Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Lathe of Heaven, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Limits of Utilitarianism
Dreams and the Limitations of Knowledge
Cosmic Balance
Power and Selfishness
Summary
Analysis
Miss Lelache sits behind the bookcases that separate her “semi-office” from Mr. Pearl’s semi-office at the law office of Forman, Esserbeck, Goodhue, and Rutti. Lelache imagines herself as a “Black Widow,” waiting, “hard, shiny, and poisonous,” for her “victim” to arrive. And when he arrives, Lelache sees that her client, George Orr, really does look the part of a vulnerable victim, with his childish hair and skin that’s as “soft” and “white” as a “fish’s belly.”
Lelache’s depiction of herself as a “Black Widow” suggests that she is aggressive and power-hungry. Her corresponding depiction of Orr as “soft” and fragile as a “fish’s belly” emphasizes her power by juxtaposing it with Orr’s relative powerlessness.
Themes
Orr sits across from Lelache and fills her in on his predicament. He argues that Haber’s method of treating him, which involves coercing him to dream specific dreams, infringes on his privacy “as defined in the New Federal Constitution of 1984.” Orr finishes his spiel, and Lelache admits that, unfortunately, Orr’s case isn’t all that strong: there’s not much evidence to work with, the authorities are unlikely to take a mental patient’s word over a reputable doctor’s, and failing to complete his Voluntary Therapeutic Treatment with Haber could lead to Orr’s imprisonment or institutionalization.
That the “New Federal Constitution” was ratified in 1984 seems to allude to George Orwell’s novel 1984, a dystopian science fiction novel that criticizes authoritarianism and mass surveillance. Evoking 1984 invites a comparison between the authoritarian government featured in that novel and the level of control Orr’s world’s government exerts over its citizens (VTT certainly contains elements of authoritarianism), or perhaps it foreshadows the authoritarian future that lies in store for Orr’s world if Haber continues to exploit Orr’s dreams.
Themes
Orr gets up to leave. Sensing Orr’s desperation and wanting to help this seemingly sane (if not rather “simple”) man, Lelache asks Orr to tell her more about his case. Orr warns her that what he’s about to say will sound crazy, but Lelache prompts Orr to continue. Orr tells Lelache about his ability to dream effectively, and his fear that Haber is abusing this ability “for ends of his own, without [Orr’s] consent.” He tells her about the Augmentor. Still, Orr insists that Haber isn’t an evil scientist; on the contrary, Orr is sure that Haber’s reasons for using him and his effective dreams are admirable. All the same, though, he doesn’t want to be Haber’s “instrument.”
Like Haber, Lelache regards Orr’s passivity negatively; here, she insinuates that his nonconfrontational demeanor makes him “simple.” Orr’s reservations about being Haber’s “instrument” reflect his desire not to be complicit in Haber’s attempts to meddle with fate and offset the universe’s natural balance. His desire not to interfere with fate evokes the Taoist principle of wu wei (“effortless action”), which involves existing in a state that conforms to the universe’s natural balance.
Themes
Lelache stares at Orr, struggling to comprehend his story. After a while, she asks Orr to explain what it is that he finds so unacceptable about Haber using his dreams to change reality—assuming any of it is true. Orr states plainly that he has “no right to change things. Nor [Haber] to make him” change things. Lelache thinks Orr is crazy, but she’s also drawn to his “moral certainty.” She asks for an example of something Orr has changed with his dreams. Orr tells Lelache about talking to Haber about wanting a remote cabin in the wilderness, after which point he suddenly had a cabin in the Siuslaw National Forest. Orr believes that Haber fed him the hypnosuggestion to dream of owning a cabin.
Orr isn’t against Haber’s vision for a better world, he simply believes that humans have “no right to change things.” Orr’s worldview reflects the Taoist idea that people shouldn’t act in ways that intentionally disrupt the natural rhythm or balance of the universe. Orr’s “moral certainty” is so strong that he’s opposed to Haber’s meddling even when it brings about changes that improve Orr’s quality of life, such as giving him his own cabin.
