Connotative Dreams in Sabato's The Tunnel In Ernesto Sabato's The Tunnel, the dreams reveal the dark and contrasting personality of Juan Pablo Castel. Castel lived a life of isolation, desperation, loneliness and loneliness. His existence becomes significant when a young woman named Maria notices an abstract window within one of his paintings. Maria becomes his obsession; seek comfort and refuge through her. Castel's dreams reveal his true motivations for being obsessed with Maria; they help show his need for meaning, love, affection and attention. His dreams symbolize his ambiguous and interpreted emotions and foreshadow upcoming events in his life. By making dreams complex and enigmatic, Sabato is able to imitate Castel's mentality. Through this ulterior reality, Castel is able to escape, rationalize and realize his multiple problems. The first of Castel's dreams occurs while Maria is on the estancia and ends up illustrating his chaotic emotions and confused adoration for her. Castel is weakened and frantically awaits Maria's return. He imagines himself in a dark house that he feels 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 devoutly adheres to existentialist thought; he believes that mortality is a narrow passage, uncertain and has no purpose other than to exist purely. When he enters the dark house, he is mysteriously guided by “old memories” (88). These memories imply a thematic undertone as existentialists believe that nothing precedes life because... middle of paper ......his life, he is able to control something and finally free himself from some of his torments. Tunnel explores a struggling painter's feelings of desperation and complete and utter loneliness which are all displayed in his dreams. They account for why Castel behaves the way he does and also reveal much of his eccentric selfdom. 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 intends to take. He shows intelligent judgment in his dreams when in reality his behavior is illogical and nonsensical. Castel is unable to positively apply the meaning of dreams to his daily life. In the end Castel ignores the precious suggestions of the dreams and destroys Maria's existence to free his own.