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. 

Symbols

The Cleft lip

In the Kite Runner, the cleft lip is a symbol of social status in the Afghan society. Those with cleft lips usually live in poverty because they cannot afford surgery to fix it. Amir describes Hassan as "the harelipped kite runner." page 2.  Hassan’s cleft lip marked his status as a Hazara, which divides him from Amir who is a Pashtun. When Baba fixes Hassan’s lip as a birthday present which symbolized Hassan being freed of his physical label and also Baba's secret love for Hassan.

The Kite 

To Amir, the kite is a symbol of childhood. The book starts off in San Francisco where Amir is living comfortably as a grown man. He sees kites flying in the park and is reminded of his childhood in Kabul, flying kites in competitions. However, the kite is also a symbol for guilt. After winning the kite cutting tournament, Amir finds Hassan with the kite surrounded by Assef in an alleyway. Amir watched Hassan get raped by Assef but cowardly runs away instead of standing up for his friend. Hassan being the loyal servant he was, brought the kite back to Amir even though he sacrificed himself and lost his dignity in the process. As Amir grows older, the guilt continues to plague him. Even in America when he marries Soraya but cannot have children because of unexplained infertility, Amir believes that it is a form of punishment for his betrayal to Hassan. The kite is also the only thing connecting Amir and his father. "Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper-thin slice of intersection between those spheres."page 52. Amir is very different from his father in terms of character and interests, the kite is the bond and common ground they have a father and son. 
At the end of the book, the kite no longer holds guilt behind it because Amir has been redeemed of his past. It symbolizes the childhood memories with Hassan.

“I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But I didn't care. I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lip. 
I ran” page 391.

Amir’s scar

Amir gets a scar above his lip from Assef while fighting to rescue Sohrab. He now shares the same permanent scar that Hassan has above his lip from the surgery. The scar symbolizes their brotherhood as they are born from the same father. Amir’s scar also represents courage because he finally stood up for those he cares about. Amir’s character had changed from a cowardly boy into a brave honorable man who would have made Baba proud.

“The impact had cut your upper lip in two, clean down the middle. But not to worry, the plastic guys sewed it back together and they think you will have an excellent result, though there will be a scar.  That is unavoidable.” page 311.

Themes

Betrayal

Betrayal is a major theme in the kite runner. Essentially, it is what causes the domino effect in the book; events preceding are rooted back to the betrayal that occurred between characters. Amir betrays Hassan after the kite tournament by running away after seeing Hassan getting raped by Assef in an alleyway. He had not stood up for his friend despite all the times Hassan stood up for him. With the immense guilt hanging over Amir, he plants his birthday money and watch under Hassan’s mattress. Hassan knows he is framed by Amir, however he stays loyal to him, admitting to Baba that he stole from Amir when he had not. This drives Hassan and Ali to leave the house. Although Amir did not directly kill Hassan, he caused his exile which kills him. Amir’s betrayal brings him to search for redemption as he grows older. The guilt from his actions never left Amir until Assef beats him years later when he returns to Afghanistan. Another example of betrayal in the book is Baba betraying Ali in the worst way by sleeping with his wife and conceiving Hassan.

"...How had Baba brought himself to look Ali in the eye? How had Ali lived in that house, day in and day out, knowing he had been dishonored by his master in the single worst way an Afghan man can be dishonored? “Page 225

Redemption

After the incident in the alleyway and Hassan’s exile, Amir grows up plagued with guilt because of his betrayal. Even with his new life in America he still feels the guilt from his past. Upon receiving the call from Rahim Khan, Amir flies back 20 years later to the now crumbling Kabul to rescue Sohrab. “There is a way to be good again”page 2, said by Rahim Khan, and saving Sohrab was the way. Amir was beaten up by Assef while saving Sohrab and found relief through it. “I hadn’t been happy and I hadn’t felt better, not at all. But I did now. My body was broken- just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later- but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.” Page 303. He feels that he has finally paid for his faults. Amir as a boy who could not stand up for himself or others was redeemed by the grown Amir who finally had the courage to stand up for what is right. Redemption can also be found in Baba. His betrayal of Ali caused him to redeem himself by "feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need."page 316.  

Ethnic Discrimination

Afghanistan is made up of two ethnicities, Hazaras and Pashtuns. The Hazaras are Persian speaking people Shia muslims whereas Pashtuns are eastern Iranian Sunni Islams. The Hazaras are supposedly the inferior race and the minority in Afghanistan. In the book there is a division between Baba and Amir, and Ali and Hassan because of this ethnic difference. Although there is a clear bond between the fathers and sons, Ali and Hassan are still Baba and Amir’s servants. They live in a mud hut and do all the cooking and cleaning for Baba and Amir.

“The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense, anyhow. Never mind that we taught each other to ride a bicycle with no hands, or to build a fully functional homemade camera out of a cardboard box. Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites. Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile.
Never mind any of those things. Because history isn't easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi'a, and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing. “page 27.

In the story, Hassan and Ali had also been bullied because of their ethnicity by Pashtun children especially Assef who later becomes the leader of the Taliban group.

The Taliban discriminate specifically the Hazaras but also everyone else. They believe that "Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage." Page 298.