When slavery began in 18th century BC, the ancients did not capture slaves because of anything other than debt. Because of this, slavery was a temporary condition for one and his descendants. However, as time progressed, slavery and servitude became more about race and oppression than economic status. Sooner than later, the ethnicity of a person became the sole determining factor of servitude, creating a cycle of oppression. These relationships between master and slaves can be intensified by society and relationships with other people. In the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini explores the master-slave relationships between Baba and Ali and their sons, Amir and Hassan. Based on the socio-historical context of Afghanistan in the late 20th and early 21th, ,Baba and Ali have a very strained master-slave relationship with their servants: Ali and Hassan due to the excess racism at this time, making the betrayal of a servant simply based on circumstance. However, through Amir's actions, Khaled Hosseini reveals the impact of a father-son relationship on Amir's relationship with Hassan to intensify the inevitably of the conflict.
The manner at which both Baba and Amir treat their servants is simply based on the socio historical period they lived in because they are never able to be equal with their servants. Late 20th century Afghanistan did not allow for a Pashtun to be friends with a Hazara simply because "history isn't easy to overcome" (Hosseini 25). Even though Amir and Hassan were raised as brothers, the possibility of them being friends is a foreign concept to Amir until while into his adult years. The same is true for Baba: "In none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend" (25). However, Ali and Hassan remained loyal servants. Hassan's first word was "Amir" and Ali was the "poor laborer" of all of Baba's cruel pranks and jokes (15,25).