Simpsons and Freudian Dream Theory

S23Ep16 Analysis

The act of moving through dreams and the continual appearance of the death figure exemplify secondary revision, as the elements of the dream are revisited and changed.  The dream deals with the daily residue of Homer's bed-wetting problem.  Both the coffin and death are distortions of Homer's repressions-- revealed in the end to stem from Homer's guilt at ending his parent's marriage.  The presence of Cletus and his sexual comments about Homer's mother can be interpreted as a displacement of Homer's own repressed desires, and these equate closely with the guilt he feels over ending his parent's marriage.  This guilt can be interpreted over Homer's anxiety about his wish to attain all of his mother's affection and his wish that his parents stay together happily.  Because of this anxiety, he felt that his mother's leaving was his own fault, and developed a death-wish associated with her.  
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