Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, January 30, 1916, EDITORIAL MAGAZINE, Image 20

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Pag
Jcfe
"Prof. Freud9 Theory That All Dreams
HaOe a Meaning and Can He Definitely
Interpreted and Understood We Dream
in Symbols Lilie the Cartoonists;
ROM the earliest timet man
kind has been concerned
about !! dreams. Klnga and
potentate! of old attached the ut
most Importance to their dreams,
and many of the moat highly hon-
' ored and highly paid personages of
the realm were the royal inter
preters of dreams.
Modern science has concerned It
self with the phenomena of dream
land, and the new theories about
dreams put forwsrd by Dr. Freud,
the great German authority, hare
attracted wide attention. Accord
ing to the Freud theory, the dream
er and the cartoonist of the dally
newspapers are both doing things
on much the same plan, since the
- thoughts of each are represented by
symbols. The political opponent
becomes an animal; the volley of
rifle bullets the personification of
death sweeping the ground; the na
tion is represented as a bird, as Red
Riding Hood, as Mars, etc.
A? !
jp ii iii I i ii """I i.i i m - I
... ' ...
.... , . . ' l, v .Ea
r ' i
I :
. ' .
.. .
I
I . II I . I.,-
Thla Cartoon of Carman Publication Entitled "Achillas' Heel" la Easier
to Understand. Anybody Familiar with tha Old Mythological Legend
of tha One Vulnerable Spot In Achillea Would Understand tha Idea of
tha German Cartoon That If Great Britain Could Ba Attacked In Egypt
I Would 6a a Mortal Blow In Her Ons Vulnerable Spot.
In ancient times tha royal Inter
preter of dreama understood thla
won, and it was his task to trans
. late the symbols into terms which
could be understood. When Joseph
of old dreamed that the sun and the
moon and tha eleven stars made
obeisance to him. his family un
derstood that these symbols repre
sented his parents and brethren;
Just as wa know thst tha figure of
"Uncle Baa" In a cartoon means
the American public.
The ancient method of interpret
ing dreama haa been made mora
How Your
POLITE society never Intro
duces the question of weight
In the presence of Mr. Spare
or Mr. Stout Each of these gentle
men, though extreme opposltes in
most respects, has one thing in com
mon a distinct antipathy tor the
mention of the word "scalee."
Of course, when considered su
perlatively, it is only natural for
Messrs. pare and Btout to envy the
happy medium and to decry the old
proverb about. "To him that hath
shall be given, czi from him that
hath not shall be taken away even
than which be bath." The human
anatomy, however, sometimes
M rivet to follow out this parable in
tke most xssratlng way.
' Fortunately, there are mitigating
clrcumbtances. If the scales can
not be deceived about the amount
precise by Dr. Freud and his fol
lowers, who assert In addition that
the dream always symbolizes some
unfulfilled wish. Thus Joseph's
brethren in their day saw In that
symbolised obeisance to their broth
er an unfulfilled wish of Joseph's,
and tbey took action accordingly.
Many excellent cartoons are al
most Impenetrable puzzles without
the lettering and laboia which the
artists put on thorn to interpret
their symbols. This is precisely tht
case in many of our dreams, accord
ing to the Freud theory. Dr. Freud
has worked out a list of interpreta
tions of the various symbols which
are so common in dreams, such, for
Instance, as the snake.
On this page are reproduced a
selection of cartoons, most of which
are as unintelligible to the average
reader as la his dream. But when
the artist's symbols are labelled, the
cartoon becomes perfectly intelli
gible, as does the dreamer's dream
when the interpretations of modern
science explain tha symbols of the
dream.
Dr. II. TV. Frink. of New Tork, In
structor In clinical neurology in
Cornell Medical College, in a re
rent article on dreama in Tha In
terstate Medical Journal explains
the point of view as follows:
Never in this world do we get
everything wa want Reality al
ways falls far, short of being quite
satisfactory. Even under the beat
clrcumstancea we bava a great
many wisbea that ara unfulfilled
and must indefinitely remain so.
Clothes Can Make
of flesh and bone a man carries
about with him. there Is one thing
that can the human eye.
Both Mr. Stout and Mr. Spare
can literally hoodwink this critical
organ by wearing the proper kind
ot clothes. If they are acquainted
with the wonders that can be
wrought by the sartorial art,
whether it be practiced among the
piles of readymadea on the clothler'a
counters or among the fabrtca of
the custom tailor, they can visibly
lose or gain weight Just aa they
choose. It all depends upon the
color, fit and patters ot the clothes
they wear.
For Instance, let us take the fat
man first, since he la more firmly
anchored to this mundaue sphere
than his ethereal brother. Here we
have a medium for tue optical illu
sion which should call fcrih the
Learn the
Symbols and the
Dream Is "Plain
km
fi it? ;i-. , 14 '
Red Riding Ilood.
