To Dream, Perchance to Go Mad
H.P. Lovecraft’s work, with its creeping horrors and pervasive sense of unreality, is often dreamlike in its surreal quality. Characters are often left wondering if they had a nightmare - at least, until they discover some physical proof, to their horror.
The short stories Behind the Wall of Sleep and Hypnos both make clear the link between dreams and insanity. Both narrators are accused of having broken reality, and an neither case do the protagonists manage to convince anyone of the reality of their wild tales. In the latter, the reader is left wondering about the truth of the narrator’s experience.
The stories also vary in the treatment of the dream worlds. Though “Behind the Wall of Sleep” posits its share of dangers, the dreamer is clearly equipped to handle them. Contrast “Hypnos,” in which the dream world is rendered permanently dangerous. But in either case, even the knowledge of realities beyond the waking world is dangerous.
This entry was originally posted at http://kit-r-writing.dreamwidth.org/482511.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
The short stories Behind the Wall of Sleep and Hypnos both make clear the link between dreams and insanity. Both narrators are accused of having broken reality, and an neither case do the protagonists manage to convince anyone of the reality of their wild tales. In the latter, the reader is left wondering about the truth of the narrator’s experience.
The stories also vary in the treatment of the dream worlds. Though “Behind the Wall of Sleep” posits its share of dangers, the dreamer is clearly equipped to handle them. Contrast “Hypnos,” in which the dream world is rendered permanently dangerous. But in either case, even the knowledge of realities beyond the waking world is dangerous.
This entry was originally posted at http://kit-r-writing.dreamwidth.org/482511.html. Please comment there using OpenID.