Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: Unlocking the Importance of Dreams: A Psychoanalytic Reading in Inception

Unlocking the Importance of Dream in Inception
Dwi Setianingsih Rahardjo

Abstract
Using Freud’s Pychoanalytic criticism, this paper will examine the relation
between dreams and unconscious in Inception. One of Freud’s famous saying
about dream is that it is the royal road of the unconscious. Based on this notion,
several scenes at the movie will be analyzed to prove that unconscious thoughts,
feelings, and memories are really projected in a dream. In the movie, the notion
of unconscious is never introduced; instead they use the notion of subconscious.
However in this paper, distinction will be made between those two, based on
Freud’s theory of what unconscious is. After investigating the relation of dream
and unconscious, this study comes to a conclusion that dream is much more
influential than what we’re thinking.
Keywords: Inception, Freud, Psychoanalysis, Dream, Unconscious, Subconscious