In The Lathe of Heaven, the protagonist is George Orr.
George Orr has “effective dreams,” meaning that reality changes when he dreams in a certain way. Frightened by the consequences, he seeks psychiatric help from William Haber, a sleep researcher who tries to control and direct George’s ability through technology.
Haber initially believes that George’s dreams can be used to improve the world. His interventions produce increasingly dangerous alterations, including changes to population, history, and human conflict. George’s resistance reflects the novel’s warning about imposed utopias and the limits of supposedly benevolent social engineering.
The title comes from a line by the poet William Butler Yeats: “The smithies break the flood of tears / The years of dreaming...” Le Guin’s story is often classified as science fiction with dystopian elements because its attempts to perfect society generate new forms of control and instability.