In his final dream, Antonio sees the three figures that he was helpless to save, both physically and spiritually. The destruction of his three sources of understanding — God, the golden carp, and Ultima — leaves nothing for him to believe in, and he is filled with horror and great despair. Upon rejecting the violence he sees, he is told that violence contains the seeds of creation. This points to the resolution of conflict, albeit in the apocalyptic view that some must die in order for others to live. The statement by the departing figures that they exist only in his dreams points out to Antonio that his concerns are not necessarily part of the external world, that he can stop their dream-wanderings.
The dream foreshadows Antonio's shift from absolutist thinking to relativism. To transcend absolutism, one must withdraw one's commitment to a particular perspective in order to be able to appreciate other perspectives. Antonio's transcendence intimates a cosmic death balanced by regeneration and rebirth. Out of conflict and chaos comes a new level of understanding that restores unity and harmony to the world. But this understanding, as portended by the dream, is something he must achieve on his own. Ultimately, individuals must live their own lives in accordance with their own views.
