Lindsey Arnold

ENG 3500
3-30-2021
Hide-and-Seek Plotlines
The novel Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin is far different from many other works

that we usually fit into the category of ‘novel’. For one, it had no breaks, taking the form of one

continuous conversation. There is also a reader’s difficulty in telling memory from the present or

reality from fantasy. The entire book seems as if it could be a dream, as is the goal with this

work, but it is uncommon for a novel to work in this way. Most importantly, however, this novel

crafts itself in a way that leaves the reader with more questions than they started with. There are

multiple ways in which the events of the novel can be interpreted, which is more characteristic of

poetry. There are no sure descriptions of what actually happens in the novel, only bigger lessons

to be learned. This unique characteristic of Fever Dream allows it to conform to its title, giving

an experience of disconcerted stumbling in a dark room.

According to the Britannica website, there are many types of novels and facets of the

genre that a writing can fall into. It seems like the genre of novel is more fluid than other genres

and has developed a lot since the first novel. If we look a bit at the discussion and definitions of

the genre that Britannica talks about, we can see some interesting and varied groups. They have a

range from gothic novels to pastoral novels to westerns. They deal with subject matter from

mysteries to thrillers to epic love stories. There are some commonalities, though, that stretch

across seemingly all genres that fall into the novel category. The elements that the webpage

discusses are plot, character, setting, point of view, dimension (length/depth), and significance of

the work. Not surprisingly, the first aspect discussed is plot. This is something any student would

raise their hand to respond with if asked what is most important in a novel. The ideas given here
provide great illumination to the idea of what a plot entails, beginning with a helpful tidbit that

follows: “The detailed working out of the nuclear idea requires much ingenuity, since the plot of

one novel is expected to be somewhat different than that of another, and there are very few basic

human situations for the novelist to draw upon… the novelist has to produce what look like

novelties” (Burgess). There must be events in the novel that differ from other novels in order to

grasp the reader’s attention. Fever Dream undoubtedly grabs the reader’s attention with its

divergence from normal content and common plot elements found in books. But what exactly are

the events? It seems as if there are unusual feelings in the novel but the events themselves at

times seem mundane, if not unidentifiable. Moving a bit further in Britannica’s description of

plot, interestingly enough, the text reads, “At the lowest level of fiction, plot need be no more

than a string of stock devices for arousing stock responses of concern and excitement in the

reader” (Burgess). This brings the story of Fever Dream into understanding a bit more. While it

deviates from the type of crystal-clear plot one normally finds in a novel, it does meet these base

emotional responses from the reader. It seems to intentionally conform to this ‘lowest level of

fiction’, crafting itself in a way in which the most underdeveloped plot on paper can create the

most intense emotional responses.

If we look particularly at elements of Fever Dream, now with a better understanding of

plot as a concept, we can see that there are some elements of the story that can be interpreted

different ways. For example, it is unclear whose soul lives in whom. On my first reading of the

novel, I was thinking along the lines of David’s soul perhaps having split and gone into Amanda,

the mother of Nina. It seemed strange how there was no reasoning for why they had decided to

vacation in this particular spot and for why she and Carla were so drawn to each other.

Additionally, she is having a conversation with David that seems as if it could almost be taking
place in her mind. Together, these ideas point towards the fact that perhaps their souls have been

intertwined. However, at the end of the book, after we are to assume that Amanda has died, it

seems that the writing suggests David has flipped souls with Nina herself. Amanda’s husband is

leaving the scene after talking with David’s father and sees that David has crawled into the

backseat of his car. The text reads, “…reaching slightly toward Nina’s stuffed mole, dirty

fingers resting on the stuffed legs as if trying to restrain them… Eyes desperately seek out my

husband’s gaze” (Schweblin, 182). This short scene right at the end of the novel made me

second-guess myself. Perhaps Nina and David were the ones who had shared souls the entire

time. Maybe that was the reason why there was a connection between the two families. But that

begs the question of inconsistent timelines because Nina was not born when David had the

transmigration. So did the other half of David’s soul flip with Nina’s when Amanda passed and

Nina had her transmigration? In this aspect of the story alone I find these three different

possibilities, which is very abnormal for the plot lines of novel. It is not characteristic of novel

storylines to be so unclear in relating to what events took place. Usually, there is a certain event

to discuss, and then varied meanings are taken from that occurrence. In Fever Dream, however,

the events themselves are blurred at the edges and the reader must draw on context clues in order

to find his or her own version of the story.

Even in reading the conversation between Amanda and David, it is difficult to tell

whether the conversation is actually happening. It seems as if David is talking to Amanda,

coaxing her to tell her story and get to the important details, but then we suddenly find out that

Amanda has told most of this story multiple times already and we are hearing the retelling.

Therefore, after so many retellings to the point that she is delirious and cannot even remember

her past conversation, how reliable is her telling of the story? Since her narration is so unreliable,
the events of the story are difficult to really map out. What happens first, second, and third?

What events happened the way she retells them and which ones actually occurred in a different

manner? Amanda speaks to David about what she thinks happened and David responds, “No, no.

It’s not about worms. It feels like worms, at first, in your body. But, Amanda, we’ve been

through all this, too. We’ve already talked about the poison, the contamination. You’ve already

told me four times how you got here” (Schweblin, 110). The reader can hear the aggravation in

David’s voice at the fact that Amanda cannot remember telling him this already. But perhaps

David and Amanda did indeed swap souls and now Amanda is simply having a conversation

with herself in her head. Maybe these are just her own thoughts trying to work themselves out.

She needs to come to terms with the facts and what happened, but the events are as unclear to her

as they are to the reader. Maybe she thinks she is talking to David but is actually only talking to

the part of him that inhabits her. The reader cannot know because nothing is clearly stated. In

fact, there are no quotation marks, only italics, so the reader cannot be certain if David is present

and speaking actively.

Fever Dream seems to loosely fit into the genre of a novel considering its deviation from

the common form that plot takes in novels. The events of the story are difficult to follow and to

differentiate between. The narration plays an interesting role in this feverish aspect of the text as

well. It is hard to tell if the events that are portrayed are true accounts of what actually happened

since they come from an unreliable viewpoint and are a retelling of past events. The story is

slippery, and the reader finds oneself trying to sift through larger emotions and feelings to find

the core details of plot. Events blend together, change, and morph into something entirely new.

The plotline plays hide-and-seek with its own events.

 Works Cited

Burgess, Anthony. “Novel.” Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/novel/Narrative-

method-and-point-of-view

Schweblin, Samanta. Fever Dream. New York, Penguin Random House, 2014.