In This Cartoon Wa Have Left Out Three Lettered Guide Llnea of tha
Artist Without These Three Explanvtlona of What la Symbolized
In tha Picture, It Would Be Difficult to Be Certain of tha Idea In tha
Artist's Mind. But When You Put In tha 8paca Marked (A) the
Words "United States," and Mark tha Basket In the 6paco (B) with
the Word 'Exports," and on tha Back of tha Wolf In tha Spaoe
(C) Put In tha Words "Allies Naval Policy," Than tha Meaning of
tha Cartoon Becomes Plain, Because Wa Have tha True Interpreter
. tlon of the Symbols of the Artist. According to Dr. Frlnk, Our
Dreams Come to Us In Symbols of This Nature Without the Quid-
Words of Interpretation.
It is fortunate, then, that we do not
have to depend wholly upon reality
to satisfy our longings.
Imagination comes to our aid and
gives us what reality withholds, In
our day-dreams wa sea ourselves
achieving the impossible, conquer
ing the unconquerable, attaining tha
unattainable. The poor man la
rich, the blind man sees, and tha
rejected lover basks in the smiles
of his Inamorata. In abort, there is
no wish so absurd, bo longing so
unreasonable, that Imagination la
unaola to fulfil it.
Tha tendency to satisfy with pic
turea of the imagination the desires
that reality leaves ungratlfled a
tendency that plays an enormoua
role In the dally life even of the
most prosaic doea not become
Inoperative aa soon aa we fall
asleep. Cravings and wishes per
sist from the day and, if intense
enough, serve to disturb our slum
ber. Then in our sleep, Just aa in
our waking moments, we call im
agination to our aid and attempt to
You Look Stouter
highest form ot the tailor's art
In such a case color Is generally
the most Important consideration.
Thla should always be chosen from
the darker shades, if possible, and
the less conspicuous the pattern la,
the better. There should certainly
be no plaids or overplalds, at least
If decoration of the pronounced sort
is desired, then a fine hair-line
stripe can be employed very ef
fectively to impart added height
and thereby lessen the apparent
breadth of things. . ,
There are some tailors aad cloth
ing dealers who will tell you that
it's all In the fit and cut of the
clothes that they can rut a check
suit on a stout man without ac
centuating his btoutneiss. Certainly
the style and snugnes of fit have
a lot to do with it. Jut as the qual
CoovrlchL ttii
it. M. ,, , Tj
still and satisfy these longings by
means ot fantasy, so that upon
awaking we Bay that we have
dreamed.
In short, tha night-dream and the
day-dream ara wholly analogous.
Either may ba described as the im
aginary fulfilment of a wish. Tha
truth of this atatement is not, how
ever, self-evident That the day
dream la nothing but a fantasled
wish-fulfilment is perfectly obvious.
But that the night-dream Invariably
fuflla a wish seems, at first thought,
impossible. For instance, over BOO
per cent of dreama aeera to tha
dreamer distinctly disagreeable,
while many others, though not posi
tively unpleasant, nevertheless ap
parently fail to represent anything
for which a sane person might ba
supposed to wish.
Tet the apparent unllkeness be
tween the night-dream and tha day
dream la due not to any lapse ot tha
principle of wlsh-fulfllment, but
mainly to a difference in the way
tha desired things are represented.
or Slimmer, Taller.
tty and finish of the material used
play eo prominent a part But
color la the first thing that catches
the eye, and it a man chooses a
checker-board pattern he will have
a hard time In minimizing the else
of the body it covers.
Generally speaking, the man of
aldermanlo proportions should favor
the eult made of some smooth, hard
worsted. Naturally it ahould be cut
anugly, and the coat of tha eult
may well bave the long roll Eng
lish lapel, with collar made as nar
row as possible. It should have a
alight cutaway, but sot so aa to re
veal too much rotundity.
A doubiefcreasted coat should
never be worn by a fat man. Such
a coat augments the equatorial di
mensions, and. unless it is on tha
Norfolk order, takes away all aea
v the fllar Comnmnv. Oret Britain
j . fa
'' - -..- s?,-,t f,?Z?; X , -:..:.':0,:'.vr..-.--y:-
.,- ,t" . "''''''' '' ' ' " : -:. .-- i ... . - . -. ' v..
' t - ? . 4 . . . 5 -V, L-i. V
Symbolic War Cartoon by the Distinguished Artist, Van Sanea-AIgl.
Without tha Artltfa Key to tha Symbolism In His) Picture, It Would Bo Difficult to Intsrprtt tha Meaning of the
Cartoon. But Whan tha Artist labels It 'The Musketry Salvo," Then We Ara Able to See That tha r "ekllng
Thla Cartoon from tha Auckland, New Zealand, News)
waa Labelled fCantatandanoaepull." Tha Auk Is tha
National Symbol for New Zealand, and Therefore
Needed No Label by tha Artist In New Zealand. But
to tha Average American Thla 8ymbol Would Ba
Meanlngleaa, and the Whole Point of tha Cartoon
Would Be Lost the Point, That tha New Zealand
Troops Had Bean , Landed at tha Dardanellea to
Worry the Turka and Menace Constantinople.
