" about Soraya running away, 

"no suitors have knocked on the general's door since."

However, as the children grew into adulthood, their childish ways disappeared and their relationships with their fathers grew stronger. Baba approved of Amir's choice for a bride, and General Taheri seemed pleased that the son of Baba would become his son-in-law. 

Soraya and Amir both have difficult relationships with their Afghan fathers. Both Soraya and Amir grew up in rather traditional Afghan homes and live with relatively domineering fathers. Soraya and Amir both make independent decisions that challenge their fathers' ideologies but are still able to develop close relationships with them.

Soraya had disappointed her father in the past by running away with an Afghan man when she was eighteen. Soraya's father found his daughter and moved them to California. General Taheri also disagrees with his daughter's decision to become a teacher and would rather her study law. Unlike Amir, who continually backs down and seldom argues with his father, Soraya is not afraid to openly disagree and challenge her father's opinions.

Similar to how Soraya disappointed her father by running away when she was eighteen, Amir also disappoints his father. Baba favors Hassan over Amir growing up because Amir is not athletic or masculine. Baba also disagrees with Amir's career choice to become a writer. Despite their disagreements and different beliefs, Amir does not openly challenge Baba the way Soraya argues with her father. Unlike Soraya and her father, Baba is not aware of Amir's transgressions as a child. While Soraya's father witnessed his daughter's wrongdoing, Baba has no idea that Amir witnessed Hassan being raped and did not intervene.

Amir follows in the footsteps of his father. He keeps dark secrets for the sake of saving his reputation. They both commit shameful acts and they hide the truth. Soroya also has shameful things that are a part of her past; however, she doesn't hide the truth. She is open about her past. For example, while Soroya tells Amir about the man she ran off with when she was younger, Amir is unable to tell her of the cowardly act he committed toward Hassan. Soroya knows that it is better to be open and honest than to preserve the reputation of the family name. Preserving reputation causes the men in the book to commit more shameful acts. Soroya knows this.

Both Soraya and Amir are ethnic Pashtuns, who immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan. Both Soraya and Amir have powerful, influential fathers, who are dominating figures in their lives. Soraya's father is General Taheri, who places great value on upholding Afghan traditions and is an extremely masculine individual. Similarly, Baba is a strong man, who is renowned for his success in business and intimidating persona. Both Soraya and Amir share an affinity for education and literature. Soraya is a teacher and Amir is a successful writer. Soraya and Amir both have dark pasts, which continue to haunt each of them. Soraya tells Amir that she brought shame to her family after running away with an Afghan man when she was younger and Amir harbors the guilt of not intervening when Assef raped Hassan. While Soraya courageously admits to her past transgressions, Amir initially holds onto his dark secret and only informs Soraya when he feels it is necessary to tell her.

Amir is the main character of the novel, Kite Runner. He is characterized as a selfish coward for most of his youth.  He also desperately wants the affection of his father Baba, but he feels that he does not have it, because he is so unlike him. Baba is a man of courage, conviction, and principle. Amir is none of these things. Hassan, who is a servant boy, is much more like Baba. So, Amir has mixed feelings when it comes to Hassan. In one instance, he watches Hassan get raped and does nothing about it. And this guilt lingers. When Amir is finally in America, he is much of the same - a selfish young adult. However, he comes to redeem himself in the end, as he faces his demons and becomes a selfless man. He adopts Sohrab and faces Assef with courage (and is even beaten by him). Hence, we a transformation.

When it comes to Soraya, we see a transformation as well. Soraya is the daughter of Afghan general Taheri and his wife. However, she is "damaged goods," because when she fled as a refuge she lived with a man that was not her husband and was no longer a virgin. In this society, this was a huge taboo. Her healing process began when Amir still loved her and wanted to marry her. This also brought complications, because she could not bear children. So, when they adopt Sohrab, the healing process is complete.

In light of the above, both are broken people, bound by their past, and find redemption in each other and an adopted child.

Amir and his future bride are similar in many ways, particularly in how they have grown up in the shadow of their powerful fathers and how they are both "damaged goods." Amir cannot sleep at nights because of the guilt he feels for his past sins against Hassan, and for how he has been unable to make Baba proud of him. Soraya's reputation was ruined among the Afghan community in Virginia after she ran away with her boyfriend, and she still feels bullied by her father; and like Amir (who feels Baba blames him for causing his mother's death), she feels guilt for causing her mother's stroke. However, Soraya's confession to Amir concerning her past indiscretion seems to cleanse her own guilt: Amir wishes he had the courage to do the same, but his own guilt only grows when he remains silent.

     I envied her. Her secret was out. Spoken. Dealt with... I suspected there were many ways in which Soraya Taheri was a better person than me. Courage was just one of them.

While Amir seems to be at peace with the way his relationship with Baba had ended, Soraya is still at odds with her father; yet she has a loving mother to fall back on, unlike Amir. The couple had only the most minor of conflicts:

She slept on the right side of the bed, I preferred the left. She liked fluffy pillows, I liked the hard ones. She ate her cereal dry, like a snack, and chased it with milk.

Soraya slept well, while Amir often retreated to the balcony to battle his insomnia. The two disagreed on whether to adopt after discovering that Soraya was infertile. And the "emptiness in Soraya's womb" caused a rift between the two.

It had seeped into our marriage and... in the darkness of our room, I'd feel it rising from Soraya and settling between us.

A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner are both novels by Khaled Hosseini, and they contain characters that share some significant similarities. Let's look at Tariq, Hassan, and Amir to help you get started on your comparison.

