The Sleeping Father and the Burning Child

The Interpretation of Dreams

This thread examines the brief dream that makes an impossible visit from a dead child into a moment of sleep and wish fulfilment.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Child’s Death A Child’s Death from "The Interpretation of Dreams". A Child’s Death Vigil at the bedside A father has spent days and nights watching his sick child. After the child dies, the body is laid out in a nearby room.

A Child’s Death from "The Interpretation of Dreams". A Child’s Death Vigil at the bedside A father has spent days and nights watching his sick child. After the child dies, the body is laid out in a nearby room.

A Child’s Death Vigil at the bedside A father has spent days and nights watching his sick child. After the child dies, the body is laid out in a nearby room. A fragile rest The exhausted father lies down but leaves the doors open, keeping the child within sight.

The Candlelit Room The Candlelit Room from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Candlelit Room A watch continues An old attendant keeps watch beside the body among tall candles. The father sleeps in an adjoining room.

The Candlelit Room from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Candlelit Room A watch continues An old attendant keeps watch beside the body among tall candles. The father sleeps in an adjoining room.

The Candlelit Room A watch continues An old attendant keeps watch beside the body among tall candles. The father sleeps in an adjoining room. An unnoticed danger A candle falls against the shroud, creating the physical stimulus that will enter the dream.

The Child Returns The Child Returns from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Child Returns A whispered reproach The child stands by the father's bed, touches his arm, and asks why he cannot see that the child is burning.

The Child Returns from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Child Returns A whispered reproach The child stands by the father's bed, touches his arm, and asks why he cannot see that the child is burning.

The Child Returns A whispered reproach The child stands by the father's bed, touches his arm, and asks why he cannot see that the child is burning. A wish restored The dead child acts as if alive, briefly giving the father the reunion that reality has denied.

The Father Wakes The Father Wakes from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Father Wakes A sensory alarm Light from the adjoining room enters the father's sight. He wakes and hurries to the child's body.

The Father Wakes from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Father Wakes A sensory alarm Light from the adjoining room enters the father's sight. He wakes and hurries to the child's body.

The Father Wakes A sensory alarm Light from the adjoining room enters the father's sight. He wakes and hurries to the child's body. A dream's double cause The scene responds to a real stimulus while also allowing the father one final imagined encounter.

Sleep Delayed by a Moment Sleep Delayed by a Moment from "The Interpretation of Dreams". Sleep Delayed by a Moment The dream's function The father dreams instead of waking at once, extending the child's imagined life for a brief moment.

Sleep Delayed by a Moment from "The Interpretation of Dreams". Sleep Delayed by a Moment The dream's function The father dreams instead of waking at once, extending the child's imagined life for a brief moment.

Sleep Delayed by a Moment The dream's function The father dreams instead of waking at once, extending the child's imagined life for a brief moment. The dream postpones an unbearable recognition. A theory tested The case supports Freud's account of dreams as wish-fulfilments while showing that a dream can also register external danger.

Before the father lies down

Several hours after the death

In the father's dream

Immediately after the dream

At Freud's interpretation of the dream