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
An omniscient narrator summarizes the onset of the First Interstellar War. Oregon is the only portion of the American mainland to be invaded. Anti-Alien Ballistic Missiles are launched from Washington State and California to fight back, but the Alien ships reroute the missiles, sending them crashing back down to Oregon. An AABM hits Mount Hood, which causes the dormant volcano to become active and erupt later that day. Portland’s air is filled with ash. The battle between Alien and Earth forces rages on.
When Mount Hood erupts, it symbolically transforms from a sleeping, unconscious mountain to an awakened, conscious volcano. If the novel aligns unconsciousness with effortless action and consciousness with deliberate action, then Mount Hood’s awakening suggests that the current world is acting deliberately and not in accordance with the Tao.
Themes
From the yet-unbroken window of his office in the Institute Building, Haber looks down at the havoc below. He fled here after many failed attempts at trying to find Orr, and he’s all alone. Haber has always prided himself on his “independence” and “free will,” and he considers himself a loner. Today, though, he feels lonely and afraid.
Haber’s values of “independence” and “free will” are opposite those espoused by Taoist thought, which emphasizes interconnectedness and effortless action.
Themes
Haber hears people ascending the staircase down the hall and suddenly recognizes Orr, who is limping, bloody, and accompanied by a disheveled woman who can barely walk. Orr explains that they’d spent the whole day trying to get back to town: the roads had been badly damaged by bombs. Orr asks Haber if the Aliens have reached the city yet, but Haber doesn’t know. Orr thinks he saw an Alien with Heather and describes it as a “little silvery thing.” He asks Haber if the Aliens are actually shooting at Earth. Haber tells Orr that the radio isn’t reporting any casualties outside of civilians.
In yet another instance in which the universe restores its balance by responding to each action with a complementary action, Orr reluctantly returns to Haber, whom he’d wanted desperately to escape only a few days before. It’s not clear exactly what’s going on with the Aliens; though it’s chaotic outside and there are bombs flying through the air, Orr’s description of the Alien as a “little silvery thing,” and the fact that the radio isn’t reporting casualties, would imply that the Aliens aren’t particularly violent, and that most of the ensuing chaos is caused by human efforts to fight back against what they perceive as a threat.
Themes
Haber takes Orr downstairs to get something to eat before they undergo a therapy session to correct Orr’s mess. Haber and Orr bring their food to a table in Sleep Lab One, and Haber announces that he’s figured out a way to make the Augmentor replicate Orr’s d-state brainwaves. Now, Haber will be able to hook up Orr to the Augmentor, feed him the exact dream he wants him to dream, stop the Alien invasion, and give Earth a fresh start. Orr tells Haber that it’s nice to finally talk openly with him about his effective dreams.
This is the first time Haber has acknowledged to Orr that he is aware of and actively exploiting Orr’s effective dreams, so it’s an important moment in the development of Orr and Haber’s relationship. Haber’s sudden openness with Orr seems to be the consequence of Heather’s hypnotic instruction for Orr to dream of a nicer Haber. Of course, this slight alteration to Haber’s character does nothing to quell his ambition: in fact, Haber seems to have made considerable progress in Orr’s absence, since he now claims that he’s able to use the Augmentor to exercise even more precise power over Orr’s dreams.
Themes
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Haber asks Orr if the Alien invasion “just happen[ed]” or if Orr created it himself, and Orr admits to the latter. This angers Haber, who thinks Orr has behaved carelessly. Just as Orr is about to explain that his Alien effective dream was no accident, there’s a massive explosion outside. Orr hardly reacts to the noise, which strikes Haber as “abnormal,” since just last week Orr was wracked with guilt over far smaller “ethical point[s].” Haber wonders if Orr isn’t afraid of the invasion because he thinks it’s just a dream. This makes Haber wonder if it is a dream and, if so, whose dream it is.
