Amir has a terrible relationship with his father, who continually dismisses him and favors Hassan. Hassan is everything that Amir is not, except for the fact that he is an oppressed Hazara. Hassan is more athletic, courageous, kindhearted, and innocent than Amir. Amir deeply resents the fact that Baba favors Hassan, and Amir goes out of his way to trick and tease Hassan to compensate for his low self-esteem. Amir even tests Hassan's loyalty by asking him if he would eat dirt if he were asked to. Amir is aware of his immoral behavior but continually tests Hassan's loyalty, hoping that he will reveal Hassan's character flaws. Despite Amir's harassment and absurd questions, Hassan remains loyal to Amir and even takes the blame for stealing his birthday presents. Amir tests Hassan's loyalty in the hopes of discovering Hassan's character flaws, which would make Amir feel less guilty regarding his jealousy and envy towards him. Unfortunately, Hassan proves to be so "goddamn pure," which only exacerbates Amir's guilt.

Amir is jealous over his father's attention to Hassan. He does not understand why his father would treat the son of a servant so lavishly. Amir's relationship with his father is a constant source of turmoil for him. He feels he never receives the love and attention an only  son should have. Though Amir loves Hassan deeply as a friend, some inner conflict that he is not even aware of leads him to continually test Hassan's friendship. Afterwards, Amir is consumed with remorse for having treated his friend so poorly. At the end of the novel, Amir will learn why this conflict occurs. Hassan never waivers in his loyalty to Amir, despite the "testing" he so frequently must endure.