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KR Amir is Born
Amir's birthday was a year before Hassan's and that is told by saying "that Hassan was born in the winter of 1964, just one year after my mother died giving birth to me"(6). This introduction of the character was written very precisely to convey a feeling of loyalty that Amir now shows towards Hassan. While Amir is considered much higher in the Afghani social pyramid, he still introduces his birthday in the context of Hassan's. -
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Afghanistan Recent History
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KR Zahir Shah's Regime Ended in a Bloodless Coup
An overnight shootout ended with a surprised "Kabul [that] awoke the next morning to find that the monarchy was a thing of the past"(36). While this event may have appeared insignificant at the time it becomes very clear that this was the beginning of the end for Afghanistan. After the monarchy and Zahir Shah are overthrown, Daoud Khan comes in to power and shakes up the Afghani political scenario. -
KR Hassan Has Surgery on his Lip
Hassan was born with a cleft lip, but on his 10th birthday Baba gets a surgeon to come from New Delhi to sew up the two parts. Initially Amir and Hassan are confused when they walk into the house a see "this slight Indian fellow who looked a little like a mathematics teacher"(45). This man ends up being Dr. Kumar who proudly says "my job is to fix things on people's bodies. Sometimes their faces" (45). -
KR Amir and Hassan Win the Kite Flying Contest, Hassan Gets Assaulted
After the Kite Flying contest is won Hassan quickly says "I'm going to run that blue kite for you"(66). This marks a significant turning point in the book where at the end of this chapter Amir is a very different person. This dialogue is the last happy encounter we see between Amir and Hassan at all in the book. -
KR Hassan and Ali Leave
After increasing hostilities from Amir to Hassan Ali says to Baba "We are leaving, Agha sahib"(106). Less than an hour after this meeting Hassan and Ali drive away in Baba's car, which marks the last time Amir sees Hassan alive. This melancholy rhetoric surrounding Hassan in Amir's memory follows the story throughout the rest of the book. -
First Soviet Troops Arrive
This day is when the Russian intervention officially began with "the first soviet troops parachute[ing] into Kabul" (NYT 2). -
KR Baba and Amir flee Afghanistan
Conditions in Afghanistan with the Russian Invasion became very dire so Amir and Baba decide to stow away with a man who "was taking [them[ to Jalalabad, about 170 kilometers southeast of Kabul"(111). From there they would have passage into Pakistan and ultimately the United States. -
Stinger Missiles Supplied To Mujahideen
On this date the Russian army was dealt a big blow when the "Soviet Air Force was also rendered largely useless by advanced Stinger antiaircraft missiles supplied by the United States"(NYT 2). -
KR Baba Dies
Baba's death comes after nearly a year of him battling lung cancer, a result of him smoking. However he dies a peaceful and somewhat happy death in his sleep. The last we here of Baba's living moments is when Soraya "pulled up his blanket. We closed the door. Baba never woke up" (173). -
KR Rahim Khan goes to Hazarajat to find Hassan
Rahim Khan becomes very lonely living a secluded life in Kabul and "fuels up the Buick and drove up to Hazarajat"(204), to find Hassan. -
KR Amir marries Soraya
After several months of living in America Baba goes khastegari for Amir upon which he is married to Soraya Taheri. The process began in the "evening-- for lafz, the ceremony of "giving word"(166). -
KR Amir's Novel is Published
Three months after Amir finishes his first novel, his novel his published. His new secretary "Martin called and informed me I was going to be a published novelist" (183). -
Last Soviet Troops Leave Afghanistan
With much negotiation and diplomacy "the last Soviet Troops left Afghanistan"(NYT 2), leaving a country in ruins. -
KR Sohrab is Born
Unbeknownst to Amir at the time "Sanaubar [delivered] Hassan's son that winter of 1990"(211). He is named Sohrab and is later found by Amir. -
Clash Among Warlords
After the departure of the Soviet army "power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms"(NYT 2). -
Mullah Omar Takes Over
What Mullah Omar once started as a small band of men "had nearly 12,000 followers and was rolling up to warlords in the north and east"(NYT 2). -
KR Hassan is Executed
A few months after Rahim Khan leaves for Peshawar, Taliban officials try to evict Hassan and his wife from Baba's house in Kabul. Hassan didn't agree to leave and "protested again. So they took him in the street... and order him to kneel... and shot him in the back of the head" (219). -
KR Amir Visits Rahim Khan in Pakistan
Amir receives a call from a sickly Rahim Khan who now lives in Pakistan. He summons Amir by saying "Come. There is a way to be good again"(192). This moment foreshadows much of the plot to come a what could result in Amir's visit to Pakistan. -
Attack on the World Trade Center
On this day the world was shocked after "the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001"(NYT 3). This attack additionally prompted the US to enact an "air and ground campaign... that drove the Taliban out of the major Afghan cities"(NYT 3). -
KR Amir fights Assef and rescues Sohrab
Amir confronts Assef (now a Taliban general) in his house upon which a fight breaks out. In reflection Amir says "I don't know if I gave Assef a good fight"(288). -
KR Amir takes Sohrab Kite Flying
After the tragedy of Sohrab's suicide, Amir brings Sohrab to America.
The two of them have a sour relationship except for one time when Amir takes Sohrab kite flying. A miraculous thing happens when "one corner of his mouth had curled up just so"(370). It was the first time he smiled since he came to San Francisco. -
Hamid Karzai Named Chairman
A supporter of the old Afghan regime "was named chairman of an interim government that replaced the defeated Taliban"(NYT 3). -
Petraeus Took Charge of Afghanistan Operations
Revered General Petraeus "had taken charge of United States Central Command...with responsibility for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the region"(NYT 4). -
Obama Accounts Plan for the Afghanistan War Effort
Obama gave a speech at West Point where he "announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops"(NYT 4). -
Obama Vows to Bring Afghan Personnel Home
In contrast to the previously belligerent rhetoric "[Obama] vowed to start bringing American forces home from Afghanistan in the middle of 2011"(NYT 4).