few general features of dreams, through which dream-content is related to underlying dream-thoughts. He discusses the problem of connecting the two in terms of a translation: The dream thought and the dream-content are presented to us like two versions of the same subject matter in two different languages. Or, more properly, the dream- content seems like a transcript of the dream thoughts in another mode of expression, whose characters and syntactic laws it is our business to discover by comparing the original and the translation. The dream-thoughts are immediately comprehensible, as soon as we have learnt them. The dream content, on the other hand, is expressed as it were a pictographic script, the characters of which have to be transposed individually into the language of the dream-thoughts. If we attempted to read these characters according to their pictorial value instead of according to their symbolic relation, we should clearly be led into error (S. Freud, 1971, Vol. 4, p.277).There is a diversity and richness to the meaningful associations that emerge from what is dreamt as a simple image. Processes of condensation and displacement of meaning are key elements to the understanding these associations.The most significant relations of associations to emerge in dreams, however, are expressed through variations in sensory intensities among different dream-images, or even entire dreams. While Freud admits that physiological or waking concerns can penetrate the dream state on occasion (such as dreaming of drinking a cool glass of water when you go to bed thirsty), he denies any special prominence to these causes. Nor is the vividness or clarity of dream-images indicative of psychical value between the dream-images and their meanings. All dreams serve the purpose of fulfilling a wish. Often (but n...
