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Baba is born
"In 1933, the year Baba was born and the year Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan..." (24). This quote tells the reader when Baba was born, and what was happening at the time. Baba's birth is the first most important event that leads on to other births and characters in the book. -
Amir is born
"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" (6). This quote explains how Amir was born in in 1963, just one year before his lifelong friend Hassan was born. This quote also demonstrates how Amir already had complications in his life since he was a young child, because of his mother's death. -
Hassan is born
"It was in that small shack that Hassan's mother, Sanaubar, gave birth to him one cold winter day in 1964" (6). This quote states that Hassan was born in the winter of 1964. This quotation foreshadows how something would happen in another winter (Hassan's rape), and how that would be a turning point in the novel. -
Hassan is raped
"I realized I still hadn't breathed out. I exhaled, slowly, quietly. I felt paralyzed. I watched them close in on the boy I'd grown up with, the boy whose harelipped face had been my first memory" (74). This quote is the turning point in Hassan and Amir's friendship. Because Amir was unresponsive to Hassan getting raped, it destroyed their friendship and changed their relationship forever. -
Hassan and Ali leave
"Life here is impossible for us now. We're leaving" (109). This event in the book is where readers realize the status differences between Hassan and Ali, and Amir and Baba. Because they were of different social classes, their relationships were difficult to maitain because of the cultural tension going on in Afghanistan. -
Soviet Troops come to Kabul
The "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" (NYT). -
Baba and Amir leave Afghanistan
"My innards had been roiling since we'd left Kabul just after two in the morning"(110). This point in the book is where after Hassan and Ali leave, Baba and Amir decide to leave as well to start over a new life in the United States. Because of the Soviet invasion, Baba didn't want to see his country destroyed and decided to leave far away. -
Amir and Baba go to San Francisco
"I remember the two of us walking through Lake Elizabeth Park in Fremont, a few streets down from our apartment" (125). This moment is where Amir realizes how good his life is in the United States, and how lucky he is. Even though Amir and Baba had to leave their home country, they were lucky to have been able to start over successfully. -
Ali is killed by a land mine
"He told me that Ali and his cousin...had been killed by a land mine two years before, just outside of Bamiyan" (206). When Hassan tells Amir that Ali has been killed, he deeply feels sadness because of how well he knew Ali and how much of their life they had spent together. Amir knows how close Baba felt to Ali, and even though he had left, he would always be a big part of their life. -
Amir and Soroya marry
"We were seated around a table, Soroya and I dressed in green-the color of Islam, but also the color of spring and new beginnings" (170). This quote shows the new beginnings in Amir's life when he marries Soroya in 1984. This quote shows that Amir has hope for his future, and what will happen with Soroya. -
Rahim Khan goes to find Hassan
"The people in Bamiyan had told me I would find him easliy- he lived in the only house in the village that had a walled garden" (205). This is the moment im the book where Rahim Khan and Amir go to find Hassan in Bamiyan. Seeing each other after such a long time brings up a lot of emotions for Amir, knowing what had happened in the winter of 1975. -
Baba dies
"She pulled up his blanket. We closed the door. Baba never woke up" (173). This quote is where Baba passes away in his sleep, which devastates Amir. At Baba's funeral, Amir realizes that so much of what he had become as a person was because of Baba's influence, and the lessons he had taught him in life. -
Soviet troops leave Afghanistan
The last Soviet troops "...left Afghanistan in February 1989, in what was in effect a unilateral withdrawal. They left behind a country that was not only devastated by the war but that had become a beacon to Islamic extremists from across the globe who had come to assist in the fighting, including Osama bin Laden and the group he helped found, Al Qaeda" (NYT). -
Hassan's mother returns
"I have walked long and far to see if you are as beautiful in the flesh as you are in my dreams" (210). This moment in the book is where Hassan's mother, Sanaubar, returns and finds Hassan. No one had seen Sanaubar since she left, but she had walked miles and miles just to find Hassan. -
The Taliban takeover
The Taliban take action, "...The group's action first occurred when Mullah Omar, a Pashtun... By the end of 1994 Mullah Omar had nearly 12,000 and was rolling up the warlords to the north and east" (NYT). -
The Taliban take over
"When the Taliban rolled in and kicked the Alliance out of Kabul, I actually danced on that street" (200). This point in the novel is where the Talban takes control of much of Aghanistan, in hope to set up an Islamic state. Everyone in Kabul was happy and jumping for joy, because they thought that the TAliban were heroes, and would finally order oeace in Aghanistan. -
The Taliban take control
The Taliban take control, "Buoyed by Pakistani aid, the Taliban by 1996 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" (NYT). -
Hassan is killed
"But all I could manage was to whisper 'No. No. No' over and over again" (219). After having known Hassan for such a long time, Amir is devastated when he hears the news that Hassan had been shot in the head and killed. After having gone through so much with Hassan, Amir is shocked to have lost his life long friend who was a huge part of his life. -
President Obama centralizes his military on Afghanistan
President Obama "made Afghanistan the central military focus of his administration, drawing troops out of Iraq and increasing the number in Afghanistan by almost 50,000" (NYT). -
The Taliban regroups
The Taliban regroups, "As the American military focus was diverted to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Taliban regrouped and began to extend its influence in the southern part of Afghanistan" (NYT). -
9/11
The United States of America "had been militarily involved in Afghanistan since 2001, when it led an invasion after the Sept. 11 attacks by Al Qaeda" (NYT). -
Mohammad Zahir Shah takes office
Mohammad Zahir Shah "took office as interim president in June 2002.saying he hoped to secure peace for Afghanistan and win the country much-needed international aid" (NYT). -
Amir and Sohrab fly the kite
"Another half-dozen kites had taken flight. People had started to gather in clumps... 'do you want to help me fly this?' I said" (368).This is is ending of the book, where Sohra helps Amir fly the green kite. The green kite shows hope, and that even though so many devastating events have heppned, there is hope for more in the future. -
President Obama announces his new plan
President 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 commitment" (NYT). -
United States forces stay in the country
The deadline change, "Yet in a move away from that July 2011 deadline, 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" (NYT).