This is an essay on the short story, 'The Coma', by Alex Garland. It is a really interesting novel which explores the human psyche - definitely a recommended read.
The novella The Coma by Alex Garland is a story that explores the line between reality and the dream state, and uses the imagery of a briefcase and what is in the briefcase to represent this line. The main character of the story, Carl, is knocked unconscious by a group of thugs on a train after coming to the aid of a woman, and subsequently falls into a coma where he confuses between living and dreaming. Carl’s briefcase he used for work before he was beaten up is used as a catalyst in the end for him to wake up into reality, and is important in showing just how different and similar reality and dreaming is. The reader never really gets to find out what is inside Carl’s briefcase but as it is used as a catalyst to him waking up, one can assume it contains memories, or a ‘narrative’ of Carl’s life. While inside the briefcase is papers which is assumed to be Carl’s life story, the actual briefcase itself can be seen as a representation of the blurred line between reality and dreaming.
Most of this novella is of Carl dreaming while in his coma, and as it progresses he sees it just like a narrative, or a story. A narrative is usually seen as a structured, organized text which has a beginning and an end, and this is where he draws the similarities in dreaming and reality from. Carl’s dream state is not realistic at all, but spontaneous and based on his thoughts only, which what makes him the ‘narrator’. The literalness of the policeman when he says to Carl “I think you should put all thought of work and papers out of your head.” can be seen as a metaphor where dreaming is a means of escaping the real world and reality. When Carl finally gets the chance to recollect his memories and wake up from his coma, by opening his briefcase, he hesitates and states “It was odd…that my one remaining protection against the uncertainties of waking life was itself an uncertainty…,” showing that even in dreams nothing is certain. “Specifically, I was concerned about nightmares – reliving the attack in a dream world…” further shows that sometimes dreams aren’t necessarily in his control, even though they are based on solely his thoughts. Even so, once Carl realizes fully that he needs to wake up, he gets a grip on his dream state and says “… the implications were almost limitless. If I couldn’t differentiate between hallucination and reality…I could be anything with a consciousness.” From this, dreaming can be seen as a means of escaping reality, and where it is based only on one’s thoughts and memories. However dreaming can also be seen as similar to reality which is filled with uncertainty and spontaneity, and that they are really both just two different narratives, with a beginning and an end – “…from within dream life, the world was generally coherent…no more confusing than any other.” Carl also sees the similarities in his mind where he states:
“Strip down my waking life and I’m a consciousness in a void. Strip down my dream life, and I’m a consciousness in a void. What difference?”
From this it can be seen that Carl’s papers in his briefcase are what kept him from continually dreaming and is eventually what causes him to wake up. It is clear that the papers are the link between his dreams and the real world.
Most would see reality as a narrative, more so than a dream because dreams are usually segmented and fractured. Both reality and dreaming are represented as narratives in this novel though, as Carl realizes how similar they both are. Carl’s briefcase represents organization and the containment of reality, thus showing reality as a structured, ordered story which involves a beginning and an end. While reality is seen as organized and routine, and his dreams seemingly random and unordered, Carl sees that they are both narratives, in that they both are like a structured text involving ‘life’ and ‘death’. Carl knows that the dream has to end, like a narrative does, and everything else:
““So what are you going to do, Carl?” she asked. I shrugged. “What everyone in a coma has to do,” I said. “I have to wake up.””
Before fully waking up, Carl also associates dreaming with dying – that you die when you wake, along with the dream. Through this, the reader can see that there is a line differentiating between dreaming and reality which Carl eventually has to cross. While dreaming allowed Carl to be his own narrator, in reality everyone around him also contributed to his life story, emphasizing the fact that total control in life doesn’t exist. The papers in his briefcase drew him back into the real world, and reinforce the fact that everything has to end at some point.
The papers inside Carl’s briefcase seem simply his life story or memories from his life before his coma, and are compared to the narrative in reality. The loose pages Carl writes on at the very start of the story – “the loose pages made me feel vulnerable” represents his uncertainty of the future and of his helplessness in reality. The loose pages foreshadow the attack on him by the thugs, and reinforce that in reality your future can’t be decided on by just you alone. While in dreams you cannot actually “die” (shown by Carl stepping off the roof of the bookstore), the unrealistic and illogical scenes Carl dreams show that anything can happen depending on your thoughts and memories, and that dreams allow a sense of knowing of what is going to happen; for example, Carl predicting something strange going to happen at Anthony’s house. This is what separates the two states – the different narrators; and the papers in Carl’s briefcase represent this divide. Carl’s key conclusion – which you die when you wake, is just an expression of how everything has an end. To cross the line between dreaming and reality, you have to accept that death is a part of life, and that nothing in life is certain.
The actual briefcase itself can be seen as the line between reality and dreaming - while the briefcase and the papers act as the catalyst for Carl to wake up, the case itself represents the containment of reality. The apparent random words at the end of the story, which is an acronym for ‘I woke up and it was all a dream’ helps to blur the line between consciousness and reality, and shows that there is no black and white divide between the two states. Carl does know he has to wake up though as he can’t keep dreaming forever – just like he can’t live forever. The papers in the briefcase is what kept Carl from dreaming on and escaping reality, and portrays the message to the reader – that to live, you must accept that you die also.
Through the papers in the briefcase that acted as a catalyst for Carl to wake up, it is clear that they represent reality and dreaming in a way that show the reader death is a part of life everyone has to accept. Dreaming allows escapism from reality, but it must end at some time, as does life. Both dream states and reality both have similarities when compared, and the representation of both states as narratives reinforce the idea that everything has an end as well as a beginning. The briefcase represents the line between reality and dreaming, and his papers contain memories and thoughts that is what separates the dream world from the real world. It is what is in the briefcase that keeps Carl from continually dreaming in his coma, but it is also essential for his life and time to move on.