-
Hassan gets surgery that fixes his clef lip
Amir states, "I wished I too had a scar that would beget Baba's sympathy. It wasn't fair. Hassan hadn't done anything to earn Baba's affections; he'd just been born with that stupid harelip" (Hosseini 46). Amir had always been jealous of Hassan with Baba. So since Hassan had a clef lip, Amir thought it made him take away Babas affection from him. -
Hassan gets raped
Amir states, "I felt paralyzed. I watched them close in the on the boy I'd grown up with"(71). This shows how much it hurt Amir to watch Hassan get raped. This is because he was so scared, that he could not even move, which shows how much pressure he was under. Although, it does not justify the fact that he did not help him. -
Amir and Hassan win the kite race
Amir exclaims "'You won, Amir Agha! You won!' 'We won! We won!' Was all I could say" (66). When Amir and Hassan win the race it means more to Amir than we think. It was not just about winning, but about gaining praise from Baba. -
Ali and Hassan leave Baba and Amir
Baba shows his anger with them leaving when he states, "'I forbid you to do this! Baba bellowed. 'Do you hear me? I forbid you!' 'Respectfully, you can't forbid me anything, Agha Sahib,' Ali said. 'We don't work for you anymore'"(106). This shows the frustration Baba feels when Hassan is accused of stealing, which leads them to leave because he is watching his biological son walk out of his life. Not only this, but Baba also watches his life long friend leave and will never see him again. -
Amirs 13th birthday
Amir says,"It was my birthday, but I knew who the real star of the show was" (94). He is explaining how Baba didn't throw a big celebration for Amir. He believes that Baba threw the party to make himself look good, and not really for Amir. -
Soviet troops stay
After the soviet troops enter into Kabul, the "troops stayed in the country for more than nine years, fighting a conflict that cost them roughly 15,000 and undisclosed billions of rubles, while undermining the cherished image of an invincible Soviet army." (NYT) -
Soviet troops parachute into Kabul
After Moscow tried to secure control over the afghan civil war, there were thousands of troops sent into Afghanistan by the Soviet Union and "immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country." (Office of the Historian) -
The arrival into San Francisco
Once Baba and Amir arrive in the United States, Amir explains how "Baba loved the idea of America. It was living in America that gave him an ulcer" (125). This provides reason to believe that Baba was very excited to move to the states. This is because moving gives him a chance to start over and leave his past back in Afghanistan. -
Amir graduates from high school
When Amir graduates from high school, Baba expresses how proud he is of him. He displays this when "He walked to him [me], curled his arm around my neck, and gave my brow a single kiss. 'I am moftakir, Amir,' he said. Proud" (131). This quotes shows how Baba is finally proud of Amir. It also shows how Baba cares about Amir deeply, despite what Amir believed when he was a child, and for most of his life. -
Amir and Soraya meet
After Amir meets Soraya he begins "Lying awake in bed that night, [thinking] of Soraya Taheri's sickle-shaped birthmark, her gently hooked nose, and the way her luminous eyes had fleetingly held [his]." (Hosseini 142). Since Amir thinks this way about Soraya it is clear to say he appears to be in love at first. About a year after this, Amir and Soraya get married. -
Baba and Amir sell goods at the flea market
Amir explains how "By that summer, Afghan families were working an entire section of the San Jose Flea Market" (137). This is when Amir and Baba start selling at the flea market. He explains how many families were selling there as well. -
The marriage of Amir and Soraya
When Amir and Soraya get married, "Baba spent $35,000, nearly the balance of his life savings, on the awroussi, the wedding ceremony" (169). This is because usually in Afghan tradition, the father pays for the wedding. And in this case Baba payed more than enough out of love for Amir. -
Soviet Troops leave Afghanistan
When "The last Soviet Troops left Afghanistan (New York Times)" because of peace talks from the united nations, they left the country with extremists, and even Al Qaeda. -
Baba dies of cancer
Amir states, "My whole life, I had been 'Baba's son.' Now he was gone. Baba couldn't show me the way anymore, I'd have to find it myself" (174). This shows the pain Amir feels when Baba dies. he did not only lose his father, but he lost his mentor that guided him though his life, and he realizes now that he needs to figure life out for himself. -
Amirs book gets published
As Amir talks about his book he states, "The novel was released the summer of that following year, 1989, and the publisher sent me on a five-city book tour" (Hosseini 183). This is when Amirs book gets published. Although he wrote a successful book, he still is trying to make amends for what he has done -
Mullah Omar's followers
In 1994, "Mullah Omar, an Afghan mujahideen commander (Wikipedia)" had about 12,000 followers by promising to restore the life of Islam, and created a movement that people followed. He later became the president of Afghanistan in 1996. -
Power divided
After the Soviet troops left Kabul, "Power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms" (NYT) -
Taliban takes control
When the Taliban took over, they had begin to impose "strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law, banning movies and music and forcing women out of schools and into all-enveloping burqa clothing" (NYT) -
Hassan gets killed
As amir explains Hassan's death, he states the Taliban "shot him in the back of the head." This is very hard for Amir to hear. This is because he never really got to fix things with Hassan after everything that happened and now he never will. -
The ultimatum for Bin Laden
After the attacks on September 11, George Bush offered the Taliban an ultimatum to turn in Osama Bin laden, but, "The Taliban's ambassador in Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, insisted that his country would not hand over Osama bin Laden (The Guardian). -
Sohrob's suicide attempt
Amir explains how he found Sohrob when he states, "Suddenly I was on my knees, screaming. Screaming through my clenched teeth. Screaming until I thigh my throat would rip and my chest explode" (Hosseini 343). This shows how horrified Amir was to find Sohrab in a bathtub with slit wrists. This is was because Amir told Sohrob he was going to have to go back to the orphanage. -
Amirs broken promise
Sohrob states in agony, "You promised you'd never put me in one of those places, Amir agha," he said. His voice was breaking, tears pooling in his eyes" (Hosseini 341). This is the product of Amir telling Sohrob that he needs to take him back to the orphanage after promising him that he wouldn't. This causes major problems for Sohrob later on. -
9/11 hijack
On September 11th, Al Qaeda hijacked three planes traveling in the United States. They did this by having terrorists board these planes and complete their suicide attack that ended up "killing everyone on board the planes and nearly 3,000 people on the ground" (History.com) -
Hamid Karzai's presidency
Hamid Karzai, a relative of the exiled kind of Afghanistan, became president in 2002 saying, "he hoped to secure peace for Afghanistan and win the country much-needed international aid." (NYT) -
The announcement to deliver 30,000 troops into Afghanistan
In 2010, "Mr. Obama announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops."