Some Dreams Purify Us, Some Dreams Don’t Allow Us to Sleep

 

Henry David Thoreau, a leading author of the American Age of Enlightenment once said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” We all visualize some vague or lucid images while sleeping which we generally call dreams. Since dreams happen while people are asleep and the images seen during dreams evaporate as soon as we wake up, it’s difficult to present a palpable explanation for dreams. The thoughts and images prevailing over the subconscious and unconscious levels of our minds get reflected through dreams, according to most of the connoisseurs.

Dreams have played substantial roles in the creation of great literary masterpieces, particularly in fiction. In A Christmas Carol, a novel by Charles Dickens, we find a miser called Ebenezer Scrooge who never wanted to spend money for the betterment of others. He was such a mean-hearted fellow that even others’ happiness caused annoyance to him. He used to get angry whenever someone asked him for money. He stored all his money just for himself. Kindness, love, humanity held no significance to him. He always thought people around him were conspiring to take away his money. His obsession for money as illustrated by Charles Dickens in the novel provokes laughter and resentment at the same time in the minds of readers. As Christmas approached, some people from the same town in which he lived came to him for some monetary contributions to hold a grand Christmas party and to help the poor on account of Christmas. But Ebenezer Scrooge scolded them and almost pushed them out of his house. That night while he was sleeping, he had three dreams that showed him the value of Christmas by taking him back to his childhood when he used to have a lot of fun during Christmas. Another dream showed him a poor family preparing to celebrate Christmas who cannot buy a big cake due to lack of money but still, their spirit and enthusiasm to observer Christmas in a fun-filled way impressed Ebenezer Scrooge. The last dream took Ebenezer Scrooge to a graveyard where Scrooge was horrified to see his name on the tombstone of one grave. He also saw some people talking about him citing him as a greedy and narrow-hearted man. Scrooge instantly promised in his dream never to behave like a miser anymore and woke up in his bed realizing that he was actually having dreams in his sleep. However, he bought beautiful gifts and big cakes and sent those items to the poor families of his town. This is how dreams transformed Ebenezer Scrooge from a miserly guy into a benevolent and broad-hearted man in A Christmas Carol.

In Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist, we find a shepherd called Santiago getting intimations in his dreams about hidden treasures. He travels all the way from Andalusia to Egypt following the hints he had received in his dreams to find the treasure. Another dream instructed him to go back to his hometown and showed him the place beneath which the hidden treasure was stashed away from the sight of people.

In Lewis Carroll’s best-known fictional work Alice in Wonderland, we find a small girl called Alice travelling to an unknown place where animals, birds, even plants can speak and behave like humans. A lot of interesting things happen while Alice talks to those creatures and trees but suddenly a noise made by her sister wakes her up and she comes to understand that her trip to that land of fantasies occurred in a dream. However, she gladly recalls the dreams and all the strange things that she came across in the wonderland.

Dreams have been picked up as thematic points by poets too. Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most fabulous American poets wrote the following words about dreams in a poem:

      “In visions of the dark night
f joy departed—
      But a dream of life and light
      Hath left me broken-hearted.”

The poet’s pleasure from days that elapsed long ago came back to him in a dream but as he woke up, the tough realities of life enclosed him once again—that’s what we can work out from the above lines by Edgar Allan Poe.

John Keats, one of the finest English poets of all times, wrote about dreams in the lines cited below:
“And there she lulled me asleep
And there I dreamed! Ah! Woes betide!
The latest dream I ever dreamed
On the cold hill’s side.”

All woes of the poet dissipated when his beloved put him to sleep with her gentle touch and while sleeping he had one of the loveliest dreams of his lifetime.

Dreams have allegoric meanings too. When we strive to achieve something we often call it our “dream.” Dreams for success and advancement in life toughen our determination, boost our confidence and drive us towards our goals.


Mahfuz Ul Hasib Chowdhury
is a contributor to different
English newspapers and magazines.