Inside and Outside the Tent: There is one final point to be made about the movement of content from the dream to some external realities. It is a matter of generals, aides, and a tent. There is a particular way in which extraversion and introversion are portrayed by the Jungians. There is a General, an aide to the General, and the tent in which they operate. The Jungians suggest that in the case of extraversion, the General is located in front of the tent, speaking to the troops. The aide to the General is located inside the tent and is assisting the General with logistics and specific information needed for his speech in front of the tent.
By contrast, in the case of introversion, the General is located inside the tent, and the aide, pretending to be the General, is in front of the tent. For the introvert, all of the important action is occurring inside the tent. For the extravert, action is occurring in front of the tent. The troops are not getting the “real thing” when their leader is an introvert, whereas they are getting the “real” General if this leader is an extravert.
The movement back and forth between internal and external has been effectively portrayed as an interaction between the General and the Aide to the General as they operate within and outside the tent. We can examine this movement when gaining a better sense of the dynamics that are operating in the translation of dreams into convincing speech or some art form. In the case of extraverted dreams, the aide resides inside the tent, and the general is outside offering the external translation of the dream. It is all about the delivery. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” might not have been as compelling or memorable if delivered by a less effective orator. His speech is the type of extraverted translation of a dream that makes the headlines, for it is quite public and aligned with widely shared aspirations, hopes and fears.
Alternatively, the general can reside inside the tent, formulating the presentation. The aide is outside the tent delivering the dream. Under these introverted conditions, the content is all-important. The delivery is less important. We can be just as impressed with a speech if we are reading it than if we are observing it being delivered. Introverted functioning of dreams is all about content. This is often the case with several lines from Shakespeare or a great contemporary playwright.
Of course, when it comes to the external expression of dream content through a medium of art rather than speech, the content and delivery are inextricably bound. These translations of dream content are decidedly extraverted. The artist’s work of art must stand on its own. We also find this to be the case with novels, while delivery is critical to poetry and the singing of songs. We might not even know the name of the composer of a famous song. And poems, like the lyrics of a song, are meant to be heard, not just read. Extraversion lives in the hopefully poignant and often soulful presentation of a poetic or lyrical theme.
When we consider the role of a “big-time” dreamer like Carl Jung, then we find that the General is in full command. Carl Jung is both the producer of dream-based content and the deliverer of this content to the general public. We find an exceptional example of the external display of internal dream content in The Red Book, prepared by Carl Jung. While this book was shielded from public view for many years, based on Jung’s request, it has been available for viewing for the past 17 years.
