Freud and Lacan

Freud's piece discussing dreams can be further used to connect to reading literature. The piece begins by discussing the representation of symbols in dreams and the fact that behind the dream itself, there is a deeper meaning. Symbols are something that we see in most novels which we then have to interpret to discover the meaning of them, similar to what Freud desires about dreams. Also, you can take the novel straight for what it says, or you can further interpret the underlying meaning of the novel, as Freud similarly describes dreams. "The process is like constructing a new transitory concept which has this common element as it's nucleus." (Freud, pp.25). Freud describes the process of emphasizing something that people have in common in dreams, the common thing being the nucleus. In a way, when interpreting novels, we may find ourselves doing the same thing, looking for the common thread that pulls characters together and that pulls things together. Freud also describes that when we dream, we are putting pictures to our thoughts. "It consists in transforming thoughts into visual images." (Freud, pp. 27). Books also accomplish this is some way. When we read books, we take the thoughts of the writer or narrator, as well as out own thoughts about the novel, and form pictures in our heads. Freud acknowledges the fact that even the most ridiculous dreams can have meaning, "...that nonsense and absurdity in dreams have their meaning." (Freud, pp.29). Like dreams, even the most absurd and out of wack novels or pieces of writing can have some meaning. Freud also mention that we should not over-estimate dreams and attribute too much to it. Like dreams, there is constant debate over novels and whether they are over-analyzed.
While Lacan's writing was a little harder to comprehend, I can attempt to loosely tie it into what is has to do with reading novels. Lacan discusses a baby being able to recognize him/herself in the mirror at an early stage and form some kind of identification the more he/she looks at the reflection. Like the baby looking in the mirror in order to get to know what he is seeing, when reading novels we try to read more and more to know more about the characters. The way a baby looks at himself and gets to know himself, we read the novel and learn about the characters, presumably the author since he created the characters, and even ourselves in relation to the novel.