The Concept of Dream Logic

3. "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling!"

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Dream logic is simple enough, its the idea that in our dreams, anything that needs to happen can. Say you're dreaming. You get in your car and drive from your house in D.C. all the way to Los Angeles. In this instance, you would never need to stop for gas, yet in reality, you would need to. Since the only goal is to reach L.A., your mind won't limit you from that.

Nolan uses dream logic in the movie frequently in the dream levels. Characters jump around in their conversations from location to location, Ariadne thoughtlessly folds a city upon itself, and guns never need to be reloaded, they just appear. The key is how Nolan uses dream logic in what we are meant to believe is "reality."

Here's just a few examples. Cobb, the main character, is constantly chased around the globe by faceless enemies. We never learn alot about Cobol Engineering in the movie, yet it doesn't matter. While Cobb is in Mombasa, he is chased by men from Cobol, and is always just ahead of them and there bullets. A crazy example of dream logic is when Cobb is jammed between two buildings and struggles to escape. This is called dream anxiety, and in dreams, we often run from people we don't know, and get stuck in impossible traps and situations.

Just like a dream, Cobb just barely escapes. He stumbles into another familiar face: Saito. How does Saito pick Cobb out of a city of millions? Obvious dream logic.

Mal and Cobb in reality is another tricky instance of dream logic. After Mal and Cobb return from limbo, Mal is possessed by an idea: her world is not real. She sends a letter to her attorney blaming Cobb for her suicide and forcing him to leave her. He finds her at the hotel where they spent their anniversary. The entire suite is wrecked, Mal's totem left on the ground (remember this, Mal does not care what the totem means anymore), and out from the window, Mal is in another building on the ledge. She is completely unreachable, implying she somehow destroyed the room and fled. Cobb and Mal are separated by another dream logic example: the gaping precipice between the two lovers.

Another instance is our constant viewing of Cobb's kids through his memories. They are always in the same position, because that is how Cobb remembers them just before leaving them. When he returns to them, years later, they are in the exact same position.

There are countless other examples of "dream logic" in what we are meant to believe is reality. Cobb is apparently hunted by hundreds of people, yet slips in and out countries with ease; Mal's father somehow has a great relationship with her supposed killer; Mal's father also manages to fly to America before Cobb can; Fischer does not recognize Saito, his main competitor; and the list goes on and on. A last lingering example? How can Saito make one phone call to fix Cobb's charges?

"Can't fix that... No one can..." "Just like Inception."