Amir and his Baba love one another, but Baba is almost incapable of expressing it, and Amir often wishes for more closeness. As he reflects on his relationship with his father, Amir uses several different metaphors to illustrate the distance between them:

Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper-thin slice of intersection between those spheres.

Even though they live in the same home, the metaphor of “different spheres” Amir uses here shows how separated Amir and Baba are. When someone says that people occupy “different spheres,” the expression usually means that they occupy entirely different worlds. Baba’s gruff exterior and refusal to compromise on his morals keep his son at arm’s length, and this metaphor points to the deep emotional gap between them. It’s as if they move through separate realities, where Amir has no hope of reaching his father.

The second metaphor compares Amir and Baba’s shared love of kites to a “paper-thin slice” of connection between their worlds. This expression emphasizes how delicate and limited Amir feels their connection truly is. Flying kites together gives them rare moments of closeness, which Amir treasures because it’s the only time he and Baba fully see eye-to-eye. However, the bond is fragile and easy to tear, like the thin paper of a kite itself. Amir wants to protect their tradition of flying kites together because that “slice” is the only connection they have.