Amir states that while his first word was "Baba," his father's name, Hassan's first word was "Amir." This sets up a parallel from the start: just as Hassan looks up to and reveres his father, so Hassan looks up to a reveres Amir. As Amir states:

all that followed was already laid in those first words.

What that means is that from the start, Hassan's behavior was guided by his loyalty and subservience to Amir.

Hassan was a lower class Hazara and lived with his father in Baba's household as a servant. Though they were the same age, Hassan never questioned that Amir should come first, never resenting that the good things in life went to Amir.

The picture of the loyal servant, who from birth would never hurt anybody, Hassan never complains when Amir mistreats him, such as when Amir pomegranates at him. More significantly, Hassan remains loyal although Amir betrays him by not intervening when he sees Hassan being raped by Assef. Amir, because he cannot live with his own shame at his betrayal, frames Hassan for a theft so that he and his father will be dismissed from the household.

Hassan is the figure of the "suffering servant" who features in both Christian and Muslim theology. He is the innocent "lamb," a word used more than once to describe him, who bears another's sin. In Amir's eyes, he is a larger-than-life figure.