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Chapter 2: Problem 12

A young woman dreams that she rushes to catch a train but gets to the station too late, the train leaves without her, and there are no more trains to her destination for several weeks. On the surface, it appears that the dreamer has been disappointed. How might this dream be interpreted to support Freud's belief that virtually every dream fulfills some wish of the dreamer?

Short Answer

Expert verified
The dream can be interpreted to support Freud's wish-fulfillment theory by viewing the missed train and delay as a representation of the dreamer's subconscious desire for a break from responsibilities or a wish to postpone facing certain issues in her life.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Freud's Wish Fulfillment Theory

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, hypothesized that dreams are a form of wish fulfillment. This means that in dreams, the mind unconsciously expresses its repressed desires or wishes. These wishes can be disguised or represented symbolically in the dream.
02

Analyze the Dream

In the dream described, the woman rushes to catch a train but arrives too late and misses it. It then appears that she is left stranded as there are no more trains to her destination for several weeks. At first glance, this dream might seem to represent disappointment or frustration, but according to Freud's theory, it will have some element of wish fulfillment.
03

Interpret the Dream

The dream could be interpreted to support Freud's theory in a few ways. Maybe the woman is feeling overly pressured in her waking life and subconsciously desires a break, which the dream represents by the woman being unable to catch the train, i.e. she 'misses' her responsibilities and is 'forced' to take time off. Or perhaps there are things in her life that she is not ready to face, and the dream provides an excuse (the lack of trains) to avoid confronting these issues, thus fulfilling her wish to postpone dealing with certain matters.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

The author of a popular textbook on introductory psychology (which I use when I teach that course) concludes that the following evidence disproves Freud's construct of repression: "Shouldn't we expect children who have witnessed a parent's murder to repress the experience? A study of sixteen 5 - to 10 -year-old children who had this horrific experience found that not one repressed the memory. Shouldn't survivors of Nazi death camps have banished the atrocities from consciousness? With rare exceptions, they remember all too well." (D. G. Myers, 2006 pp. \(604-605\) ). Why is the author's conclusion incorrect?

Give an example of a parapraxis from your own life, and suggest how Freud might interpret it. How would you interpret it?

Explain how the concept of resistance can be viewed both as a major contribution to our knowledge and as a way for Freud to protect his theory against attack.

Freud suffered from some of the same neurotic symptoms that he treated in his patients. Would a person who is psychologically healthy have Freud's intense desire to probe deeply within his or her own psyche?

Why might a theorist use a construct such as libido, even though it cannot be observed or measured?
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