Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Psychodynamic theory of dreaming
Psychodynamic theory of dreaming
Psychodynamic theory of dreaming
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Psychodynamic theory of dreaming
George Orr's Torture by His Dreams in The Lathe of Heaven
George Orr is tortured by his dreams because sometimes they come true. The world he wakes up to has changed into the world that he dreamed, sometimes radically, sometimes violently. As a teenager he dreams the death of his aunt and he awakens to finds that she was killed in a car accident six weeks before. He is horrified, and attempts to control his dreaming, but over the years some of his dreams and nightmares come true. Finally by the time he is thirty ( in the year 2002) he is becoming psychotic and he contemplates suicide but then turns to pep pills to stay awake to prevent dreaming. When he nearly overdoses, his landlord calls a medic who saves him but turns him in for illegal drug use - a minor offense that requires psychiatric therapy.
That's how he meets Dr. Haber, the novel's antagonist. Haber, a large, powerful, active man with curly brown hair and beard who prides himself on his professional psychiatric skills and his talent for manipulating his patients (for their own good of course), specializes in sleep disorders and dream research. He occupies a windowless office in a non-descript office building in Portland, Oregon, the setting for the novel. By using hypnotic suggestion and a brain wave generator called the "Augmentor", Haber is able to tell George what to dream and to his astonishment actually verifies George's ability.
George senses that Haber wants to use him, but because of his congenitally passive nature and fear of his uncontrolled dream states, allows the therapy to continue. After a few therapy sessions George seeks legal help so he can stop the therapy and really get cured. That's when he meets the lawyer, a black female who clicks and snaps and wears bangles and brass buckles and is reminiscent of a black widow spider waiting in her office when George arrives. Though outwardly very different (George is slight ,fair and quiet) they experience an inner chemistry and George later dreams that she is his wife, but at that point everybody is gray anyway. Her name is Heather and she gets dreamed in and out of the story at various points, appearing and disappearing as needed.
Instead of trying to cure him, Haber uses George's "effective dreaming" to create benevolent, far reaching changes in the world including population control, disarmament, and ecological regulations....
... middle of paper ...
...h idealized and exaggerated characters. What might they
stand for ?
2. How would you answer Haber's assertion that the purpose of man is to " do things , to
change things?"
3. Could you offer any evidence to either support or refute George's statement that the
universe is not a machine?
4. The aliens play a pivotal role in the resolution of the conflict between Haber and
George because they give George the power word which he uses and Haber fails to use.
What is the purpose of this word?
5. If Haber and George are personifications of opposites, how would you characterize the
aliens?
6. Why do you think the aliens are described as "sea turtles?"
7. Each chapter in the book is headed by a quote. The quote for chapter 3 is: "Those
whom heaven helps we call the sons of heaven. They do not learn this by learning.
They do not work it by working. They do not reason it by using reason. To let
understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who
cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven." - Chuang Tse. In the light of
this quote, how would you interpret the title of the book?
"At the very end of the novel- what is represented as being important? Find two quotes to illustrate this".
In the novel Fools Crow, by James Welch, several characters have visions and dreams. The dreams are so realistic that they are a vision of what's to come in the future. A lot of the visions and dreams become a message or some type of warning to the people so that they are aware of thing that are going to happen. Many of these dreams that the characters have affect them positively or in a disastrous way leading to misfortune.
This quote is also found on page 140, in chapter 9, still while Mrs. Hale is telling the narrator about the Fromes.
3. The novel represents the world and its inhabitants on a miniscule level, by conveying the differences between the characters and how they act towards one another.
Firsty, we can see that George represents the harshness of 1930s American society. This is shown mainly towards the end of the novella, when he is forced to end Lennie's life after Lennie killed Curley's
...y” and that he “has a way of finding out” (168). This gives the reader conclusions that George, similar to tom, turns to aggression to deal with unsettling situations.
2. You should use quotes throughout your paper and not just in the beginning. Your last few paragraphs do not have any support from the novel itself.
With this gift comes the ability to change what is real, create things that never existed, and in turn, eliminate things that did. In other words, George Orr was given a gift to play God and does not want the responsibility. In order to save himself and the rest of society, Orr confides in Dr. Haber, his psychiatrist as well as the antagonist in the novel. Taking advantage of his gift, Dr. Haber forces Orr to dream in search of the elusive Utopia. For Dr. Haber, "there was no end to his determination to improve the world (LeGuin 128). His sole mission is to gain power and do all he can to create the perfect world. In attempts to create a place of ideal perfection, a world of pain, oppression, and terror eventually ensues. This search for eventual perfection brings forth the realization that such a Utopian society is not only i...
A. George Vs. Asagai - George is trying to deny his heritage. His family has prospered in America and he sees no need to celebrate his African heritage. He illustrates the blandness and shallowness of a life rooted in the quest for wealth and status. Asagai contrasts with George. He is an idealist. He is intelligent, perceptive, and dedicated to helping his country in its quest for liberation. These two men embody the two forces that operate on and within the family: materialism and idealism.
Using quotes from the book would strengthen your paper. Quotes prove to the reader that you have a valid argument.
"Come on George, tell me, like how you done it before .". "You get a kick out of it don't you; well here it goes like ." (13) George has told Lennie about their dream many times and yet Lennie always wants to hear it one more time. It was been told to Lennie so many times that even he can memorize the dream, meaning Lennie really loves the dream and even want to hear it more. Dreams can give people the will to live and the will to fight. People can lose their will to live or to achiever their goal if the dream is lost. Dream is the most important thing for George and Lennie because it's the only thing they can depend on to live.
strong and have courage in a situation that will appear later on in the book. The third
D. “In their practice, nations agree with Paley; but does anyone think that Massachusetts does exactly what is right at the present crisis?”
Rubin attempts to convey the idea that Connie falls asleep in the sun and has a daydream in which her “…intense desire for total sexual experience runs headlong into her innate fear…” (58); and aspects of the story do seem dream like - for instance the way in which the boys in Connie’s daydreams “…dissolved into a single face…” (210), but the supposition that the entire episode is a dream does not ring true. There are many instances in which Connie perceives the frightening truth quite clearly; she is able to identify the many separate elements of Friend’s persona - “… that slippery friendly smile of his… [and] the singsong way he talked…” (214). But because of the lack of attachment with her own family, and her limited experience in relating deeply to others, “…all of these things did not come together” (214) and Connie is unable to recognize the real danger that Arnold Friend poses until it is too late.
Here are some Critical Thinking Questions to help you familiarize yourself with Chapter 2! (This is not an assignment, just an exercise to help you become more comfortable with the chapter).