Dreams Deferred

Dreams play a deep role in the portrayal of our darkest secrets and innermost thoughts. In the novel, "The Farming of Bones" the series of dream sequences represent a longing for the past. Amabelle seeks closure regarding the deaths of her parents. Since they drowned in a river then she never had a place where she could mourn properly for them. Her mourning process is incomplete; this is why her parents keep resurfacing in her dreams constantly. Her parents represent the past and Sebastian represents her supposed future. However, her past and present are interwoven. In one of the sequences with Sebastian they talk about their pasts and their parents. It is evident that this is a subject of immense pain for both of them. Amabell's dreams are a way for her to heal the pain from her past and prepare for her new future which she hopes will be with Sebastian. When Amabelle and Yves escape back to Haiti the dreams stop because they have unconsciously reached a place of contentment. Neither one of them is fully aware of the contentment they feel. To them Haiti is a symbolic return to their homeland; it is a place where they feel safe.

I think it all depends when it comes to dreams. Sometimes I'll have very vivid dreams that almost seem real and when I wake up I have to remind myself that I was only dreaming. I think people dream every night but you just can't always remember your dreams. I have gone for long periods of time without really remembering my dreams or sometimes I'll just remember bits and pieces of them. I think past dreams can be triggered by events in our everyday lives. Sometimes I'll completely forget about a dream and then something will happen that will make me remember it. Perhaps the lapses in dream rememberance result from issues and events that are happening around us; maybe we remember the dreams that we feel are helpful or important and simply disregard the ones that we don't think are important. Dreams can have so many different meanings to them and I dont think we have come close to fully understanding them.