(467 words) Dream and reality are two antipodes that oppose each other by definition. Their meanings are opposite. Dreams are fantasies about the future, something that does not exist in the material world. And reality is this material world, that which surrounds us. When a dream comes true, it ceases to be a dream, as it passes from imagination to reality. And vice versa: you can only wish for what is not. Here is the essence of the contradiction of these concepts: one excludes the other. To explain my position, I will give an example from the literature.
In the epic novel by Leo Tolstoy, “War and Peace,” Pierre Bezukhov dreamed of marrying Natasha Rostova. He had long been attracted to her, but something was hindering his intention all the time. At first he was married, and his friend got married to Natasha, and then the war prevented them from meeting and discussing all this. In addition, Pierre was not confident in himself, he was tormented by doubts: is he worthy of the hands of this girl? While he was thinking, dreams filled his thoughts. Rostov seemed to him an ideal wife: she was kind, cheerful, beautiful and gifted with all kinds of virtues, important for motherhood. In everything, she was the opposite of Helen Kuragina, with whom Bezukhov did not have a relationship. He made up for the lack of warmth, devotion and love with fantasies about what they could be. Imagination helped him understand what he wants from real life. But as soon as Pierre married Natasha, he ceased to desire a marriage with her: a dream came true. He began to fantasize about children, and they also appeared over time. Accordingly, he began to think about other things. Thus, any ideal, embodied in real life, ceases to be an ideal and becomes part of reality. That is why dream and reality contradict each other.
Another example was described by A. S. Griboedov in the drama Woe from Wit. Sophia dreamed of a handsome prince from French novels and found him in her father's secretary, who only used her love to move up the career ladder. But the heroine stubbornly continued to believe in the sincerity of his feelings. She built castles in the air with his participation, elevating and idealizing her lover. Therefore, the young lady was seriously offended by Chatsky when he pointed out the insignificance of Molchalin, and took revenge on him, spreading the rumor about his madness. True, that very evening she was convinced that Alexander was right. Sophia took the gentleman by surprise when he declared his love to the maid. As a result, the harsh reality completely destroyed her lofty dreams in a French way, because she gave out wishful thinking. Thus, reality destroys dreams, and dreams counteract it, deceiving a person with a game of imagination. This is also the essence of the contradiction between the concepts.
Obviously, dream and reality compete with each other for power over man. Dreams cloud his mind with illusions, and reality destroys and smashes castles in the air of any strength. These concepts are opposite, one excludes the other, because when an ideal becomes a reality, it loses its meaning, and when the world around changes, and what was, becomes a dream, then reality turns into a dream. This is the essence of the contradiction between fantasy and objective reality.
