Dreams and Reality can be said to be the two factors making up the life of any human being. Dreams are commonly known as the hopes, aims, desires and faith a person holds. Dreams can be a material need or want or a physical need or want. Dreams give people direction in their lives, a meaning to the wonder of life and the reason to believe. Sometimes dreams also give humans the ability to expand their imagination, go beyond and strive and achieve the impossible. Reality can often stop dreams from being achieved. Reality is life, the state of being real and what actually happens or what actually exists.
Reality deals with what is, not what could be. Reality does not always include our dreams or our hopes. It is up to us to make reality include them. The texts studied prove this by the contents and messages given. Madonna had always wanted to be a dancer. This was her dream or really her aim in life. Madonna made her dream a reality as was stated in the biography ‘Madonna- Starting Out’. Hard work, confidence and dedication were the qualities Madonna used in order to control her reality and make it cater for her wild imagination.
The reality of not living in an idealistic world can sometimes be frustrating, sad and tragic. The idea of building your idealistic world is expressed through the three texts studied. Let your voice be heard, fight for what you believe, do not give up are all the messages conveyed in the three texts. Martin Luther King’s speech, ‘I have a dream’ is a great text that formed the understanding of Dreams and Reality. It explores the messages I have gathered from sources studied, quite comprehensively. The speech is aimed at the Black-American society of the 1960’s fighting for civil rights, freedom and justice.
King lets his voice be heard with the great oracy skills he uses to bring out the injustices being experienced by he Negro community. He strives for his dreams and the dreams of his community of living in their idealistic world. His beliefs are outlined in his speech and the aim of expressing his needs and wants are also included in the speech. His forceful approach and extensive language skills in the speech aim at not giving up on the hope that some day the dreams that so many blacks hold will come true. Dreams aim at providing reality with success.
This is another statement explored studying the three texts. Madonna’s dreams aimed at providing her life with success. The success of her making her talent’s hine. Living out one’s views and opinions of rights and justice was the hope or dream for Martin Luther King. The hope and aim of his was to gain success through this dream, the success of obtaining rights and justice for blacks. People should be happy with their reality, as it already includes their dreams. The related text ‘Then You Look at Me’ conveys the message of searching for a dream that is already their in reality.
It shows the targeted audience that maybe their dreams are in fact their reality. That maybe the dreams they are searching for or striving for have actually been achieved. The Great Gatsby’ is another text that explores this message. Daisy Buchanan, a character in the text is miserable, she destroys the reality in her life searching for a long term dream. She has always loved another man (Jay Gatsby) whilst being married to Tom, but has not gone for Jay Gatsby as the material need she requires in life has provided her with stability.
But when the dream comes true for Daisy, she realises that in fact that she is happy with her masked reality. Dreams create a brighter reality. This statement is greatly shaped by the studied sources. Reality is out of one’s control. Reality provides humans with less ideal circumstances. Dreams not only create a brighter reality, but they give hope to people when reality seems too hard to cope with. In the text ‘Then You Look at M’ this statement is made true. The line, ‘Day by Day, I find my way look for the soul and the meaning’ covers this message.
Reality is sometimes confusing, but the fact that a human can find meaning from holding dreams can make a brighter reality. Daisy Buchanan’s dream like personality covered her dull and sad reality. In ‘The Great Gatsby’, Daisy creates a dreamy story for the hopeless relationship he has with her husband. She masks her reality with the dream she holds or the thoughts that seem so much brighter in comparison to her reality. This text has shaped the understanding of dreams masking reality and its unfortunate circumstances. Achieving one’s dreams does not have to involve a physical reality.
Dreams do not always have to include a material need or want, success or wealth. Sometimes achieving a dream involves overcoming an emotional or life threatening situation that reality throws at us. An example for this statement is the text ‘I Have a Dream’. The dreams expressed in this text ave shaped the understanding that people dream of being emotionally content without the worry of oppression or discrimination. The dream to be free, free to live and free to let live without being denied of the basic rights inherited with life.
Making dreams reality can fail but be prepared to keep going and take the risks. Who knows where Madonna would have ended up, with $45 to survive with in New York? But, her determination got her through on the path in obtaining life long dreams and perpetual success. Dreams may fail, but it’s up to the individual to make the dream become part of their reality again. Look where Madonna is now. Take the risk and be prepared to deal with failures. It is better to take the risk than to have never of taken the risk at all.
The texts studied have shaped many interpretations and understandings on the area of study, ‘Dreams and Realty’. Dreams are hopes, aims, aspirations, wants, needs and figments of the imagination. Thoughts that act as inspiration in reality. Inspirations to make a brighter reality, a wealthier reality, a successful reality or simply inspirations to escape hard realities. Dreams give direction and meaning to life’s hardships and set downs. Without dreams, life would be meaningless, hopeless and not orth living.
Throughout the texts, these ideas and understandings have been shaped and formed using personal experiences and people’s own stories of dreams and reality. Reality is what happens without one’s control focusing on what is, not what may be. ‘Once begun, life goes till it’s gone. We have to go where it’s going’. This line is from the song ‘Then You Look at Me’ and the line is powerful in shaping the true meaning of reality. Reality from the statement is uncontrollable and makes us follow it. Following reality does not mean accepting hardships and making meaning out of your reality by dreaming.
