Connotative Dreams in The Tunnel of SabatoIn The Tunnel of Ernesto Sabato, the dreams reveal the dark and conflicted personality of Juan Pablo Castel. Castel lived a life of isolation, of despair, both solitary and lonely. His existence takes on meaning when a young woman named Maria notices an abstract window in one of his paintings. Maria becomes his obsession; he seeks comfort and refuge through her. Castel's dreams reveal his true motivations for being obsessed with Maria; they help to manifest one's need for meaning, love, affection and attention. His dreams symbolize his ambiguous and interpreted emotions and foreshadow future events in his life. By making dreams complex and enigmatic, Sabato is able to imitate Castel's state of mind. Through this later reality, Castel is able to escape, rationalize, and become aware of his multiple problems. The first of Castel's dreams occurs while Maria is away at the estancia and ultimately illustrates his chaotic emotions and confused adoration for her. Castel is weakened and frantically awaits Maria's return. He imagines finding himself in a dark house that he believes he has “known and infinitely desired” (88) since his youth. He feels comforted in this residence because it is something defined, understood and established. Castel lacks these feelings of stability in his life because he strongly subscribes to existentialist thought; he believes that mortality is a narrow passage that is uncertain and has no other purpose than to exist purely. When he enters the dark house, he is mysteriously guided by “old memories” (88). These memories imply a thematic connotation since existentialists believe that nothing precedes life...... middle of paper ...... in his life he is able to control something and finally get rid of certain of his torments. Tunnel explores a struggling painter's feelings of despair and complete and utter loneliness that manifest throughout his dreams. They explain why Castel acts the way he does and also reveal much of his eccentric autonomy. His dreams predict and influence Castel's future behavior and give the reader insight into Castel's thought process. He internalizes, visualizes and rationalizes every action he plans to take. He demonstrates intelligent judgment in his dreams when in reality his behavior is illogical and absurd. Castel is not able to apply the meaning of dreams in a positive way to his daily life. Ultimately, Castel ignores the dreams' precious suggestions and destroys Maria's existence in order to free his own..