Dreams are usually experienced when a person is asleep, but idealizations and memories can also turn into dreams. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between dreams and reality, especially when thinking about the past. People may confuse what they hoped would happen with what actually happened, or the past may come back hauntingly. Willa Cather's novel My Antonia explores the idea of ​​the past carrying both nostalgic and dreamlike qualities, while Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio presents dreams and dreaming in a completely different abstract and complex way. Regardless of how dreams and memories are depicted, they strongly affect the characters in each of these stories. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayMy Antonia is a very nostalgic story that recounts Jim Burden's memory of life on the prairie and his dear friend Antonia. The introduction to this piece details a train conversation between Jim Burden and the "narrator" of the story. As Jim suggests that the mysterious narrator write a story about Antonia, it was decided that "[he/she] would put down on paper everything [he/she] remembered about Antonia if he did the same." [They] could, that way, get a photo of her. » (49). This introduction already suggests the fact that the written history may not be entirely accurate or true. As the story progresses, we quickly see that the character of Antonia seems to be greatly idealized by Jim and that the story itself becomes almost dreamlike. Jim clearly has a very high opinion of Antonia and life on the prairie and many of his stories seem slightly exaggerated. It is never really clear whether the stories told in My Antonia are entirely true or even true at all, but nevertheless this story is the product of the dream that Jim chose to remember. Sherwood Anderson's collection of stories, Winesburg, Ohio, also reflects on the idea of ​​dreams versus reality and how these two can conflict. George Willard is a seemingly impressionable young man living in the town of Winesburg, Ohio. He found the company of Wing Biddlebaum, a strange and nervous old man who prefers the company of children to that of adults. Biddlebaum is considered a sort of hermit by the townspeople because he usually keeps to himself, but "in the presence of George Willard, Wing Biddlebaum...[loses] something of his shyness..." (265). George Willard, apparently most taken with the nature of Biddlebaum's hands, often comes to visit the old man. Dreaming is a very important aspect to Wing and his life, and he believes it is a key part of a person's individuality and freedom, telling George that "[he] has to start dreaming." From now on, [he] will have to close his ears to the roar of voices” (266). The concept of dreams is so important to Wing that he condemns George for "wanting to be like the others in town" (266) and even goes so far as to say that he is "destroying himself" (266). Wing appears to constantly live in a dream state, oblivious to reality and those occupying that space, other than George. Wing creates a gap between his world and the real world and asks George to choose his world. Although Wing seems captivated by the notion of dreams and encourages George to do the same, dreams and memories are not always a positive experience for Wing. One day with George, Wing reaches out to caress his face, but a look of horror quickly takes over his face: “Tears came to his eyes” (267). At this moment his dream reality is shattered as he is thrown back into the »..