It’s hypocritical of Haber to criticize Orr for being careless since all Haber does is meddle carelessly in Orr’s dreams. Haber seems most upset by Orr’s attempts to control his dreams without his supervision. Interestingly, in this scene, Haber and Orr momentarily switch roles: all of a sudden, it’s Haber whose concerns about small “ethical point[s]” inspire existential anguish, and Orr who disregards all this, using his power of effective dreaming with very little consideration of consequence. Orr and Haber’s temporary reversal of power suggests that the characters are incapable of maintaining an equal, mutually empowered relationship with each other: someone always has to have the upper hand.
Themes
Haber and Orr return to Haber’s office just in time to see the window shatter. They hear a high-pitched sucking sound, and the air pulls them toward the blown-out window. Suddenly, they’re unable to hear or see. Once they regain control of their senses, Haber takes cover beside his desk, and Orr rushes to the couch to comfort Heather. The air is cold, smoky, and smells of death. Heather wants to take cover in the basement, but Haber insists that he and Orr stay behind to induce an effective dream in Orr to end the invasion. Haber orders Heather to run to the basement and turn on the Emergency Generator to power the Augmentor.
Haber views his office window as a reflection of his social status: in the beginning of the novel, Haber laments not being able to afford an office with a view, and Haber’s use of Orr’s dreams to create a reality in which he has a position that affords him an office with a big window is one of the first ways he exploits Orr’s power. Therefore, the shattering of the window in this scene reflects Haber’s compromised position of power.
Themes
After Heather leaves, Haber turns on a Hypnotape he’d recorded earlier to hypnotize Orr, but the chaos unfolding outside makes it difficult for Orr to follow the tape’s instructions. Suddenly, the building “leap[s] up like a spring lamb,” and Haber can see an “ovoid” shape moving through the dark red, smoky air beyond the gaping window. Haber wants to flee, but Orr is already in a trance. Haber kneels beside Orr’s ear and pleads with him to stop the Alien invasion and restore peace for “everybody.” Haber turns on the Augmentor to guide Orr into the d-state, but before he can look at the EEG screen, the floating, “ovoid” shape appears and stops in the middle of the window.
The ovoid shape outside the window appears to be an Alien spacecraft. The spacecraft hovering threateningly outside Haber’s beloved window symbolizes the extent to which Orr’s independent effective dream has lessened Haber’s power over Orr and the broader world. The subtext of Haber’s instructions for Orr to dream that peace is restored for “everybody” is that Haber wants to reclaim the position of power and control he enjoyed before Orr’s dream offset the balance of this earlier hierarchy.
Themes
Haber wraps himself around the Augmentor to protect it while keeping a close eye on the Alien ship hovering outside the window. Haber sobs hysterically as the ship flies closer, though he refuses to leave his precious machine unprotected. The “snout” of the ship smashes its way through the window frame. Haber hears a humming sound, and the ship’s snout unscrews itself and falls to the office floor. A giant sea turtle-like being emerges from the snout. It stands on its hind legs and slowly points a metal, gun-like rod at Haber, who prepares to be shot.
Haber’s decision to protect the Augmentor reflects his priorities: he’s compelled to protect the machine at all costs because it’s the means by which he’ll gain complete control of Orr’s dreams and, eventually, the world. In light of water’s symbolic connection to Taoism, the fact that the Aliens resemble aquatic creatures (sea turtles) suggests that they, like Orr, adhere to certain Taoist principles, though this Alien’s action of pointing a gun-like rod at Haber seems rather deliberate and not in accordance with the Tao.
Themes
But much to Haber’s surprise, the rod emits speech. In a flat, mechanical voice, the Alien informs Haber that the Aliens are peaceful. The Alien inspects Haber’s office and compliments his EEG machine, speculating that the device might convey that “the individual-person is iahklu’.” The Alien asks if all humans are “capable of iahklu’,” but Haber doesn’t understand what the term means. The Alien apologizes for its communication-machine’s inability to translate the word and then excuses himself, explaining that it must leave to establish peace with the other humans, who are presently “engaged in panic and capable of destroying selves and others.”
