Stolen Dreams

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Recommended: The use of symbolism in the novel

The remarkable Virginia Woolf wrote, “He who robs us of our dreams robs us of our life” (Woolf) in her novel, Orlando. This quote ties in perfectly with the play Fences by August Wilson, which tells the story of a family that is dealing with the hardships of everyday life and trying to overcome the realization that their hopes and dreams are no longer a reality. The reason Woolf’s quote fits in perfectly with this story is because the main character, Troy, believes that the life he had planned was stolen from him because of the color of his skin. While this story depicts the lives of each member of the Maxson family and their individual journeys, it also shows how one person’s failed dreams affect the dreams of another.
Like most typical families, the Maxson’s consists of a group of people who are dealing with their own aspirations for what they want their life to become. Continually, the conflicts that each member brings to the table either hinder or progresses the dreams that they have. Therefore, each family member plays a key role in how that character’s life will unfold. When a reader is analyzing the actions that characters make, they place them into categories based on a preset list of ideals that can be characterized as archetypal plots. According to Swiss psychologist Carl Jung:
Every person is born equipped with a collective unconscious, a set of images including many universal fictional characters such as the wise old man, the fool, the trickster, the manly rescuer, the earth mother, and the mysterious stranger, as well as others. Our attraction to certain types of stories and characters comes from the way they appeal to our collective unconscious (Critical Approaches 750).
With every story that a person re...

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... American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose.
Vol. 2: 1910-1919. Gale, 2004. 534-537. Biography in Context. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Woolf, Virginia. "Orlando." EBooks@Adelaide, 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Wilson, August. “Fences.” Literature and the Writing Process. Backpack ed.
Vol. 11. Boston: Longman, 2011. 533-579. Print.

"Critical Approaches for Interpreting Literature." Literature and the Writing Process. Backpack Ed. Vol. 11. Boston: Longman, 2011. 747-52. Print.
"Psychology of the Unconscious." American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose.
Vol. 2: 1910-1919. Gale, 2004. 534-537. Biography in Context. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Woolf, Virginia. "Orlando." EBooks@Adelaide, 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Wilson, August. “Fences.” Literature and the Writing Process. Backpack ed.
Vol. 11. Boston: Longman, 2011. 533-579. Print.

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