Entrapped reflections.

Abstract

A historical analysis and study of the Scottish Imagination and the Gothic on James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

What is reality and what is illusion? A layman would say reality is

objects that are tangible whilst illusions are perhaps objects that are conjured,

a parlor trick perhaps, phenomena not within the realm of reasonable reality

or tangibility. Hence, objects within reality are the opposite of illusory objects,

one defined as tangible and the other not. Do we trust these definitions of

reality or illusion? Do they never intersect? Do we trust ourselves or perhaps

trust what we see, believe and understand in order to draw the lines between

these two spheres and vice versa? What then could be constituted as truth

and what then, can be constituted as untruth from our experiences? Could

occurrences, people or objects from reality coexist with illusions in the same

context? How do we differentiate them if they belong within the context? Do

we trust the author’s narrative when we read a book?