The Lathe of Heaven Literary Elements

science fiction

Portland, state Oregon, 2002

the story is told from the 3rd person, the narrator is not involved into events.

the tone is generally gently expressive in the words of the author. Also the 3rd person’s part is full of descriptions: those of human features, hidden thoughts and inner dialogues that help to discover the character. It also changes into intimate and pleasantly exciting when picturing George-Heather relations. When describing dramatic events the author words stay temperately expressive. The mood varies greatly in the story. The author brings here a scale of feelings including love, anxiety, anger, admiration, understanding, support etc.

George Orr is a protagonist, William Haber is an antagonist.

the major conflict occurs between the psychiatrist William Haber and George. It develops gradually: from doctor’s interest to open opposition when Haber’s ambitions fully contrast to George’s will and treating issue. A kind of inner conflict occurs in George’s mind: at the beginning he feels himself guilty of all the events happening but still he can’t change it as it doesn’t depend on his will. Till the end of the story this conflict exhausts.

the highest tension occurs when Haber tries to practice effective dream himself (actually – to change reality) and George, the one able to notice such changes) hurries to prevent calamity (Chapter 10).

1) General foreshadowing: George claims about his dreams that change reality – obviously the following events would be somehow connected with the issue.
2) At the end of the 4th Chapter George says that Haber uses his (George’s) dreams to turn reality to his (Haber’s) benefit. But this contrast greatly with the former events – up to this moment George hadn’t suspicions about Haber and the author didn’t tell anything about it. So that there comes a foreshadowing some explanation of this change must be given.]

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T.S. Eliot, S. Freud, A. Pope, George Orwell – are mentioned indirectly, Ludwig van Beethoven, Chuang Tse, H. G. Wells, Lao Tse, Lafcadio Hearn, V. Hugo – are quoted at the beginning of the chapters.

View the imagery section

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1) "I can't," he said, meaning that he could not let Mannie lie for him, could not stop him from lying for him, could not take it easy, could not go on.
2) She'll say it always was a horse," Orr said calmly but ruefully. "It always was. Since my dream. Always has been.
3) There she sat, poisonous; hard, shiny, and poisonous; waiting, waiting.
And the victim came. A born victim.
4) An HEW inspector was going to observe today's session, making sure there was nothing illegal, immoral, unsafe, unkind, unetc., about the operation of the Augmentor.
5) the sharecropper's wife in Alabama and the lama in Tibet and the entomologist in Peru and the millworker in Odessa and the greengrocer in London and the goatherd in Nigeria and the old, old man sharpening a stick by a dry streambed somewhere in Australia, and all the others.

1) "Listen, couldn't you call Washington?"
2) HEW Control wants to know why you've been borrowing your friends' Pharmacy Cards to get more than your allotment of pep pills and sleeping pills from the autodrug.
3) Hanging, swaying, pulsing, the most vulnerable and insubstantial creature, it has for its defense the violence and power of the whole ocean.

1) Then went on past Miss Crouch, who was feeding her computer.
2) Each dream covers its tracks completely.
3) The building jumped, rang, crackled, electronic apparatus leaped about by the row of empty beds.