Character Dissection of Baba

In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the main character Amir lives in Afghanistan with his father Baba. Amir's father is one of the wealthiest, most well respected men in Kabul. He was not born wealthy, but through hard work and persistence, made a large fortune. It's said the he killed a black bear with his bare hands. He gives back to his community by building an orphanage. This was an impressive feat in its own right as he designed the entire orphanage himself with no prior architectural experience. He married one of the most beautiful women in Kabul, with whom he had a son; Amir. His wife however, died while giving birth to Amir. For all his good works in the community, he is not a great father. He is distant from his son, never having time for him. When a young Amir wants to spend time with his father and his father's friends, Baba sends Amir away saying "Go on, now...This is grown-ups' time. Why don't you go read one of those books of yours?" Amir is always trying to make his father proud, yet can never seem to succeed in this wish. At one point, he overhears his father saying of his son "I wasn't like that at all, and neither were any of the kids I grew up with...There is something missing in that boy...A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything." In the same scene, he goes on to say that Amir "needs someone who understands him, because God knows I don't. Something about Amir troubles me in a way that I can't express." These sentiments are a clear indication of the way Amir's father feels about him. Later, when Amir goes to much trouble to write a story, a work that he is very proud of, his father doesn't even read it. Obviously Baba is not very close with his son, and feels a level of discomfort around him, but what is it about Amir and his father that causes this vast divide?

The fault lies not in Amir but in Baba himself. He is a man who was doubted his whole life, yet through sheer will and determination, he became one of the most successful men in Afghanistan. Now he has a son who will not have to face the same difficulties that he did. People will not doubt his son, after all, he is the son of “Toophan agha” as his father is called. I think the reason that Amir makes his father so uncomfortable is because he embodies his own insecurities. He is a man who is shrewd, but has little time for books or words. He’d rather use his physicality to get something done. His son is a well-educated, thoughtful young man, the opposite of the man his father appears to be. Amir in a way, represents all of the faults that his father has. This bothers his father, because he’s built up an image of perfection. This is a man who built an orphanage by himself, married a princess, and wrestled a bear. Yet everyday, he sees his son, and is reminded of everything that he is not. Amir actually makes his father insecure.
All that being said, I'm only about 50 pages into the book. Will Amir's father change? I suspect Amir will do something to try to make his father proud of him, but at what cost? Is his father really all that people make him out to be? These are just a few questions that I have early on in the book.