Themes
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Lelache gently reminds Orr that there’s nothing morally wrong with having a cabin. Orr disagrees, though. Before his dream, the wilderness was only wilderness, and now it’s being cut into lots and leased for over $40,000 per year. Lelache remains skeptical of Orr’s effective dreams and moral anguish, so Orr tries harder to explain how the dreams work and why Haber should be wary of messing with them. Orr proposes a hypothetical situation in which Haber hypnotizes him to dream about a pink dog in the room. Orr’s resultant effective dream would create one of two possibilities: either he’d manifest a plausibly pink dog (say, “a white poodle dyed pink”), or else he’d have to change reality so that pink dogs exist and have always existed, and nobody but himself would be aware of this change. Nobody except Haber, who would know about it since he was “there at the moment of change, and knows what the dream’s about.”
Orr’s ethical stance emphasizes the big-picture consequences of Haber’s meddling. It might not be morally wrong for Orr to own a cabin, but the existence of such cabins in the first place is a consequence of human interference with and commodification of nature, both of which are morally wrong. Orr’s hypothetical example of the pink dog further illustrates how a seemingly simple alteration of reality results in unintended consequences that radiate across time and space. Lastly, Orr’s comment about Haber being able to discern the changes Orr’s dreams create since he was “there at the moment of change” provides more insight into how Orr’s effective dreams work: typically, Orr is the only person capable of perceiving the new realities his dreams create, but this changes if others are present during the change and aware of the dream that brought about that change.
Themes
Lelache accuses Orr of watching too much TV, which irritates him, though he also understands her skepticism. Orr even smiles at her, and Lelache wonders if it’s possible that he might like her. Orr becomes suddenly serious and asks Lelache if she’d be willing to act as his lawyer and request to attend one of his sessions with Haber. Lelache is willing to do this, though she cautions Orr that bringing in a lawyer will damage his therapist-patient relationship with Haber. Beyond this, she still thinks it would be in Orr’s best interest to just trust Haber: Haber really could be trying to “help” him, after all. Orr starts to complain about Haber treating him like an experiment, which causes Lelache to stiffen. Haber using Orr for an experiment not approved by HEW, Lelache explains, absolutely would warrant a civil rights complaint.
This scene seems to foreshadow a possible romance between Orr and Lelache. Lelache’s warning about damaging Orr and Haber’s patient-doctor relationship reaffirms her skepticism toward Orr’s claims about his dreams and Haber’s intentions with them: her hesitancy to damage Orr’s relationship with Haber suggests that she still regards Haber’s treatment as medically legitimate rather than exploitative. Orr’s continued defense of Haber reflects an objective, centered personality: even when he’s presented with abundant evidence that Haber is exploiting and deceiving him, Orr insists on retaining an impartial, middle-of-the-road opinion of Haber. Orr’s ability to remain unbiased further aligns his ideals with Taoism, which emphasizes existing in a state of balance with the universe.
Themes
Orr reiterates that he doesn’t want to get Haber in trouble—he really does believe the doctor means well—but he stands behind his desire “to be cured, not used.” Lelache concocts a plan to attend one of Orr’s sessions acting as an “ACLU observer for HEW” rather than as Orr’s lawyer, in order to preserve Orr and Haber’s patient-doctor relationship. Lelache jokingly orders Orr not to “dream [her] out of existence” before she can help him, and he promises he won’t—at least, “not willingly.” Lelache offers her brown hand for Orr’s white hand to shake, and the image reminds her of an old SNCC button of her mother’s.
The SNCC refers to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which was the main organization to facilitate student involvement in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. The image of Lelache and Orr’s shaking hands (and the pin the image evokes in Lelache’s mind) seems to mimic the Taoist symbol for yin and yang, which also features contrasting light and dark colors. The principle of yin and yang is that seemingly opposite forces don’t inhibit but complement one another, which seems to be the idea reflected in the SNCC pin: that different races can complement one another rather than be divided.
Themes
