I Sell My Dreams by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

 I Sell My Dreams by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

One day, while the narrator was having breakfast in the morning at the Havana Riviera Hotel, a gigantic wave crashed down on the shore, picking up and overturning several cars. Under one of smashed cars was found a woman wearing "a gold ring shaped like a serpent, with emerald eyes".  That reminded the narrator of "an unforgettable woman", who used to wear "a similar ring on her right forefinger", whom he met thirty-four years earlier in Vienna, which was an old imperial city back then. When she was asked "how had she come to be in a world so distant and different from the windy cliffs of Quindio", she answered "I sell my dreams." Born third of eleven children to a prosperous shopkeeper in old Caldas, selling dreams was her only trade. In her childhood her dreams began to show oracular qualities, and she turned them into a source of earnings. One night, she told the narrator to leave Vienna. Considering her conviction real, the narrator boarded the last train to Rome that same night and "considered himself a survivor of some catastrophe". Later the narrator happened to meet Pablo Neruda and they found that woman; by then the woman earned affluence by selling dreams. They spent time together for some days. One day Neruda "dreamed about that woman who dreams (Frau Frieda)". Later the narrator met the woman and she said "I dreamed he (Neruda) was dreaming about me." After that day, the narrator never met her again. After the Havana Riviera disaster, the narrator met the Portuguese ambassador who had hired Frau Frieda as a housekeeper and he asked him "what did she do?" He (the ambassador) answered with a certain disenchantment "Nothing," "she dreamed."

Stop and Think (Page 6)

Q1. How did the author recognise the lady who was extricated from the car encrusted in the wall of Havana Riviera Hotel after the storm?

Answer: The author recognised the lady who was extricated from the car encrusted in the wall of Havana Riviera Hotel after the storm because of the gold ring she wore which shaped like a serpent and her emerald eye helped the author to identify the similarities with the lady which he knew from Vienna who used to wear the same type of ring and who had emerald eyes.

Q2. Why did the author leave Vienna never to return again?

Answer: One day Frau Frieda came to the narrator and told him that she had dreamed about him the previous night. She further added that he must leave Vienna right away and not come back at least for five years.

The narrator was convinced so much that he boarded the last train to Rome that same night. He was so influenced by what she had said that from then on he considered himself a survivor of some catastrophe he never experienced.

Stop and Think (Page 8)

Q1. How did Pablo Neruda know that somebody behind him was looking at him?

Answer: Pablo Neruda came to know that somebody behind him was looking at him. When he was eating he noticed a lady three chairs away from him was staring at him and reported to the narrator that somebody behind was looking at him. The narrator noticed it he found a lady staring at him and identified her it was Frau Frieda, with the snake ring on her index finger.

Q2. How did Pablo Neruda counter Frau Frieda’s claims to clairvoyance?

Answer: Pablo Neruda countered Frau Frieda’s claims to clairvoyance by telling her that according to him ‘Only poetry is clairvoyant’. When she interacted with them at their table Pablo Neruda paid no attention to her and he had announced that he did not believe in prophetic dreams.

Understanding the Text

1. Did the author believe in the prophetic ability of Frau Frieda?

Answer: The author was amazed to know that Frau Frieda earns her livelihood by selling her dreams. He was a kind of fascinated towards her ability to predict the future. When she told him one day to leave Vienna right away. He was so convinced to her prophetic ability that he did not even ask the reason of her advising him so.

Some years later when he met Frau Frieda by chance; he tried to surprise his friend Pablo Neruda by her prophetic ability. He encouraged her to surprise the poet by talking about her dreams.

The author never returned back to Vienna that shows he believed in her prophetic ability too much.

2. Why did he think that Frau Frieda’s dreams were a stratagem for surviving?

Answer: The author met Frau Frieda after 13 years in Barcelona in an unexpected manner after he had left Vienna on her advice. She told him that she had sold her properties in Austria and retired to Oporto, in Portugal, where she lived in a house that she described as a fake castle on a hill. Although she did not say so, her conversation made it clear that, dream by dream, she had taken over the entire fortune of her ineffable patrons in Vienna. That did not surprise the narrator, however, because he had always thought her dreams were no more than a stratagem for surviving.

3. Why does the author compare Neruda to a Renaissance pope?

Answer: The author compares Neruda to Renaissance Pope because he was gluttonous as well as refined. Even if he didn't want to still he would preside at the table. Matilde, his wife, would put a bib around his neck to keep his attire neat and clean. He was blessed with childlike curiosity and was eager to learn new things.

