Link Between Dreams And Human Wishes - Research Paper Example

Link Between Dreams And Human Wishes Outline Thesis: Dreams are meaningful, are connected to our lives and show us our wishes in symbolic formats. Introduction We see dreams every day They are not meaningless They point towards events, happening and our wishes Dreams Broken series of visions Reality and imagination Cognative dreams Conative dreams General Characteristics of Dreams Disconnected, irrelevant and vague events Far from actual life Rapidity is a feature of dreams Time-space unity is not found Dreams appear as true-life experiences Dreams and Meaningfulness Dreams are meaningful Dreams relevancy to the future and past Dreams manifestations of unconscious Freud and clinical importance of dreams The Freudian Theory of Dreams Dreams, means of satisfying unfulfilled wishes Children dreams Adult dreams Superego derived from unconscious Id, free of moral constraint Wishes are considerably disguised Anxiety Dreams Frightening dreams and nightmares Desires take a guise that is terrifying Nightmares are an alarm Compromise Formation Dreams compromise between superego and Id Dream Work Wishes of Id Latent content Manifest content i. Symbolism Wish is given a symbolic form Many psychologists deny the theory presented by Freud Symbolic interpretation ii. Condensation Complicated dream analysis iii. Dramatization Practical expression in dreams Wishes are dramatized iv. Displacement Significant idea displaced by insignificant one Significant latent content transformed to insignificant manifest content Interpretation of Dreams Dream connection to past or present Dreamer knows the meaning of his dreams not interpreter Interpreter helps the dreamer to recognize the meaning that is concealed Conclusion Dreams are meaningful They have a symbolic importance Our wishes store in the unconscious mind and reveal themselves in form of our dreams They are connected to our life experiences They are indications of our wishes that we try to conceal Dreams Introduction We see dreams every day. They play a crucial part in our lives and cannot be regarded as meaningless. Dreams keep different symbols that mean differently for different persons. Psychologists find meanings in dreams. According to them, dreams take symbols for the depiction of events, happenings and wishes related to the dreamer (Griffin 52). Dreams are not meaningless; they are meaningful and are connected to the lives of people. Dreams A dream is a series of visions, often disconnected and bizarre, experienced during sleep (Empson 109). Though the dream appears to be real, it exists only in the imagination. There are two explanations of dreams, the one cognative, which says that dreams are false interpretations in sleep of external and internal stimuli, resulting in strange experiences (illusions); the other conative, which states that dreams are manifestations of our unconscious mind and desires, and hence important psychologically (Empson 109). General Characteristics of Dreams The first characteristics is that the events that occur in dreams are often so disconnected, irrelevant and vague that they could not occur in real life, though their source remains the experiences of real life (Griffin 48). A man once dreamed that he came upon a big snake. The snake hissed and erected before itself before him. Terrified, the man greeted the snake. The snake returned the greeting, gave the man some ten dollars and warned him not to disturb him again. No such incident, of course, could take place in actual life. Rapidity is another characteristic of dreams: what would ordinarily take months and years to accomplish, happens in a matter of moments in dreams (Empson 91). For example, a young man dreams that he went to a foreign country for higher education. When he returned after few years, he obtained a higher post. He came to his office for the first time, barely seated himself when he awoke! A period of years passed in a flash. Time-space unity is not found in dreams. The third characteristic of dreams is that the contents of dreams are accepted by the dreamer as true life experiences (Griffin 34). The reason for this is that the higher critical faculties do not function in sleep. Dreams and Meaningfulness The meaningfulness of dreams is accepted (The Dreams Foundation). Though the dream is generally thought to be symbolic of future events, psychologically speaking, however, the dream is considered to refer to the past, i.e. dream contents are symbolic fulfillments of past present unfulfilled wishes (Hall and Van de Castle 136). The idea of dreams as representatives of unfulfilled wishes was first applied by Freud to practical life. The events occurring in dreams, he said, are manifestations of the unconscious and are dynamic (The Dreams Foundation). Dreams are important clinically, they reveal wishes that have been repressed into the unconscious. When these are known, the person can be retreated. Freud used interpretation of dreams for diagnostic purposes and so came to know the hidden motives of his parents (Freud 56). The Freudian Theory of Dreams According to Freud, all our dreams are means of satisfying our unfulfilled wishes (Freud 62). Hence, dreams may be called ‘wish fulfillment’. A child who dreams that father brings him many toys and candies, which he enjoys is really fulfilling a wish, he could not satisfy in real life and so was forced to repress it. It lay hidden in the depths of unconscious and found fulfillment in dreams. Such dreams in which, wishes are fulfilled in their true form are straight forward dreams and are usually had by children (Freud 62). Adult dreams are more complicated because of the moral element in them (Freud 64). In adult dreams, wishes do not find fulfillment in their true colors since their direct fulfillment goes counter to the demands of the individual’s own Superego (Freud 65). The Superego is the ethical or moral norm derived from the unconscious (Freud 90). It is a force, which distinguishes between the good and the bad and decides accordingly. Another force, the Id, is purely unconscious and free of moral restraint (Freud 91). It is the source and outlet of unconscious wishes and it tries by all means to have those wishes fulfilled. Hence, the wishes of the Id cannot be fulfilled in their true form because of the censor, the Superego. They have to change their form. Adult dreams are therefore ‘distorted wish fulfillments’. The Superego is a moral censor and to obtain its approval, the wishes are considerably disguised (Freud 63). Anxiety Dreams If dreams are wish fulfillments, what about frightening dreams or nightmares? These are so terrifying at times that we wake up terrified. Surely we could not wish for frightful things. Freud has two explanations for this: a. In changing the guise of the desires, at times, something somehow goes wrong and the result is a frightful dream. A nightmare is not distorted but an attempted wish fulfillment. In such dreams, the wish appears in an unpleasant guise, which disturbs the dreamer (Freud 