0 Dream Journey O John Experiences example essay topic

Themes Hubris The towers of the demolished New York within the story are a symbol of hubris, as they exhibit the! ^0 gods! +/- striving to reach the heavens. This symbol of pride and arrogance portrays the humans of the city as thinking of themselves as gods. Hubris is also present through the beliefs of the Hill People that those who built the Place of the Gods were gods because of the great buildings and towers. The fact that these tribes confuse humans for gods proves the people destroyed in the Great Burning had a lot of hubris.

Realistically, however, as John realizes at the end, they were only human. Furthermore, the destruction of the towers by the! ^0 Great Burning! +/- was what was required to destroy their hubris. One question a person may be poised to ask is this: were these people destroyed or did they destroy themselves?

Their pride could have caused a nuclear war, and therefore great destruction. Conversely, they could have also tried too hard to reach the heavens, and destroyed themselves in that process, by using untested technology in their attempts at superiority. Even though those sinning humans were destroyed, the irony is that hubris still exists, as displayed by John!'s decision to visit the Place of the Gods, as well as by his sudden decision at the end that! ^0 We must build again.! +/- Innocence vs. Experience Although this theme is quite obvious throughout the story, it is also a focal theme.

The theme of Innocence vs. Experience shows great similarity to that of many other journeys. For example, the story starts out with a childlike connotation of forbiddance. Although the child is told: ! ^0 It is forbidden to go east.

It is forbidden to cross the river. It is forbidden to go to the place of the gods. All these things are forbidden.! +/-, we see a childlike attitude develop from the line: ! ^0! (R) All these things are forbidden, !

I said, but it was my voice that spoke and not my spirit.! +/- The fiery sense of rebelliousness immediately shows a juvenile attitude towards his journey. Yet his rebellious attitude is immediately conquered by the grim experience the end of his journey brings. The sight of the dead man he sees in the city changes him. He understands that these! ^0 gods! +/- that created everything were just men, a slap in the face of what he has been taught.

The revelations dawn on him that men built that immense society, and that now men must again rebuild it. It is interesting to note his line: ! ^0- it is better the truth come should come little by little.! +/- This line reflects the gradual loss of innocence and the ongoing gain of experience.

Consumption There are a number of references to the idea of consumption in this short story. The following is an explanation of the meaning behind some of these statements: ! ^0 This is a very strong dream! - It may eat you up! +/- (239) This means that John may become so intent to finding the answers to the dream, that it will become an obsession or ruin his life.! ^0... no part of the earth was safe from them, for, if they wished for a thing, they summoned it from the other side of the world.! +/- (248) This is a demonstration that humans consume not just a few local resources, but the resources of the whole planet for their own selfish purposes.!

^0 Truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you eat too much truth at once, you may die of the truth.! +/- (250) This means to say that if people are told that their old way of life is a complete lie, then they will become alienated and lost. Change needs to occur gradually so that people can absorb new ideas without completely losing their traditional way of life. The Quest / The Mono myth There are four main parts within a traditional quest: Separation, Initiation, Discovery and Return. All of these four basic parts are present within the story.

Separation: ! ^o John requests his father!'s leave to go on his journey to evolve into, both, a man from a boy, and a priest from the mere son of a priest. Initiation: ! ^o John finds it difficult to decipher whether signs are sent from the Good or the Evil, and has other similar confusing experiences within his! ^0 dream! +/- journey.! ^o John experiences many battles within himself as to whether or not to break the laws and go to the Place of Gods, and furthermore, whether or not he should sacrifice his life for his spirit. Discovery & Return: ! ^o John arrives at the Place of the Gods and realizes the! ^0 Gods! +/- were nothing but regular human beings and that however ambitious they were in life, they succumbed to their mortal destiny.

Religion This theme is apparent from the beginning of the story as in the first few lines it is said, ! ^0 He who touches the metal must be a priest, or the son of a priest.! +/- (Pg 238) The religion itself however, bares little resemblance to Christianity, it is more of a pagan religion based on! ^0 blind faith! +/-. This clearly shown in the first line of the story shown above, as well as when the narrator remarks, !

^0 we do not even say its name though we know its name.! +/- (Pg. 238) Rituals indicating a religion become apparent in the early parts of the story when a sort of initiation or baptism takes place. The boy has to hold! ^0 the metal! +/- and not get scared or run away, then he is truly the son of a priest. The indications of it being a primitive pagan religion are the chants and spells that the boy is taught. However, there is still a sort of modernity in the religion as there is a greater emphasis on the gaining of knowledge than one expects from highly ritualistic!

^0 blind faith! +/- religions.! ^0 I was taught how to read in the old books and how to make the old writings "C that was hard and took a long time. My knowledge made me happy "C it was like fire in my heart.! +/- (Pg 239) The integral part of religion is emphasized with the repetition of! ^0 My father is a priest; I am the son of a priest.!

+/- When the boy sets out on his journey.