Trope Breakdown | It Was All a Dream
Welcome to the second edition of Trope Breakdown! This one will focus on the “it was all a dream” trope, which has understandably been criticized for being a bit of a cop-out.
The premise for this trope is straightforward – the main character goes on a fantastical and/or thrilling journey, only for the story to end with the realization that everything that just happened was only a dream. Dreams can sometimes tell us about reality or about what’s buried in our subconscious, but knowing that nothing was real is disappointing, especially for a reader who was already invested in the characters and storyline.
I personally have mixed feelings about this trope because, although it’s a common example of lazy writing, a few authors have done a good job of playing on how cliché it is and subverting it in an interesting way. For example, near the end of Coraline by Neil Gaiman, the author makes you believe that the Other Mother and the mysterious world that Coraline traveled to were all a dream, especially because her parents can’t remember anything about what happened to them.
However, Coraline has another dream where she is warned that the Other Mother is plotting revenge, extending the storyline. Using the trope and then upending it takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster and increases tension, making the story engaging and effective.
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However, not every “it was all a dream” plot twist is satisfying. Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, ends by Alice waking up underneath the tree that she and her sister are sitting under, and it’s implied that Alice incorporated the fantastical characters in the book her sister was reading into her dreams.
Carroll introduces a slew of iconic characters in the book, and it’s upsetting to know that they were all figments of Alice’s vivid imagination. While the genre for Alice is fantasy and readers already come prepared to suspend their disbelief, the revelation at the end is still jarring. Just as Alice crashes back down into reality at the end, the readers experience a similar shock. Many people criticize this trope for this reason, as the author spends so much time setting up and worldbuilding only to throw it all away at the end.
Photo courtesy of Barnes & Noble
Final Verdict: Not the greatest – don’t use this unless you’re sure you can do something cool with it!
Tell me what you think of this trope: Can it be redeemed, or is it too corny for a writer to consider using? Comment down below and feel free to add your own examples!