When I first read the title to this essay, I was intrigued, if not a little confused. Skunk Dreams? What could that mean? At least it seemed to carry the promise of being an entertaining read, which it was.
Dreams have always been a topic of interest for me. Why do we dream the things we do? For instance, the author says that "my best dreams come to me in cheap motels," and "cold often brings on the most spectacular of my dreams, as if my brain has been incited to fevered activity." I myself have dreams that can only be described as bizarre quite frequently. There is no dream dictionary complete enough to explain these dreams to me. However, I do like to think that our dreams are our subconscious telling us something, helping us to see something we didn't, and helping us to gain some perspective. I think that's where the phrase "sleep on it" comes from.
I think the point the author is trying to make is that we should try to see things from different perspectives, such as a skunk's, and doing this can help us to overcome our obstacles. We can live a more satisfying life this way. It's what we have to do to make our dreams reality.
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"I think the point the author is trying to make is that we should try to see things from different perspectives..."
ReplyDeleteNice read, Sarah. I think Erdrich invites to look at the world in a different way. Waking up with a skunk in a sleeping bag would be, for most people, a tragic, horrifying experience, but for Louise, it becomes an opportunity for connection and reflection.