Essay Questions

What is the definition of sleep according to Fantastic Tales by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti?

The author defines sleep as a state of confused memory of events. During sleep, people transform into different life or unrealities. For instance, people dream during sleep, but they find a different reality from their dreams when they wake up. One can dream that he is wealthy, but the truth is harsh when he wakes up because he returns to his poverty status. The author asks, “The events in dreams where we are witnesses or participants – could they be real? Could what we call by this term be no more than a confused memory of events?” At the end of the narration, the author concludes that sleep is just another state of life which does not rhyme with daytime life.

What is the central theme in the Fantastic Tales by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti?

Memories emerge as the central theme in the entire text because, in each tale, the author reflects on his past. For instance, the author remembers how the women used to sing in the fields when he writes, "There was a time when in my boyhood when I could not listen to cadence of certain songs the country women sang to us on the farms without feeling suddenly transported to an epoch so remote from my life that I could not reach it if I multiplied my current age many, times." Most of the tales in this memoir reflect on the author's past experiences in his childhood.

Why do you think that the Narrator comes from a humble background?

The narrator states that his parents hail from an aristocratic family. Despite this, his parents led a humble life based on old Saxon feudalism traditions. The author writes, "my family's customs did not differ from any away from those of humblest families among the common people: my parents had been born and raised among them; their life was a completely black page.”