Introduction to Psychoanalysis

Chapter 23 The Primitive and Childish Features of Dreams (1)
Gentlemen, this is where we started when we said that, due to the influence of the censorship, the dream-work can disguise the latent content of the dream in other forms.These latent thoughts are originally the same as ordinary, conscious thoughts in waking life, but they are disguised in new forms with many characteristics, which make it difficult for us to understand.We have also said that this mode of presentation often goes back to the most primitive stages of cultural development, such as hieroglyphs, symbolic relationships, and even worse, the savage state before civilization.We therefore call this representation of the dream-work the "primitive or regressive" form.

Therefore, we can also have such an inference: if we study the dream-work more deeply and accurately, we can get some valuable discoveries of primitive cultures that are still not well understood.I hope this is possible, and no one has tried it yet.The reason why the dream-work traces back to the period is "primitive", which has two meanings: one is the infancy of the individual, and the other refers to the beginning of the formation of the race.The individual's childhood is also a simple reenactment of the entire history of human development.I believe it is not impossible to distinguish between those latent psychic developments which belong to the infancy of the individual and which are rooted in the infancy of the race.Like symbolic representation, it can be seen as a legacy of racial development, since it has always been learned by the individual.

But this is not the only original characteristic of dreams.From the experience you have received, you should know that childhood experiences are easily forgotten.In the memory, the experience of the age of one to five, six or eight is different from the later experience, never leaving the same trace.Perhaps some individuals claim to be able to remember their experiences from childhood to the present without interruption, but the most common one is just the opposite, and the childhood experience in memory is just blank.I don't think people have paid enough attention to this.Children at the age of two learn to speak and can adapt to complex psychological situations, but the words are forgotten as soon as they are said, and they cannot be remembered even if they are mentioned by others after a few years.Therefore, there is almost no burden of experience in childhood, and memory is stronger than later.Moreover, we cannot prove how high or difficult a mental process memory is; on the contrary, people with less intelligence have better memory.

Now I would draw your attention to a third feature, namely, that the experiences of early childhood, though forgotten, still leave behind some recollections, mostly in the form of images, for reasons which are not clear.The various impressions received by adults in life will be selectively remembered, and the important ones will be kept and the unimportant ones will be forgotten; but the memories retained by childhood are not.The memory of childhood does not have to be the important experience at that time, nor does the child think it is important. It is often some ugly and meaningless experiences, so that we are very surprised why such a special experience is remembered.I have used analytical methods to study the problem of forgetting and recalling fragments in childhood, but found that the result is just the opposite of the appearance. The fact is that young children, like adults, only retain important experiences in memory.However, the so-called important experience, due to the influence of condensation and especially transference, is replaced by some seemingly trivial things and remains in memory.For this reason, I call these childhood recollections "screened memories," which, after thorough analysis, restore all forgotten experiences.

During psychoanalytic treatment, we tend to refill the gaps in our childhood memories. If the treatment is effective, we can often recall those forgotten childhood experiences and see the light of day again.In fact, these impressions will never be forgotten, but they are transformed into a part of the subconscious mind, which makes it impossible to touch.However, these experiences also flow naturally out of consciousness in the form of dreams.The dream-life can thus restore these shielded and childish experiences, examples of which abound in psycho-analytic literature, and I have given one myself.Once I dreamed of a man who seemed to have been kind to me, and I could see him clearly.He had only one eye, was short and stout, with high shoulders; I learned from the situational analysis that he was a doctor.Fortunately, my mother was still alive at that time, and I have also heard about the appearance of the doctor who came to our home when I was born and left my hometown at the age of three; It is also clear why he was invited to come, but he has forgotten all about it.This recall of forgotten childhood experiences is yet another manifestation of the "primitive" character of dreams.

This knowledge is quite relevant to another question, but said other question remains unresolved as far as it is concerned.The censorship and camouflage of dreams is necessary because their origin is evil thoughts or strong sexual desires; you will always remember the shock of this theory.If we were to analyze such a dream, the dreamer would not justify the interpretation of the dream, but would have to ask how these wishes penetrated him, of which he knew nothing, and the conscious Desires are just the opposite.We can tell with conviction that his evil desires, which he does not want to acknowledge, have their origins in the past or the near past.I will testify that he was aware of these impulses and now has forgotten them all.For example, a woman had a dream in which she wished her only daughter, then 17, to die.With the help of our analysis, she finally admitted that she had such an evil thought.Soon after they got married, the couple divorced, and the daughter came from this unfortunate marriage.When the child was not yet born, she raised her fist and punched the abdomen in anger because of the quarrel between her husband and wife, trying to kill the fetus.In fact, there are many mothers like this woman. Now they even dote on their children. However, they were not willing to conceive in the past, and they did not want the fetus to grow up after pregnancy, and there will be various behaviors to realize this desire. There were no serious consequences.So this wish for a loved one to die, though surprising, does stem from their past relationship.

