with these strangers in the tarpaulin-covered cab of an old Russian truck" (110). This was when Amir and Baba were moving to America. This shows that they really wanted to get to America, not matter the condition they had to be in to get there.