83). b. When an intense desire insists on appearing in its true form, the Superego awakens the person from sleep (Freud 83). This is done by means of a frightful dream. Nightmares are an alarm. Compromise Formation From the above topic, it is evident that dreams are a compromise between the superego and the Id: the wishes of the Id are fulfilled but under the changed forms demanded by the Superego (Freud 65). Freud called this ‘compromise formation’. Dream Work In understanding dream work, two terms are very significant, they are: latent content and the manifest content of the dreams. The latent content compromises the wishes of the Id, which seek fulfillment but do not appear directly (Freud 48). They use a disguise. The manifest content however is the actual dream, its events and symbols. Whatever we see in dreams then, is the manifest content, and the wishes that hide beneath the manifest content as their disguise are the latent content. Therefore, dream work is the process by which, the latent content of dreams is disguised in the manifest content (Freud 43). The dream work involves four processes (which cause ambiguity and complexity in dreams): symbolism, condensation, dramatization and displacement. a. Symbolism Symbolism is the process by which, the wish is given the form of a symbol. A symbol is a sign, which represents something other than itself. In our context, then, symbolism means the signs or symbols under which, our unfulfilled wishes appear in the dream state (Freud 49). This happens because of the Superego, as Superego does not allow the wishes to appear in their true form. To escape the censor, the wishes take on disguise (Empson 112). As these symbols are innocent enough, the censor imposes no restrictions on them. Freud has interpreted many of these symbols; for him, their meanings are fixed and universal. Many psychologists do not agree with Freud’s theory but explain the symbols by the individual’s culture, education, social environment and especially by his personality, so that their meaning can be ascertained only in reference to personality and emotional structure of the dreamer (Empson 95). According to Freudian interpretation, long straight objects, e.g. electric poles, trees, pens, pencils represent the male genital organ. Also the objects through which liquids flow such as taps, pipes, objects that are sharp and pointed such as knives, penknives also represent male genital organ. Hollow objects like jugs, jars, vessels, boxes, doors and windows represent female genital organ. A building represents the human body; a king and queen represent parents; small animals represent siblings; travelling or riding a white horse represents death and so on (Freud 54). b. Condensation Condensation further complicates dream analysis. In condensation, odd and bizarre traits and characteristics appear simultaneously in the same object under symbols, so that the ensemble or totality seems strange and unfamiliar, for example, a person with donkey’s ears, a lion’s claw and teeth, seated on a royal throne! This is condensation expression for power, tyranny and stupidity, all in one, forming a whole from parts. Another example from Freud’s own dream: Freud saw his colleague, who was usually clean-shaven, with a beard like the one his uncle wore. Freud personally considered his uncle a fool. By attaching the beard to his colleague, he tried to think his colleague also a fool like his uncle (Freud 62). c. Dramatization Dramatization means that our wishes and desires find practical expression in dreams (Griffin 44). Just as playwrights present their thoughts on the stage with actors, similarly, dreams dramatize wishes, etc. with vivid personification. Hence, it can be said that dreams are seen and not felt. The fundamental feature of a dream is personification and the acting out of the dream content is called dramatization (Freud 82). d. Displacement Displacement is had when an important idea in the latent content is carried over to an unimportant idea in the manifest content, and vice versa, even if the importance is only emotional (Freud 83). A student for instance who has not prepared himself well for his exams, will be troubled by the thought of the exam paper. When he dreams, he is in examination hall, the paper will not be the object of dread, but in displacement, the chair will cause him annoyance. The paper, which is very important in the latent content, has become entirely unimportant in the manifest content. Interpretation of Dreams Psychology relates our dreams to our past (Griffin 47). It does not refer to the future but to the past wishes, i.e. past wishes interpretation seeks to discover the meaning of the manifest content in terms of the latent content. The true meaning of the dream however is known to the dreamer himself, not the interpreter (Empson 98). The interpreter’s task is only to actualize the conditions and provide the means for the dreamer to discover the true meaning of his dream. Freud contented that the dreamer says that he does not know the meaning of the dream, but actually he does not realize that the true meaning of the dream is known to him alone (Freud 89). This shows that the meaning of the dream is in the dreamer’s unconscious mind. The interpreter only helps the dreamer to bring it up into the conscious mind and so discover its true meaning (Hall and Van de Castle 146). Conclusion After analyzing dreams and their significance and relevance to our lives, it is quite clear that dreams are meaningful. They are attached to our lives. They indicate towards our wishes that have kept in our past. Our wishes store in the unconscious mind and reveal themselves in form of our dreams. The experiences that we get in our lifetime are also connected to dreams. We try to conceal some of our wishes as we find them troublesome for our existence. These wishes come in the forefront in form of our dreams. There are differences in terms of opinion regarding the meaningfulness for dreams but no one has denied the importance of dreams. The psychologists and scientists have predicted their views and experiments pertaining dreams. This is quite acceptable that dreams are symbolic representations of events, happenings and desires, which we have kept in past or present. Psychology regards dreams as associated to past. However, more work can be done on this issue in order to analyze the meaningfulness of dreams in terms of our existence and on the basis of psychological grounds. Works Cited Empson, J. Sleep and Dreaming. London: Faber, 1989. Freud, Sigmund. An Outline of Psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth Press, 1940. Freud, Sigmund. The interpretation of dreams. New York: Modern Library, 1994. Griffin, J. The Origin of Dreams: How and why we evolved to dream. The Therapist, 4 (3) (1997). Hall, C. and Van de Castle, R. The Content Analysis of Dreams. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1966. The Dreams Foundation. Dreams – Do they Have Meaning? 2009. Retrieved on 21st April 2009 from http://www.dreams.ca/ Read More