Life: Dream or Reality?

Adam Kilwine
Instructor: Wayne Berg
English 121-12
Due: 2/23/07

Life: Dream or Reality?

What is Life? Does life have any kind of meaning to it, or is it just some kind of meaningless accident? These are the kinds of questions that have been stumping people since time began, and although many seem to have their own ideas to what might be an answer to these questions, it is impossible to really ever understand the true meaning of it all.
One of the biggest similarities seen through all of these four pieces of writing is that the characters or the authors seem to go on some kind of journey in order to find meaning or purpose in their lives. Whether it is physically, mentally, or spiritually, they all seemed to be in search of an answer to this ultimate question.
Some might wonder if this life that we are all a part of is even reality, or if it is just some kind of dream. How then, can a person really describe reality, and where does a person really find the line between what is real and what is not? Who is a person to really say that a dream is not real or even that life itself is not just one big dream. Two of the readings especially went into this idea.
In “The Circular Ruins” there is a man who comes upon certain ruins where he lays at night to sleep, and it is here that his dreams seem to almost come to life. In his dreams he actually dreams up a person in great detail and it is this person that goes off in search for meaning and it is not until the end that he actually realizes that all he really is, is a dream. From what he thought he knew, he was just an ordinary person, but in reality he was just a dream along with the world around him.
From this reading one has to think about the possibility that if the man in the story was just a dream and he had no idea, then who is to say that this life that we call reality isn’t just one big dream. Then in that case, again, what is the purpose? What is the whole point of this dream and if it is really a dream, then what is real. Many people would say that a dream can’t be considered real, so if that is true, then what is reality? Is there a reality in which the actual people that we represent are living in, or is this just one big dream that a single person, such as maybe God, is dreaming up?
This question then brings up the next reading which is a poem called “Break of Day.” In this reading the author goes deeper into the idea by looking for some kind of meaning for life. In the poem he brings mention to God and considers the effect that he may have on this so-called reality that we live in. He brings up that if God really is the creator, then what is to stop him from just ending the whole thing. What is the purpose for life?
Maybe this life is really just one big dream that he is having, but then why does it keep going? Why doesn’t the dream ever seem to end? Maybe another explanation for life would be that it is all some kind of play that God is putting on for entertainment. Maybe it is just some kind of big experiment. He may have just been experimenting with different ideas such as the change from the dinosaurs to humans, for example. Maybe it isn’t even just one god, but multiple gods in that they are actually the so called reality and this life that we seem to think is real is actually just the dreams of the gods. If people can have dreams like that in which they seem to be in control, then why couldn’t we really just be dreams created by the gods.
It seems to all come back to this question of “why?” Is there really an explanation for these mysteries? It seems to be an impossible question to answer. Even if someone were to really find the reason for life it would just bring them to the next step in the equation. If we were all created for the entertainment of the gods then what is their purpose? If it was all just one big accident such as the big bang theory then why were all these particles that caused it really floating around in space. It is a never-ending process. The only reality that there seems to be is that we are here now in some kind of life whether it be a dream or otherwise, and no one really knows how it all started or how it is going to end.