In the day-dream the representation
la direct; the thing or occurrence
that la desired is pictured aa actual
and present, without any ambiguity
or vagueness. "
But in tha night-dream tha repre
sentation Is Indirect Tha desired
things, instead of being pictured in
their true form, ara represented by
implications, by symbols, by alle
gorical figures, and by associated
ideas. Thus, though the day-dream '
may be taken at ita face-value, tha
meaning of the night-dream la not
to be found on the surface. Tha ,
night-dream, like a rebus or alle
gory, haa to b interpreted if we
would know (ta meaning. Only.'ln '
thla way can we learn what wiah .
it fulfils.
- But in order to make perfectly
clear tha difference between direct
and indirect representation, let me
give an ezampla of the latter. You
aea here a picture of a man, who.
Judging from the armor he weara,
would seem to belong to the time
of Juliua Caesar. Nevertheless, he
stands near a very modern lamp
post on a curb of what one would
suppose to be Spring atreet. He
holds in one hand a watch ot re
or Shorter
blance of style or shape fromji suit
of clothes.
Of course there are many varieties
of stout men, but the moat difficult
of any to fit, say the tailors, la the
abort, rotund Individual, with tha
abort, thick neck. To fashion rai
ment about human architecture of
thla type la a difficult task, usually
relieved only by the Inherent good
humor of the victim himself.
The trousers can be made with
little difficulty, and the vent can
generally be fashioned suitably, but
the cost requires consummate art
in lta nt about the shoulders and
neck. When a man of this build
persists in wearing one of those
very low, turnover collars, it Is al
most Impossible to make the coat
collar and lapel fit as they should,
la the case of the vest there
ahouW be do lapel or vest collar at
all.
ttlvKta RsaarviMl.
v.
it
markable site
and in tha other
a bouquet com
posed of Cowers
and bayonets.
The picture, in
short, gives the
ame Impres
sion of absurd
ity as do most
ot our dreama,
and, , like . a
dream, It would
' tempt one who
saw it for the
first time to say
that It had
neither . sense
nor . meaning.
But ' though
thia picture may
i w
seem aa abaurd Thla Cartoon Without Its Familiar Taga and Labele la
aa our dreams.
it . comes not
from a dream
but from . a
newspaper. . If
la a cartoon with the title 'Tbls
Is the Place, but Where's the
Olrl?" It expresses a thought in
much the same way that thoughta
are expressed In dresms namely,
by indirect representation. Hence
the picture, like a dream, baa to be
interpreted before we can learn lta
meaning. '
The artist waa obliging enough
to label hia symbols. In the origi
nal of this picture the sheet of
paper which Ilea upon the sidewalk
in front of the man waa inscribed
with the words "Italy to go to war
in the Spring," and the tag at
tached to tha bouquet which the
man carries, bore the words "For
Miss Italy."
By the aid of these hints the pic
ture la very readily Interpreted.
Evidently the thought it expresses
is something like this: "Italy, like a
fickle girl, haa failed to Join In the
war at the time expected." But
notice the Indirect representation.
The artist bae used aa symbols a
man. a bouquet, and a lamp post to
express a thought about something
entirely different- namely, the at
titude of a country toward expect
ant militarism.
" Infantry
Flra from
tha Tranches
Symbolliad by
tha Wraith of
Death Flying
1 Over the
. Battlefield, and
tha Whole
Coneaptlon Becomes
Impressive.
Thle Shows
a Vary
Interesting Parallel
Between tha
Cartoonist's
3ymbola and
tha Symbolism
. . of Our Dream. .
1 .-, :- -,,... . ,
Like a Fantaatle Dream. This Picture le Discussed
In Detail by Dr. Frlnk, Who Points Out the Simi
larity of the Mental Process of the Dreamer and the
Cartoonist
Now, this is exactly the method
of representation that is used In
dreams. There is this one differ
ence, however. The symbols used
in the dream are not labeled aa the
artist has labeled the aymbola in
the picture. The dream la like the
picture aa I have displayed it tht
la. without the printed worda whtct
appeared in the original. Hence,
in interpreting a dream we ordi
narily have to get the dreamer to
label bis symbols after the dream la
finished.
Thia labeling of dream-f ymbola Is
accomplished by obtaining from the
dreamer the ideas he associates
with the different elements of the
dream. That la, we ask him to fix
him mind upon each part of the
dream in turn and to relate, with
out exerting any critique, all his
Incoming thoughts. The associa
tions thus obtained correspond to
the words which the artist printed
in the original of the picture and
give the key to the Interpretation
of the dream in the aame way that
the worda give the interpretation of
the picture. They reveal tha hid.
den portion of the areata.