Marissa Makar

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-058
7 February 2015
Reflection
It took me a while to come up with something that would spark my interest enough to
write an 8 to 10 page paper. I figured researching why we have dreams would not only
keep me interested but also tie into the book. Liesel struggled with many nightmares after
her brothers death. I also had a little bit of knowledge before I started this paper; I knew
there wasnt a specific correct theory as to why we have the dreams that we do. Before I
start this paper and start researching I believe the reason as to why we have the dreams
that we have would be because of our conscious. In my first draft I didnt mention what
the old theories were about what our dreams meant, so I added what the Egyptians,
Greeks, and Christians used to think of dreams. I also added a paragraph about the
symbols that our dreams may have.
Dreams N Nightmares
I was closed behind all doors trying to escape the guys who were trying to kill me.
I called 911 because they were the only protection I had from the killers. I heard a knock
on my door and then Its the police, open up, are you okay? I then quickly ran to my
door to go open it and bam All four of the policemen had been shot in the back while
waiting for me to let them in. I didnt know what to do, I felt so helpless, but then I
woke up. Sweating. This in fact happened to be a dream of mine that occurred last week.
The only thing on my mind when I woke up was why the heck did I have that dream. Was

I being told that Im soon going to get murdered? Im sure weve all had nightmares like
mine before; the big question is what is the driving force behind our dreams?
Ever since the ancient years people have been trying to figure out why we dream
about the things that we do. To Egyptians, dreams were relatively straightforward and
were a perception of things that existed but couldnt be seen or heard while awake. They
would try and come in contact with their dreams but performing rituals and even used
potions. They believed that becoming in contact with their dreams would bring them
advice, warnings, success in love, etc. Greeks used to consider dreams as therapy. They
seemed to perform very specific presleep rituals in order to purify themselves. Christians
on the other hand thought that dreams were some sort of divine inspiration. The bible
mentions a lot about dreams and God communicated through them. Therefore Christians
found their dreams to be very important because they figured God was trying to speak to
them.
There are theories about why we dream about the things that we do and there are
also symbols that represent our dreams and what they mean. For example, if you were to
dream about animals it means that you are feeling connected to nature and survival. If
you are being chased in your dream its supposed to mean you are feeling threatened in
real life. Whoever is chasing you might be the person who you are threatened by. If you
have a dream about falling, it is said that it relates to our anxieties about letting go, losing
control, or failing after a success. Killing is said to represent that your desire to kill part
of your own personality, it can also mean hostility against another person. Being trapped
is said to represent not making the right choices. Dreaming of water can be a symbol of

many things, calm pools of water can reflect inner peace while a choppy ocean may mean
unease.
As some may know, theres not a specific theory that explains why we dream
about the things that we do. But theres a few different theories that have came pretty
close to the correct reasoning. Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 and died during 1939; he
was considered the father of psychoanalysis. He believed that nothing you do occurs by
chance; every action and thought is motivated by your unconscious at some level. Freud
states that when you are awake, the impulses and desires of the id (impulses, pleasures,
urges, and wish fulfillment), are suppressed by the superego (enforces the moral codes of
ego). Because your guards are down when you are dreaming, your unconscious has the
opportunity to act out and express the hidden desires of the id. In other words when a
person is dreaming their dreams are acting out their pleasures, urges, impulses, etc.)
Carl Gustav Jung was born during 1875s and died during the 1960s. According
to Jung, dreams were a way of communication and acquainting yourself with the
unconscious. He believed that dreams were not attempts to reveal your true feelings while
you are awake, but a window to your unconscious mind. He believed dreams offered
solutions to your problems that you are facing in the waking mind. Since Jung thought
dreams were a way of communicating with your unconscious he believed dreams
revealed something about yourself, your relationship with others, and situations that you
are in during the waking life.
Alfred Adler (1870 1937) believed that dreams were an important tool to
mastering control over your waking lives, problem solving devices in other words. Adler

believed that there is a certain correlation between your dreams and problems in your
daily life. The more dreams you have, the more problems you are likely to have.
Frederick Pearls (1893-1970), was the founder of the gestalt therapy. He also had
a different theory about why we dream as the others did as well. He believed that dreams
contained the rejected and disowned parts of the self. He believes that each dream is not a
universal symbolic language, every dream is unique to a different individual. In order to
discover which aspect of yourself was being disowned Pearls suggested to retell the
dream in present tense and act it out accordingly, start a dialogue with the dream object
and express how you felt towards each other. By taking on a different role within your
dream and reenacting it you might be able to acknowledge and realize feelings that you
may have overlooked or buried.
Id say my inquiry question is important to my classmates because everyone has
dreams and often wonder why we have them. Before I started this inquiry paper I knew
that there were different theories as to why we dream about the things that we do. For
more information I should try checking books out at the library having to do with the
different theories about dreaming. For the outcome of my inquiry, Id like to look at all
the specific theories about why we dream and choose the one theory that I think is the
correct reasoning.