Through it all Hassan and Ali remained good servants to their masters, the way Afghanistan at this time is designed to be. From a young age, both Amir and Hassan were aware of the racism and the structure that had been in place for years before their births. However, most of the facts were not the truth, skewing the view that Amir had toward his half brother. Amir was only knowledgeable of the facts that society told him through his teacher and the rude remarks that other children screamed at Hassan. Hosseini demonstrates how deep seated the racism of this society is through the teacher's reaction to the mere word of "Shi'a", saying it as if it was "some kind of disease" (10). Additionally, the most evident evidence of racism comes from Assef, a young half-German, half- Pashtun boy in Amir and Hassan's village. Assef internalizes the definition of villain and remains a constant threat to both the boys and all other Hazaras in the novel. He claims that the Hazara race has "dirty [their] blood" and remains more upset at Amir for spending his time with Hassan than Hassan for being a Hazara , calling Amir a "disgrace to Afghanistan" (40). Assef's racism is so intense that he hates all those whom associated with the Hazara. Assef is the extreme example of how the circumstances of the time manifests itself in a child. Nevertheless, although Hassan is constantly tormented by Assef for his race, Hassan still refers to Assef as "Agha" or sir, further demonstrating the fact that hierarchy is ingrained into the society (42). Hassan also refers to Amir as "Agha", demonstrating that Hassan's understanding that he and Amir are on a hierarchy, which prevents him and Amir from ever being on the same level (53). Therefore, Amir was bound to betray the friendship that he and Hassan shared, for it was not meant to be in the first place. .