the specials interpret the events of the original work into the logic of a dream. when viewed through this lens, and with empathy towards the protagonist and what he represents in relation to the viewer of the work, the specials are harrowingly beautiful works of art. the visuals communicate this transition into the dream-state by emphasizing the printed patterns and fluid motion of the original series, but in a way that is more abstract and surreal. "The essential constitution of a dream is thus not its 'latent thought' but this work (the mechanisms of displacement and condensation, the figuration of the contents of words or syllables)which confers on it the form of a dream."