A man who dreamed that he wished the death of his beloved eldest son confessed to having had this evil intention.His marriage turned out to be not so happy.So when his son was a baby, he often wished that he would die, and that he would be free to do as he pleased.Many evil thoughts like this kind of resentment have the same source, they all come from the past, or things that have had a considerable place in the conscious and mental life.Perhaps you will conclude from this that if their feelings had been consistent, such wishes and dreams would not have arisen.I think your conclusions are affirmative, but I also warn you that you should not make judgments based on the superficial meaning of the dream, but on the meaning obtained through analysis.Wishing for the death of a loved one in a manifest dream may be a hideous disguise, but its actual meaning is quite different, and perhaps someone else just substitutes a loved one.

However, this situation will raise another great question in your mind.You will say: Even if such a wish did exist and can be confirmed by memory, it is still not a real explanation, it is now only a memory that exists in the subconscious, because the wish has long since been overcome, it is lost. Emotional value, it is impossible to form a strong enough stimulus.Therefore, the evidence for the above hypothesis is not sufficient.What is the reason to think of such a wish?You have indeed reason to ask this question; too much is involved in seeking an answer, so we must determine one of the most important points of our attitude towards the theory of dreams, set the limits of our discussion, and leave this aside for the moment. One question, please understand.We shall now be satisfied if we can prove that these long-overcome desires are the origin of the dream; we may proceed to investigate whether other evil thoughts likewise go back to the past.

Let's limit ourselves to "death wishes" for now.We all know that most of this desire stems from the dreamer's infinitely inflated egoism, which is often the main cause of dreams.If any one person becomes an obstacle in our life, as we human beings have extremely complicated relationships with each other, such situations are inevitable, so we immediately drive them out in our dreams, regardless of whether this person is a parent, a husband and wife, etc. or siblings.It is so strange that such a wicked impulse should be inherent in human nature, that we must not, without further evidence, accept that this interpretation of the dream is correct.However, if we know that such a wish originated from a certain period of the past, it is not difficult to know a certain period of the dreamer's past. This desire and this egoism, even for the dearest person, are not surprising.A child's naked egoism is often unflinching in its infancy.A child always loves himself first, and then he knows how to love others at the expense of himself.Even if he loves others it is from selfish motives, merely to satisfy his own needs.It is only later that the urge to break free from egoistic love arises. In fact, children are full of selfishness first and then learn how to love others.

Here we would do well to compare the children's attitude towards their siblings with that towards their parents.The child is not necessarily in love with his brothers and sisters, but he often admits it openly; he sees them as enemies, and therefore hates them;This is often replaced by tenderness, or often replaced or overshadowed by a dearer affection.However, the hostile attitude seems to be the first to start.When the child is two and a half to four years old, he is often unfriendly to his newborn baby brother or sister, saying that he does not like children and hoping that the stork will take them back.After that, whenever they had the opportunity, they used excuses to bully the newborn, and even tried to attack and hurt them. There were many such things.If the ages are close, after the child's psychological activities are fully developed, he will have to adapt to the situation when he realizes that the siblings who are regarded as enemies do exist; Treat it as an interesting object or a live toy; if the age difference between the two is more than eight years old, and the older child is a daughter, it will stimulate the mother's protective desire.To tell the truth, it is not surprising if a wish for the death of a brother or sister appears in our dreams, the source of which can easily be traced in early childhood, or later in childhood if they still live together today.

In the nursery, children often have violent conflicts, competing for parental love, grabbing toys and objects, and even competing with each other for space in the room.The target of their hostility can be older brothers and sisters, or younger siblings.George Bernard Shaw once said: "If a young English lady resents anyone more than her mother, it is her sister." This warning is enough to surprise us, and it is puzzling that brothers and sisters are enmity. , so how can there be hatred between mother and daughter and father and son?
(End of this chapter)