Talking about the Text

Discuss in groups

1. In spite of all the rationality that human beings are capable of,

most of us are suggestible and yield to archaic superstitions.

Answer: Ancient man began to worship the elements of nature as he believed that his life was governed by these elements of nature. He used to worship fire, rain, trees, mountains etc. Later on his ritual practices got distorted and he began to believe black magic, superstitions and chance-happenings. Religion provided him a refined path of believing in a super power. Science also helped him to bring out of ignorance.

But we notice that there are still certain beliefs and practices that show ignorance of man but human beings follow them. Otherwise the narrator seems very rational in the story but he obeys Frau Frieda’s advice to leave Vienna. He even does not bother to ask her the reason of her suggestion. As he has seen her predicting future for other people and proving right in her prophetic declarations, he also begins to admire her oracular talents.

It happens with most of us that we fear that if we don’t believe in a certain superstition we may face problems, so we believe in that.

2. Dreams and clairvoyance are as much an element of the poetic

vision as religious superstition.

Answer: Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Kubla Khan or A Vision in a Dream  is a well known example of how a poet translated his dream into poetry. John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost is a magnum opus of a poet’s prophetic vision.

To create great poetry one needs to posses an ability of clairvoyance as well as power of dreams. T. S. Eliot’s masterpiece ‘The Wasteland’ celebrates a poet’s prophetic vision; how a poet predicts doom of a civilisation analysing the prevailing conditions. So we can say that dreams and clairvoyance are as much an element of the poetic vision as religious superstition.

Appreciation

1. The story hinges on a gold ring shaped like a serpent with emerald eyes. Comment on the responses that this image evokes in the reader.

Answer: The gold ring shaped like a serpent with emerald eyes plays a vital role in the story. The narrator recognises the lady died in the accident through the mention of this ring published in the newspaper. He remembers meeting a lady who used to wear such a ring. The readers also get introduced to this lady in a flashback in the story. She shares her dreams who pays money to her. Readers at once imagines a traditional fortune-teller having long hair, loose fitting clothes and wearing rings in fingers. The author remains confused about the real name of the lady but at several occasions he identifies her by this ring only. The reader tends to believe that this ring plays an important role in the life of the lady.

2. The craft of a master story-teller lies in the ability to interweave imagination and reality. Do you think that this story illustrates this?

Answer: “I Sell My Dreams’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez shows the author’s mastery of interweaving imagination and reality. The story begins with an accident and takes a flashback. The readers are introduced to a character that is very interesting not only in appearance but also in actions. When she announces that she sells her dreams; the readers get curious to know how does a person sells her dream. Readers know about fortune tellers but a person who sells her dream is something very interesting for the readers.

The author throughout the story develops several fanciful twists that keeps the readers guessing what next! The introduction of Pablo Neruda’s character in the story blends imagination and reality. At one end we have a character who is known for her prophetic ability; on the other hand, we meet a poet who believes only poetry can be clairvoyant.

Although the author is a rationale person but he also believes the prediction of Frau Frieda. It keeps the interest of the readers alive.

3. Bring out the contradiction in the last exchange between the author and the Portuguese ambassador ‘In concrete terms,’ I asked at last, ‘what did she do?’ ‘Nothing,’ he said, with a certain disenchantment. ‘She dreamed.’

Answer: The author knows well what Frau Frieda used to do to earn money. When he meets the Portuguese ambassador, he asks him simply what did she do at his house? The author is curious to know whether the lady was possessing powers of dreams till she died. Frau Frieda had told the author in their last meeting that she was living a lavish life in Portugal. But the author cannot resist his feelings and asks this question to the Portuguese ambassador.

4. Comment on the ironical element in the story.

Answer: The biggest irony in the story is the person who predicts others future dies in an unfortunate accident. Frau Frieda dreams for others and shares her dreams to earn money.

The author otherwise a rational person believes Frau Frieda’s prediction and goes away from Vienna never to return back. He always considers himself a

survivor of some catastrophe he never experiences.

The meeting between Pablo Neruda and Frau Frieda also presents some moments of irony. On the one hand the lady possesses prophetic powers; on the other the poet believes that only poetry is clairvoyant.

In the end the narrator asks the Portuguese ambassador that what Frau Frieda does for him. He knows it well but still confirms to make sure that till her end she was selling her dreams.