Renton’s detox dream in trainspotting is an
actualisation dream triggered by the guilt of his heroin addiction killing a
baby, in this fantastical dream sequence which features the baby above him to indicate
how his guilt is constantly looming over his head. This is similar to the dream
in the Iliad where the son of Tydeus goes on a killing spree that had
previously been dreamt about. The guilt of murder being portrayed is featured
in this dream as “he stripped the sweetness of life from him as he lay
breathing heavily; for a bad dream (onar) stood over his head in the night, the
son of Oeneus’ son”, in this case we also see the guilt looming with Onar stood
over the dreamer’s head. This was a common place for Onar to be situated during
bad dreams, and is a recurring feature in this dream trope of lucid dreaming
which is a modernised version of actualised dreams.