We will start with Tariq. He is a gentle person who truly loves Laila and treats her with great respect. Tariq is also unselfish, and he has the ability to bounce back from the worst situations. His perseverance is remarkable. Even when he must flee for his life, he comes back for Laila. While their beliefs may differ, they treat each other with love, and Tariq raises Laila's children as though they were his own.

Hassan is also a loyal person, gentle and self-sacrificing. Like Tariq, he suffers greatly because of his situation, although Hassan is betrayed by his closest friend along with everything else. Hassan grows up to have a son whom he loves, but he dies before he can raise the boy.

Amir is not nearly as likable a character as Tariq and Hassan, at least at first. Amir has a selfish streak that leads him to betray Hassan. Amir has had a more privileged childhood, and this makes him tend to think of himself before all others. He gets jealous and sometimes feels that Hassan is lower than he is even though Hassan is actually the better person. In the end, though, Amir discovers real love, for he puts himself at risk to save Hassan's son and eventually adopts the boy as his own.

In The Kite Runner, Soraya is General Taheri's daughter. General Taheri is a deposed Afghan military man and considers work to be below his status, even though he has none in California. Soraya is deeply devoted to Afghan traditions, but feels the need to rebel.

Their greatest similarities are their strength of will and their pride: Taheri is willing to give his daughter's hand traditionally to Amir, but will not tolerate his seeing and wooing her at the flea market; Soraya wants to teach and pursues this goal even in her traditional role as housewife and mother. When Amir brings a story for Soraya to read, Taheri takes it and throws it away:

"...it’s my duty to remind you that you are among peers in this flea market." He stopped. His expressionless eyes bore into mine. "You see, everyone here is a storyteller." He smiled, revealing perfectly even teeth. "Do pass my respects to your father, Amir jan."

When Baba asks for permission to have Amir marry Soraya, Taheri accepts because it was done properly. Amir then witnesses Soraya's will clashing with her father's:

I could see Soraya holding back, her face tightening. "I'm not a girl, Padar. I'm a married woman. Besides, they'd need teachers too."

"Anyone can teach."
...
"At least I'm not like him, sitting around while other people fight the Shorawi, waiting for when the dust settles so he can move in and reclaim his posh little government position. Teaching may not pay much, but it's what I want to do! It's what I love, and it's a whole lot better than collecting welfare, by the way."
(Quotes: Hosseini, The Kite Runner, Google Books)

Her intention supersedes his, and marriage allows her to better find her own path without his undue influence. Both father and daughter want to follow their own path, but feel the other is wasting his/her talents and time in their current vocation.

In The Kite Runner, we see a lot more of Amir's relationship with Soraya than we do with Hassan and Farzana. In fact, Farzana only appears very briefly in the book. However, there are still comparisons that you can draw about what type of husband each man is.

For one thing, you can see that Amir and Hassan are both committed husbands even though they have different life circumstances. Amir is initially hesitant to marry Soraya, while Hassan's marriage to Farzana is arranged. Yet, once married, they appear to have very caring relationships.

You can also examine how Amir's guilt over his treatment of Hassan in their childhood affects his relationship with Soraya by causing him to feel unworthy of her love. Despite this, Soraya remains very supportive of Amir. They also have the time to work through their marital issues and build a life together.

We do not get too many details about the relationship and its potential challenges with Hassan and his wife. Its tragic end with Hassan's untimely death means that they did not have the chance to grow as a couple like Amir and Soraya. However, we can make assumptions based on what we know of Hassan's character. We know that he is exceptionally loyal to those he loves. This most certainly extended to his relationship with his wife and son. In fact, it is his desire to protect them that leads to his death.

When they are in Afghanistan, Amir and Baba have a strained relationship. Baba cannot understand how his son can be so different than he is. Baba is an important merchant in Afghanistan and a well-respected man in the community, but when he and Amir move to the U.S., Baba is not above getting a job in a gas station just so Amir can complete his education. In the end, Baba becomes proud of Amir, even though he has grown up with different interests and talents than Baba. Amir also comes to love and respect his father and appreciate what his father has sacrificed for him. He cares for Baba as he grows sick and dies.

Soraya's father was an important general in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban taking over. When he comes to the U.S., however, he is living in the past and refuses to take a job that is beneath him, so therefore he does not work. He is domineering and has very strong cultural ideas about the role of women. Soraya respects him, and her family, but at the same time, she is rebellious. She lives with a man to whom she is not married, causing a scandal for her proud father, but in the end, her father takes her back and allows her to live in the family in spite of the gossip about her in the Afghan community.

Despite the father/daughter and father/son issues, both families hold to their traditional values and when Amir and Soraya express an interest in getting married, the families of both revert back to the traditional Afghan way of doing things.

Both Amir and Soraya were brought up by powerful, overbearing yet loving fathers. Both Baba and General Taheri were important people in Afghanistan, yet they were reduced to the world of the common man when they migrated to America. Neither adapted well. Arriving in America virtually penniless, Baba was at least willing to work, taking a job at a gas station and convenience store. The general must have been able to take some of his money with him when he left his native land since he never bothered to take a job. The two men enjoyed their time spent at the flea market; both did it for extra cash, but the general considered it only a "hobby," not a job.

Both of their children must have considered their fathers as bullies. Baba considered Amir a weakling while in Kabul, but he mellowed considerably in California, and Baba soon took pride in his son's accomplishments. Soraya's sexual liaison with a boyfriend in Virginia ended when the general brought her back home with him. He treated her as damaged goods, and it was primarily because of Baba's past status in Afghanistan that caused him to accept Amir as a husband for his daughter. However, once married, the general treated Amir well. While Baba's luck in business never returned to him once he reached San Jose, the general's long wait finally proved fruitful when he was invited to return following the fall of the Taliban.