There are additional ways in which to engage the multi-meanings of the razor cut. For instances, razors are often associated with male grooming. Could this dream have something to do with male aggression. Razors are also an “old” form of grooming (often replaced with an electric razor). Is this form of male aggression a regression back to old male/female modes of relating? When a metaphor is used within a dream, then this dream holds the potential of offering multiple insights. As Freud would note, the dream is economic—much as a poem can be short but rich with meaning.
There is second way in which dreams generate multiple meaning. The dream can convey a dramatic enactment–as in Dan being beaten down and humiliated. One or more meanings can be assigned to each episode in the dream—making it that much richer as a source of multiple insights. Dan’s wife (Betty) could be considered a source of betrayal in many ways. She transported Dan to this unfamiliar and potentially hostile location. She offered little support for Dan when she found him being mistreated. Betty even started flirting with some of the men who were humiliating her husband.
As in the case of Sarah’s dream, we don’t have to take Betty’s negative actions literally. However, we might find that Dan is concerned about his wife’s potential failure to support him when he faces difficult challenges. Dan might also (or instead) be concerned about his own failing “virility” and about his wife’s declining interest in their sexual life. Perhaps most importantly, Dan could be deeply concerned about ways his wife could bring him to a place he doesn’t prefer when he grows older or is infirmed. Any well-crafted story can convey many life-lessons. We need only reflect on what we learned from that lengthy novel we read several years ago. Insights from this favorite “work of art” still pops up when we are faced with some life challenges.
There also are dreams that convey both poetic imagery and compelling narrative. We certainly find this to be the case with Katherine’s dream. There is the poetry associated with the glass mobile that Katherine is building, as well as the drama associated with the dropping and shattering of the mobile by her boyfriend. The mobile is fragile, beautiful, and ethereal (floating in space). It is made of glass—therefore being transparent. Furthermore, the mobile is something about which Katherine cares deeply. She has obviously directed considerable time and talent into crafting this work of art. Do the characteristics of the mobile convey something about Katherine’s image of herself as being fragile, beautiful and ethereal? Is she transparent like the glass objects floating in space?
Then we bring in the dramatic act. The mobile is dropped–and it shatters. Is Katherine, herself, about to be dropped? Does her transparency leave her vulnerable to careless behavior on the part of people about whom she cares. Given her fragile state, will she shatter if dropped? Conversely, does she remain “ethereal” as a way to protect herself from being hurt and shattered? Yet, if she is suspended in space, isn’t she more vulnerable to being dropped and shattered? Does she care about her mobile more than important people in her life? Is this part of her defensive posture—a way to avoid being dropped and shattered? Yet, if she is indifferent to people in her life then isn’t she more likely to get dropped? Poetry and drama are quite powerful when interwoven in a dream (or any other expressive mode).