The metal rod isn’t a gun after all, the Aliens are peaceful, and it seems as though the ongoing battle is part of some big misunderstanding. Humanity’s readiness to “engage[] in panic” and “destroy[] selves and others” is more proof that Haber’s earlier attempt to use Orr’s dreams to create world peace merely created a new target for humanity’s violence rather than destroying humanity’s capacity for hatred and violence, since humanity’s capacity for violence must continue to exist in order to maintain the universe’s natural balance. The Alien word iahklu’ is yet untranslatable, but the context in which the Alien uses it—to gesture toward the sleeping Orr—suggests that the word is related to sleeping, dreaming, or the unconscious mind.
Themes
Haber notices that the explosions have stopped, though there are still sirens wailing in the distance and smoke in the air. He looks down at the dreaming Orr and realizes that his dreams haven’t changed anything. Haber then turns off the Augmentor, wakes up Orr, and orders him to summarize his dream. To Haber’s frustration, Orr merely describes the scene that just occurred between Haber and the Alien. Haber yells at Orr that he’s remembering reality, not his dream, but Orr calmly speculates that the Augmentor might have “increased the immediacy” of the shift for Haber.
Haber can’t register any changes created by Orr’s dream, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that no changes have occurred. Orr’s instruction was to restore peace for “everybody.” Is it possible that he dreamed of inner peace? This latest dream seems to be new territory for Orr—it (sort of) allows him to remain present in the room during the Alien’s visit, and therefore present and able to reflect on the inner workings of his unconscious mind, which the very nature of unconsciousness usually prevents Orr from doing. Orr’s primary struggle with his dreams stems from not being able to control and understand them, so this latest dream, in which he is afforded a rare opportunity to remember and consciously reflect on the content of that dream, seems to be a step in the right direction.
Themes
Orr changes the subject, urging Haber to use his Government connections to call Washington and explain that the “invasion” has all been a big misunderstanding: that the Aliens didn’t realize they needed to communicate verbally with the humans. Orr tells Haber that the Aliens aren’t actually hurting anyone, and the only people getting hurt are the civilians being struck down by Earth’s Air Force. Besides, the Aliens themselves are indestructible beneath their metal suits. Haber goes along with Orr’s plan, though he thinks it’s highly illogical, “passive,” and a waste of effective dreaming. While on hold with HEW, Haber asks Orr why he didn’t just call off the invasion, and Orr replies that he can’t “choose,” he can only “follow.”
If the Aliens have transcended the need for verbal communication, it implies that they’ve transcended a need for deliberate gestures more broadly. This could support the theory that their species is influenced by the Taoist principles that guide Orr as well. Perhaps the Aliens have an interconnected relationship with each other (and the larger world) that enables them to communicate in some innate, interconnected manner that allows them to forgo language altogether. Orr’s distinction between “choos[ing]” and “follow[ing”] reflects the distinction between deliberate action and the Taoist notion of “effortless action,” or wu wei. To “choose” is to act deliberately, without provocation, and possibly in a manner that disrupts the universe’s natural rhythm. To “follow,” in contrast, is to react to some other stimuli, which evokes the quality of interconnectedness that is central to the concept of wu wei.
Themes
Before Orr can elaborate, Haber gets to work convincing the Government to call off the attack on the Aliens. Orr leaves to check on Heather. As Haber talks to the officials, he realizes that he no longer needs Orr: that he, alone, “would lead his country out of the mess.”
Haber’s promise to “lead his country out of the mess” resonates with his earlier remark about having heroic daydreams. Though Haber might attempt to construe his desire to save the world as a strict adherence to Utilitarian ethics, it becomes increasingly clear that he’s also very motivated by the possibility of others seeing him as a powerful, heroic figure.
Themes
