Salvador Dali himself claimed that his works were “hand-painted dream photographs.” This is due to the fact that he typically painted while in self-induced hallucinations, which he referred to as his “paranoid critical transformation method.” This hallucination technique used by Dali enabled him to paint based off thoughts and ideas from his subconscious. Since Dali was a surrealist and accessed his subconscious to create his works, including The Persistence of Memory, Dali never gave his works an exact meaning, allowing critics and observers to interpret many different meanings. However, there is one meaning for The Persistence of Memory that stands out above the rest as it has more supporting details and background than the others, being that this work depicts a dream-like state and the “erratic passage of time” (K Shabi, Legomenon.com) as experienced by persons in such a state. 

 The Persistence of Memory shows this dream-like state through the objects and scenery that Dali chose to use in this piece. The background that Salvador Dali depicted in this piece is said to be based off where he grew up in Catalonia, Spain. The scene shows rugged cliffs jutting out of a barren desert yet also overlooking what appears to be an ocean. In this barren desert, however, there are four analog clocks that appear to be melting on top of various objects. These four melting clocks would not be found in a typical desert scene or any real-life setting, therefore these clocks instill a sense of wonder into the spectator. The sense of wonder that these clocks allow the observer to feel support the idea that Dali wanted this piece of art to feel almost as if they are dreaming as they encounter things they could never experience in the natural world. This idea is also supported by the creature that appears to be sleeping in the middle of the work with one of the clocks melting over its back. This creature cannot be positively identified but is still distinguishable by its features, just as many people cannot identify or recall the creatures and other persons from their own dreams. Many times, people cannot identify what it was in their dream, just like spectators cannot truly identify the creature dreaming in the center of the piece. 

The idea that one experiences an erratic passage of time while sleeping is strongly supported throughout almost every detail that Salvador Dali incorporated into The Persistence of Memory. The painting itself is a surreal desert landscape with the four distorted clocks. All of these clocks appear to be melting but one is melting overtop of the unidentifiable creature and another seems to be covered entirely in ants. The clock shown draped over the dreaming creature appears to be melting away overtop the creature as it falls deeper and deeper into its sleep, showing a loss of time in the dream world. The distorted clocks themselves represent the uselessness of a clock while in a dream-like state for the fact that one cannot keep track of time while dreaming, shown through them melting away.  The Persistence of Memory shows the spectator that there is no real need for clocks while in a dream as time seems to be an unreal concept while one is asleep. This idea is also backed up due to the clock covered in ants, as the ants appear to be eating at the clock and therefore, in a way, destroying time. 

Yet another major detail supporting the idea that Salvador Dali wanted spectators to receive the message that time is irrelevant while in a dream-like state comes from the simple fact that The Persistence of Memory is a painting, as opposed to a photograph. This fact supports such a claim because it shows that Dali painted exactly what he wanted the viewers to see and interpret. If Dali were to have staged this scene and taken a photograph of it, it would have taken away the dream-like wonder that one experiences while looking upon this work. This is because a photograph would have not allowed Dali to have such control over the way the scene is depicted, he would not have been able to have an unidentifiable creature shown dreaming in the center of his work, thus taking away a huge supporting detail to the claim. Added to that, if he were to have taken a photograph Dali would not have been able to get the exact background he needed for this piece. Dali was able to make every detail have a role in supporting the dream-like scene, all the way down to his brush strokes and type of paint. 

In The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali used oil paints to show fluid brush strokes that seemed to blur the boundaries between the details and objects shown in this work. Oil paints were Dali’s chosen media for this work for the fact that they are known for their ability to easily blend with the colors surrounding them, again, blurring boundaries. These intentionally blurred boundaries and lines are a representation of the idea that boundaries do not exist while one is asleep as dreams are one’s wildest thoughts and cannot be controlled. The fluidity and blurred borders within The Persistence of Memory also strongly support the idea that this piece shows a dream-like state since dreams are typically a type of blurred recollection of what seems to be a memory.

Since Dali was a surrealist, his work typically always depicted a dream-like state filled with details that came from his subconscious. Surrealists of Salvador Dali’s time aimed to show dreams and ideas free of their conscious control. Dali was one of the most influential surrealist painter during the early twentieth century, when surrealism became a more common practice. Since Dali was able to reach his subconscious with his drug-free hallucinations through his paranoid critical transformation method, his works were some of the best of his time. The Persistence of Memory comes as his most popular work due to its incredible detail and ability to covey its message, that time is an unreal and useless idea while one is dreaming due to the inconsistent passage of time while in a dream-like state. Although there are many interpretations behind the true meaning of The Persistence of Memory, it is very apparent what the true meaning really is. Dali is able to show a dream-like world that shuts down time through every detail, no matter how seemingly minor, included in this piece. 