Ragged Company

The third part of the book is titled “Dreams,” and fittingly, dreams work as a recurring motif throughout the book. The motif includes literal and metaphorical dreams, and points to multiple ideas throughout the story.

Amelia describes the dreams about Digger, Timber, and Dick shown to her by the “shadowed ones,” which eventually lead her to the three men. These dreams contain details that hint at the men’s pasts: Digger building something into the sky; Timber walking away from the woman he loves; and Dick running from something in terror. Amelia’s dreams point to the theme of Fortune, Fate, and Individual Destiny, as she and the men are fated to be brought together.

The dreams also point to the theme of Personal History and the Power of Storytelling: Their contents indicate specific things that the men are running from in their pasts—things that they must revisit to feel whole and move forward with their lives. The dreams that haunt Dick highlight this same theme: His dreams aren’t ideas or fiction; they reflect real events that took place. His refusal to confront his past—and his attempts to escape them by refusing to sleep—eventually lead him to an accidental death.