There are some qualities of dreams which help to separate them from real life occurrences. It is important, then, when writing about dreams, that these qualities are present to help the reader to make the distinction. There is a difference, however, in writing about a dream as the main focus of a literary work, and using a dream in a larger piece as a literary device to further the story as a whole. In each case there needs to be a suspension of belief in the proper order of things. Another quality of dreams both as a literary tool, and in real life is that there is not beginning or end to the action. Things start happening with no real cause and its taken for granted that they should be happening, and just as quickly as they started, the action is completed and the dream ends without resolve. Whether or not a dream is the main action of a work, there is usually a plethora of imagery.
Otomo Yoshihide
Nights: Journey of Dreams
English: Fictional character or literary device?However, in the case where dreams are used to further the plot of a story which takes place in the realm of the awake, the imagery must include foreshadowing of a future occurrence, or a connection between characters that is unable to be shown through live action. This can be seen in the two stories, Ten Nights of Dreams by Soseki Notsume, and Hellscreen by Ryosuke Akutagawa. Each of the Ten individual nights of dreams has its own imagery, which relate to the characters and events of the dream itself, while the dream of Yoshihide in Hellscreen plays a pivotal role in foreshadowing the stories conclusion, where all of the characters are awake.
The best example of the imagery of a dream as a literary work in the Ten Nights of Dreams is...