Irony

Amir seeking Baba's approval

Amir looks up to his father who is a well-respected and successful man. All his life Amir feels that he is a disappointment in his father’s eyes because he believes that he is the reason for his mother’s death. They also share very few traits which makes Amir feel the need to try hard for his father's affection.  Amir who is desperate for Baba’s approval and love, allows Hassan to be raped in order to bring back the kite. Through this, he became the coward that Baba hoped he would not become, “a boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything” page 24. Ironically, Baba is extremely proud of Hassan and even throws a huge birthday party to celebrate his kite tournament victory. But if Baba had known what Amir had done he would be disappointed and ashamed of him. Amir thought that if he could gain Baba’s approval, he would be happy but instead he feels guilt and abashed.

“I didn’t want any of it – it was all blood money; Baba would have never thrown me a party like that if I hadn’t won the tournament.” page 107. 

Baba the Thief/Sinner

Growing up, Amir has always heard from his father to never steal, "Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness... There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir." page 19. This statement from Baba makes him seem like an honorable and just man. However it is later revealed by Rahim Khan that Baba had slept with Ali’s wife. Baba had stolen the truth behind Hassan, his best friend's wife, and Amir's brother. It is also ironic that Amir turned out to share the same trait of betrayal as Baba.

“How could he have lied to me all those years? To Hassan? He had sat me on his lap when I was little, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, There is only one sin. And that is theft... When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. Hadn't he said those words to me? And now, fifteen years after I'd buried him, I was learning that Baba had been a thief. And a thief of the worst kind, because the things he'd stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor. His nang. His namoos.”page 237.

Brothers

Amir grew up thinking he was superior to Hassan because he was an illiterate Hazara. Yet they still had closeness comparable to the bond one would have with family despite not knowing they were half- brothers. Hosseini brings up “…there was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break.” Page 11. All along there indeed was a brotherhood between Hassan and Amir that was authentic since they both shared the same blood.