The analysis on Hassan’s dream in 《The Kite Runner》

Fan Zixing

【Abstract】In the book ， the author used a lot of metaphors composed of stories to foreshadow the development and imply the mentality of characters. Here i have analyzed  Hassans dream for an example.

【Key words】Metaphor; Story; Dream; Magic cup; Father-son relationship; Friendship; Betrayal; Redemption; Faces; Hierarchy

【作者簡介】Fan Zixing， College of Foreign Language， Hohai university.

《The kite runner》 is the first novel written by Afghan author Khaled Hosseini in 2003. In this book， there are many paragraphs of metaphors. Through the description of seemingly irrelevant things to the plot such as the heros favorite stories and dreams， they foreshadowed the following text and hinting at the direction of the story， thus contributing to the development of the plot in an invisible but perceptible way.

Before Amir went to participate in the kite competition， Hassan told Amir a dream of himself. In that dream， there is a huge lake with rumors said that a monster was hiding in it， then Amir jumped in to to show everyone there is no monster：

Hassan laughed. “Its a dream， Amir Agha， you can do anything. Anyway， everyone is screaming， ‘Get out！ Get out！ But we just swim in the cold water. We make it way out to the middle of the lake and we stop swimming. We turn toward the shore and wave to the people. They look small like ants， but we can hear them clapping. They see now. There is no monster， just water. They change the name of the lake after that， and call it the ‘Lake of Amir and Hassan， Sultans of Kabul. And we get to charge people money for swimming in it.” （Khaled Hosseini， 2003， chap.7）

On the morning which Hassan told the story， Amir was very impatient and did not bother to think about the meaning of the dream. His attitude was very harsh. But just before Amir began to prepare for the competition， Hassan repeated the story and said a very comforting word to Amir： “Remember， Amir agha. Theres no monster， just a beautiful day.” Even though Amir was very upset when he seemed to be seen through by Hassan， whom he had always looked down upon， he was relieved that someone knew his needs so well. So what is the metaphorical meaning of this dream？

For Hassan， the dream symbolizes his relationship with Amir. In Hassans eyes， Amir is an ideal master. He is smart and excellent. He reads stories to him and enlighten him. In his dream， the name of the lake was changed to ‘Lake of Amir and Hassan， Sultans of Kabul， because the lake symbolizes his world， which was explored and opened up by Amir， and the legendary ghost in the bottom of the lake may be the class gap in his subconscious.

Among all the signs in the novel， it is not hard to tell how smart Hassan was. He was a good listener， knows riddles quickly， and can accurately predict the direction of the kite. When listening to Amirs story， he can be keenly aware of the logic errors in it， and after Amir betrayed him， he can detect Amirs true thoughts and understand him. Not only that， he was also very clear about  social environment that he was in.

For example， when Hassan and Amir are chasing kites， Hassan predicted where the kites will land exactly， and they sat under a sour cherry tree waiting， when Amir teases Hassan about his loyalty. Hassans face changed like it wasnt him any more， but next moment he changed back. Thus what do Hassans faces represent？ Hassans normal daily face towards Amir and his own life represents the personality of him， which accepted everything that he was born with and then resigned to it. Under this personality， he accepted the hierarchical system of Afghanistan from an early age， and tried hard to believe in his the true affection with Amir in the system. As for the other face， which sometimes appeared suddenly and disappeared quickly， represents Hassans thinking and evaluation of everything， including Amirs real attitude towards he himself. Hassan is smart， since he can acutely sense Amirs emotions and understand his needs， thus it is not difficult for him to find out that Amir is not entirely sincere. And the glimpse of this face was on behalf of his subconscious which told him that there should be suspicion. But each time Hassan would quickly hid this face， because even when his cleverness told him otherwise， he still chose to believe in the only good thing of his life， which is his truth love with Amir.

Turning back to Hassans dream， we can easily find out that the ghost that the people in the dream including Hassan himself feared， are his own doubts in the strict class， that is， his other face. And Hassans dream also reflects the ideal reality in Hassans mind， that Amir will personally dispel his worries， take off his clothes and jump into the lake， prove to everyone that there are no ghosts in the lake， also prove to everyone that he and Hassans love is true， and then name the lake after he himself and Hassan. Hassans belief in this dream reflects his belief in he and Amirs feelings and his loyalty， and is also the source of his tragic fate.

But is Hassan really happy？ He deeply loved his master， and his loyalty to Amir was evident. But he was born under such a hierarchy. He was not only an illegitimate son but also a Harazar. He could do nothing but accepted it and forced himself to believe， thus to seize the only good things left in his humble fate. His cleverness gave him a second face and gave him the right to recognize reality， but his protection of his own heart made him subconsciously hid the face， selectively ignored his tragic fate and paralyzed himself with only the appearances of things. So even at the last moment of his life， he still clang to the appearance and the not too much warmth that Amir has given him. He wanted to prove that he was right. He wanted to awaken Amirs consciousness. And he did make Amir change. After heard the truth， Amir finally realized the sincerity of this feeling between him and Hassan， and tried to protect it and made things right， which proved the things that Hassan had spent his life guarding. In this respect， he was successful， even it is after his death.