Baba and Amir both belong to the ethnic group, known as the Pashtuns. In Afghanistan society, Pashtun people are seen to be more significant than Hazara people (Ali and Hassan). This societal ideology is therefore embedded in the way Baba and Amir thinks. Their thoughts are what make them so similar in character; however, this common ideology controls Amir's thinking much more than his father. Amir is a young boy when he betrays his family; therefore he is much more influenced by this particular way of thinking. As a child, the readers see him as a selfish person. The way he treats Hassan is the cause of this 'bad name'. He is aware of the fact that Hassan and himself are like brothers and are best friends, but continues to foreground the ideology that he is better than Hassan because he is a Pashtun and also his master; "But he is not my friend, he is my servant". This enrages the readers and also makes them think Amir is a pompous individual. Furthermore, we discard the fact that Amir is innocent and ignorant of the fact of treating Hassan justly and nicely, because he chooses to act in this way despite growing up with the thinking that Hassan is a brother, and "who fed from the same breast". On the other hand, Baba has life experiences about how to justly and humanely treat Hazara people; his father housed Ali when he did not have a family, all out of the goodness of his heart; subsequently, Baba thinks of Ali as his brother. Despite this admirable thinking, he still allows himself to be restricted by the societal ideology of Pashtun and Hazara people, just like Amir. Baba's way of thinking is literally displayed in his house, the house of best intentions, because the class barrier between these two groups of people still exists. For example, Ali and Hassan live in a hut and sleep on a mattress on the floor whilst Baba and Hassan live in a plush home. We see that, it is actually society's pressure that caused Baba to lie. Thus, common ideologies in Afghanistan society contributed to Baba's and Amir's conscious decision to betray their family. However the readers also become alert of the flaws in these characters which in turn influenced their choice as well.
Character construction and the relationship between father and son, Baba and Amir, allow the readers to see certain aspects that led to each betrayal. In the exposition, we acknowledge that Baba and Amir are completely opposite and different characters. Baba is portrayed to be a heroic, protective and a dominant character, compared to Amir. Other characters in the novel, who are everyday people, admire Baba because of his understanding and helpfulness, always looking after people's best interest. Baba seems to be a morally correct individual, living by his rule to not steal. However, Baba did steal; he stole the right to the truth of who fathered Hassan. He did this selfish act because of his own personal agenda of remaining a person of admiration. He was scared of what people may think of him, and of how Ali may respond to his disloyalty and lies. This flaw in his character, leads him to take this betrayal to his grave. On the other hand, the readers view Amir as cowardly, feminine because he reads and writes poetry, and as an attention seeker, compared to his father. Amir wants Baba's undivided attention and affection, because he feels that Hassan is more important to Baba. All Amir desires, is for his father to spend time more with him, and for his father to be proud of him. For example, when Amir wants to go somewhere alone with his father, Baba will always invite Hassan, and every year for the kite flying tournament Baba buys Amir the best kite in the shop and also purchases the same one for Hassan. Subsequently, this makes Amir become jealous of Hassan of due to his father's favouritism and the special place he holds in his heart. Furthermore, when Amir wins the kite flying competition, loyal Hassan promises to run the kite in honour of him and along his path he gets sexually assaulted. Amir witnesses this atrocity, but he does not attempt to help Hassan. Instead he runs home, and decides to keep this a secret because, he knew if he spoke up Baba will discard the fact that he had just won the tournament and tend to Hassan. Like his father, Amir never tells Hassan of his selfish act. Therefore, the difficult relationship that Amir and Baba have ultimately leads to Amir's betrayal of Hassan.
Both Amir and Baba committed sins against their family because of their own benefits. Readers are able to acknowledge that the societal ideologies and context of Afghanistan in that time period adds to these characters reasoning to betray themselves plus Hassan and Ali. We see that Amir was more influenced than his father; however the main reason behind his father's betrayal was due to what others would think, and in other words societal ideologies. Readers also foreground the idea that the father-son relationship between Baba and Amir is a huge element involved their decision, especially for Amir. Also, analysing character construction helps the readers understand more about each character and the way they think and why they perform certain actions. All in all, the interaction with all these aspects- ideologies, context, and characterization- becomes instrumental in Amir and Baba's decision to deceive their family.
