“The Society of Reluctant Dreamers” was an interesting one! There were a lot of aspects to this book surrounding the past/future, dreams, love, and politics. Personally I appreciated the letters being included in the pages because it made it feel very personable and you got to see how Moira and Daniel’s relationship formed.
“To anybody with any imagination, the past is constantly changing. You think the present is born out of the past, but it’s the other way around”. I thought this quote was meaningful because perspective can change your entire life. If you really wanted to, you could change everything about yourself in this very moment and become a completely different person. By doing this, everything in your past would hold a different meaning. Though your past is concrete, the way you interpret it is constantly changing depending on who you are in the present moment.
The contrast between this world of love and dreams with Moira and his daughter being imprisoned I thought was very interesting. Daniel is inescapably sucked into politics, which is seen as a harsh reality that society is run by. It’s this very real societal entity that deems some people more powerful or important than others, oftentimes leading to cruel outcomes to those below the government. In comparison, the beginning of this tale with Moira feels very magical and above reality in a sense.
However, now with the Dream Lab technology producing images of peoples dreams, I feel it blurs the contrast of harsh reality and the world of dreams. For a lot of people, dreams can be terrifying and project or amplify the bad aspects of reality. This can be seen when Daniel begins to dream about the danger his daughter is facing. Having dreams being able to be physically illustrated is highly unnatural and was never something that should have come to be. Especially having those personal images be examined and regulated by authorities, it strips people of all security or freedom of their mind (that cannot be controlled). Specifically for those who suffer with trauma or PTSD, this reiturance can cause even more damage to their psyche.
The title “The Society of Reluctant Dreamers” to me resembles the negative influence authority has on society when they bite off more than they should be allowed to. Dreams are such a personal experience, so publicizing and having others be able to take a look into yours is very dehumanizing. Hence, why people would be reluctant or hesitant to ever dream. I would argue this to be a strip of human rights. This is at least how I interpreted the story to be.
My question is, what benefits do you think having a Dream Lab in our society would be? How would it change our everyday life?
Hi! I loved your comments and analysis. I agree – I think it may be a bit dehumanizing just because dreams are so intimate and reflective of our deepest desires. I think having a Dream Lab would probably allow us to identify quite a few issues in our lives and where they stem from ie. our anxieties and who is on our mind and why. I also think though that it might be beneficial to be exposed to our dreams, so we can view our living lives from a different and perhaps more insightful perspective!
Hey Tamara, that’s a good question! While the Dream Lab could offer insight into our behavior, thoughts, and habits, I think there’s a danger to it. As humans, we have a desire to rationalize everything and understand why something is happening, but dreams are a personal and private opportunity to exist without the societal constraints we have created. Society already finds ways to discriminate and oppress people that don’t adhere to its norms, and maybe a Dream Lab would expose thoughts that could endanger someone’s safety despite dreaming not being a conscious activity. Thanks for your post 🙂