Maggots

Maggots are a nightmare image associated with Tess’s grave and the dreamer’s guilt over her death. They appear only within the dream described in the supplied passage; the narrative does not establish them as present in waking life.

Appearance in the Nightmare

At Tess’s gravesite, the dreamer sees Tess emerge from her grave, and her voice—changed into an older version of the dreamer’s own—blames the dreamer and says that she should have died instead. Maggots are part of this apparition: Tess removes one and flicks it at the dreamer. Their appearance makes the accusation concrete within the nightmare, linking the image directly to the dreamer’s fear that Tess’s death was her fault.

Awakening and Aftermath

When the Maggot seems to reach her, the dreamer jolts awake and searches her face in alarm. She turns on the lights and checks under the bed, still afraid that Tess will appear. The passage thus draws a sharp boundary between the dream’s imagined threat and waking reality while showing that the image’s emotional force persists after waking.

Narrative Function

The Maggots recur as part of a nightmare centered on bereavement and self-blame, not as an independently active creature in the waking story. Their role is brief but pointed: they mark the moment when the dream’s accusation becomes an immediate source of fear, carrying the unresolved distress of Tess’s death from the grave scene into the dreamer’s apartment.