"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick

“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” is a futuristic story which talks about Douglas Quail, a man whose dream is to go to Mars. The irony is that Quail has already gone to Mars but his memory was erased due to his position of a soldier missionary assassin. This is a very interesting point because to think that someone’s memory can be simply and easily erased within a blink of an eye by someone else, is not only immoral but almost impossible to imagine. What is fascinating is that Quail dreams about doing something he had already done. But why was it that he dreamed of going to Mars and not something more of a realistic nature? Subconsciously, I feel that Quail always had a certain memory or reminiscence of Mars in his mind and that is why he wished to go there so badly.
It is said that people dream of places they have been to already at some point in their lives. For example, most dreams, but not all, capture a setting of something experienced by the person. However, Quail thinks that his wish is unattainable. “I will go, he said to himself. Before I die I’ll see Mars. It was, of course, impossible, and he knew that even as he dreamed” (355). For some reason, Quail, himself, crushed his own wishes stating they are impossible. Everything can be achieved if the individual believes in it. But his dreams are about a place where he has in reality been to. His memory did not need to be brought back by Rekal, Inc but rather it was something he needed to truly believe in himself, in order to remember of his visit to Mars. If he had not been to Mars before, how would he be able to dream of it? One could say it was his imagination but an imagination which goes as far as Quail’s could sometimes be misinterpreted as only that. It was in fact a true memory coming back to mind which Quail was not able to label as such. Fantasy and his true vision of reality were actually the same thing for Quail. He fantasized about the one thing he thought he would never get to see with his eyes; however he had already visited that place which was the reason for his constant desire of going.