We have all been victims to the daydream and emotionally attached to a fictional character. Whether it is the power of our imagination or the talents of the writer, people seem to be fascinated by the idea of creating something from nothing or making a certain connection that they find comfort in. Sigmund Freud in his two chapters, Creative Writers and Daydreaming and The Interpretation of Dreams, explains the type of mindset writer’s have and the certain aspects behind dreams in a way I have never thought of.
I would like to start off on Freud’s first chapter, Creative Writers and Daydreaming. One of the first points he makes is how creative writers and children have a similar thought process. They are both able to use extravagant imaginations to develop a story or create a world to play in. This is an interesting connection he makes. Never looking at it in this way before, I find myself agreeing with him. Creative writers must have a unique way of thinking, almost that of a child, to be able to come up with the stories they do. I find myself thinking of Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, when discussing this point. Shelley thought up the idea of a scientist bringing a man back to life by sewing dead body parts together and approached it in such a serious manner that is not foreign to her own self. This concept is so unique, yet so bizarre. I would say this is exactly how a child’s imagination works.
Another point Freud makes in the first chapter is about how writers, in a way, can be connected to daydreamers. He talks about a writer creating a hero and being able to be inside his or her mind throughout their journey, while people seem to make themselves the hero, or center of attention, within their daydreams. Personally, as someone who often daydreams, I can say that I am proof of this relation. In all of my daydreams I find myself being the “hero” or making sure that whatever happens, it will be of my enjoyment or beneficial to myself. Who would want to dream about someone else accomplishing a great feat or being praised for his or her good deeds? In a way, I see daydreams as a means for one to be selfish and I feel that writers tend to do this with their readers and heroes. They put the readers in the mind of the hero allowing them to know the hero’s wants, desires, feelings, thoughts, etc. All of this further strengthens the connection between hero and reader, which is not present with other characters in the story.
In the second Chapter, The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud talks about two characters, Oedipus Rex and Hamlet, and the impulses we have towards our parents. I believe the use of Oedipus Rex is a primary example to explain how this idea works. His story of the violent acts towards his father and his sexual relations towards his mother portrays what Freud is discussing about with dream interpretations. I can see how this idea might be controversial and hard for some people to grasp, both aspects seeming to be uncomfortable for one to feel towards their mother and father. One can see where these feelings derive from though. A mother is the one who nurtures her child and shows them love and affection. With a young developing mind, a child can easily get these feelings mixed up. A certain comparison I made when reading this chapter was how men tend to look for traits of their mothers in women when looking for a girlfriend or wife and vice versa with women and their fathers when looking for a man. I feel to some extent branches off Freud’s idea of the sexual impulses towards ones mother.
After reading Freud’s coupling of creative writers and the imagination of children and his interpretations of dreams, I was able to expand my views on these topics. He contributed strong evidence to support his points and while reading his work, I myself, was able to make certain connections to personal experiences or to works we have read in class. I found Sigmund Freud’s, Creative Writers and Daydreaming and The Interpretation of Dreams, to be informative and interesting readings.
