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Hassan gets harelip surgery.
Hassan's harelip "...surgery went well... I expected Hassan to cry with horror when the nurse handed him the mirror. Ali held his hand as Hassan took a long, thoughtful look into it... 'Tashakor.' Thank you... He was smiling." (Hosseini 46-47). This was a symbol of Baba's love for Hassan as Baba thought it would make Hassan happy. This was also a gesture to atone for hiding the fact that Hassan was Baba's son. -
Hassan was violated.
Hassan was violated by bullies, and Amir saw but did nothing. He even pretended he "...hadn't heard the crack in his voice. Just like I pretended I hadn't seen the dark stain in the seat of his pants. Or the tiny drops that fell from between his legs and stained the snow black" (78). Hassan was too embarassed and ashamed to speak up himself. The rape robbed him of his confidence and happiness for a long time in his youth. -
Ali and Hassan leave.
Amir planted a watch and money under Hassan's mattress and told Baba that he had stolen it. Amir, Baba, Hassan, and Ali met to talk about it when Hassan lied and said that he did steal it. They decided to not work for Baba anymore and live somewhere else. Baba pleads for them to stay, but Ali says "I'm sorry, Agha sahib, but our bags are already packed. We have made our decision" (Hosseini 106). -
Soviet Union Invades Afghanistan
Afghanistan "...has known little peace since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded" (1). -
Amir and Baba move to America
Amir and Baba have moved to America because it was unsafe in Afghanistan. Baba is having trouble adjusting to American life. Amir thinks "For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his" (Hosseini 129). -
Amir graduates from high school.
In the "...summer of 1983, I graduated from high school at the age of twenty... [Baba] walked to me, curled his arm around my neck, and gave my brow a single kiss. 'I am moftakhir, Amir,' he said. Proud. His eyes gleamed when he said thatand I liked being on the receiving end of that look." (Hosseini 131). This was the only the second time Amir felt like Baba was truly proud of him. All his life, all Amir wanted was Baba's attemtion, and he finally got it as an adult. -
Baba died.
Baba was diagnosed with lung cancer prior to his death. Over time he slowly got weaker and weaker until one night "Just before midnight, Baba asked us to help him to bed... He asked us to lean in, gave us each a kiss... Baba never woke up" (Hosseini 173). Many people came to Baba's funeral to pay their respects, all telling Amir about the amazing things Baba had done for them and what a great man he was. -
Amir and Soraya get married.
"I remember walking toward the stage, now in my tuxedo, Soraya a veiled pari in white, our hands locked... The wedding song, ahesta boro, blared from the speakers... I remember sitting on the sofa, set on the stage like a throne, Soraya's hand in mine, as three hundred or so faces looked on... Looking at Soraya's smiling face in the mirror, in the momentary privacy of the veil, I whispered to her for the first time that I loved her" (Hosseini 170-171). -
Last of Soviet Troops leave Afghanistan.
After 10 years "....the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989..." (New York Times). -
Sanaubar comes back.
A woman came to the door of Baba and Ali's old house. As Hassan spoke with her trying to figure out she was, she said "You smiled coming out of me, did anyone ever tell you? And I wouldn't even hold you. Allah forgive me, I wouldn't even hold you" (Hosseini 210). -
Soraya finds out she is infertile.
Soraya's doctor "...explained that he couldn't explain why we couldn't have kids." (Hosseini 185). They tried vitro fertilzation which did not work. After months of testing, Soraya's doctor "...sat across from us... and used the word 'adoption' for the first time. Soraya cried all the way home." (Hosseini 186). Having children was very important to Amir and Soraya, they were extremely disheartened when this happened. But later when Amir attempted to adopt Sohrab, Soraya's spirits lifted. -
Warlords compete for power in Afghanistan.
The Soviet Union troops had left, and "...by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms." (New York Times 2). -
Taliban takes over.
In 1996, "...the Taliban... had taken control of Afghanistan." (New York Times 2). -
Hassan dies.
Hassan resisted the Taliban, "'So they took him to the street---' ... '---and ordered him to kneel---' .... '---and shot him in the back of the head.'" (Hosseini 219). Amir was devastated, he was indenial. Amir thought about the times Hassan and he shared and about their close relationship, which deeply saddened Amir. -
Amir finds out that Rahim Khan is sick.
Amir claims he has "... 'to go to Pakistan.' ... She stood up now. 'Pakistan?' "Rahim Khan is very sick...'" (Hosseini 191). -
Amir comes in contact with Assef.
Amir tries to confront a Taliban leader when trying to find Sohrab, but he finds out that it is Assef. When Amir realizes it was Assef, "His name escaped my lips: 'Assef.'" (Hosseini 281). It was the first time Amir had come in contact with Assef since childhood, it was sudden but not surprising to Amir that Assef would be involved in such an organization. As they converse, he finds that Assef still violates children, and had especially raped Sohrab. -
Sohrab tries to kill himself.
While waiting in the hospital, Amir remembers that he saw "...the water drops dripping from the faucet and landing with a plink into the bloody bathwater; the left arm dangling over the side of the tub, the blood soaked razor sitting on the toilet tank---the same razor I had shaved with the day before---and his eyes, still half open but lifeless" (Hosseini 347-348).Amir has promised Sohrab that he would not send him back to the orphanage. Sohrab was upset and decided to best option was to die. -
Amir brings Sohrab back with him to America.
Amir and Sohrab "...arrived home about seven months ago, on a warm day in August 2001. Soraya picked us up at the airport... Soraya had turned the study upstairs into a bedroom for Sohrab." (Hosseini 357-358). -
Terrorist Attack on World Trade Center
Osama Bid Laden attacked "...the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001." (New York Times 2). -
The U.S. Military leads invasion of Afghanistan.
The U.S. military "...succeeded in dislodging Al Qaeda and removing the Taliban from power..." (New York Times 1). -
Hamid Karzai became leader of Afghanistan
A relative of the former Afghanistan King, Hamid Karzai "...was elected to a five-year term as president in 2004" (New York Time 2). -
General Petraeus takes charge of U.S. Central Command.
The commander of Iraq, "General Petraeus... had taken charge of Unisted States Central Command in October 2008, with responsibility for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the region" (New York Times 3). -
Pres. Obama delivers speech.
U.S. President Barack Obama "...announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops. He vowed to start bringing American forces home from Afghanistan in the middle of 2011, saying the United States could not afford and should not have to shoulder an open-ended comittment." (New York Times 3). -
Amir finds out that Hassan is his half brother.
As Amir visited with Rahim Khan, Rahim revelaed to him that "'Ali was sterile,'... 'No he wasn't. He and Sanaubar had Hassan, didn't they? They had Hassan ---' 'No they didn't,' Rahim Khan said. 'Yes they did!" 'No they didn't Amir.' 'Then who---' 'I think you know how.'" (Hosseini 222). Amir came to the conclusion that Baba had fathered Hassan. Amir was angry that Baba had lied to him, and frustrated. He also wondered if Hassan knew. -
Mullah Omar helps warlords rise.
In the last months of 1994, a Pashtun named "...Mullah Omar had nearly 12,000 followers and was rolling up the warlords to the north and east. With his promise of restoring the centrality of Islam to daily life, he created a genuinely popular movement in a country weary of corruption and brutality." (New York Times 2).
