Dream Interpretation

Freud finally gets to actual methods of dream interpretation. He mentions that there are two major ways of interpretation.

The first is what Freud calls, "symbolic" dream interpretation. Essentially, the interpreter considers the dream as a whole and attempts to replace it with someone more comprensible, but still having connections to the dream content. In short, the interpreter tries to find an extended analogy (i.e.: a set of analogies that combine to create this larger analogy) for the dream. Freud gives us an example of a fabricated dream from the Bible. The dream is essentially "The seven fat kine followed by seven lean kine that ate up the fat kine" (Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams 129). Freud goes on and provides a symbolic interpretation: "a prophecy of seven years of famine in the land of Egypt which should consume all that was brough forth in the seven years of plenty" (129). See how the "seven fat kine" and " seven lean kind" ("kine" is an archaic form of "cow") are carried over as "seven years of plenty" and "seven years of famine", respectively?

The second is what Freud calls, "decoding" dream interpretation. Instead of treating the dream as a whole, this method breaks the dream into individual details or symbols which then require the assignment of a meaning (like, a dog would be assigned "loyalty" or something of the like). The meanings, according to Freud, should come from a dream book. This method is more true to dreams because dreams are random pieces of thoughts and images and are not connected on the surface as "symbolic" interpretation assumes. The advantage of this is that the interpretation varies by content (because all of the content is being considered individually) and by the person (since certain symbols register differently in different people).

The only problem I find with Freud's "decoding" interpretation is that he highly recommends a "dream book". But what would happen if you had no access to one? Also, to clarify something...Freud says that this method depends on the person, and you may ask, "If one is using a dream book, then the interpretation depends on the book, and not the person, because the person is not providing the meaning for each symbol." That may be true, but I guess it is the job of the person to "weave" an overall meaning after that step of substitution. That's real interpretation, because then each person can take the set of symbols and meanings and piece them together in different ways.

Freud mentions, before going into a lengthy discussion about a dream about a patient of his, that he has his own method, and a few guidelines. One, he tells the reader to be more aware of their own "psychical perceptions" (I take this as, how you interpret things the way you do, or what your mind understands when given information). And finally, two, be open-minded and consider everything (i.e.: do not disregard things you may consider to be irrelevant or seemingly insignificant).