Unlocking the Importance of Dreams: A Psychoanalytic Reading 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 they are 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 unconscious and subconscious, 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 important because it sometimes affects our

actions.

Keywords: Inception, Freud, Psychoanalysis, Dream, Unconscious, Subconscious

1. Introduction and Summary of the Text

In mid 2010, I was driven to a cinema by my sister to watch a movie entitled

Inception. I was reluctant to see it because I did not like the lead actor and the synopsis was

uninteresting; however, my sister forced me to see it and she succeeded. It turned out that the

movie was out of my expectation and I liked it very much. It required the audience to think

throughout the story about the new concept proposed by this movie – dreams within a dream

– which was very innovative. I was amazed by the story even after I walked out from the

cinema.

Inception is a psychological thriller movie filled with action and spiced up with a

little romance. The story also deals a lot with the main character’s (Cobb’s) emotion that

affect the whole story. The ending is an open-ended ending that made me curious and fall in

love with this movie. It is unclear whether Cobb manages to go back to the real world or

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whether he is trapped in the unexpected fourth level of dream when he is searching for Saito.

I debated over the ‘right’ ending with my sister and friends, and there was no agreement

among us. This matter attracts me into making some research about the ending. During the

quest, I found many interesting articles related to not only the story, but also the other things

from the movie.

From one of the articles that I read, Christopher Nolan (the writer and also the

director of the movie), had been working on the script for almost 10 years. He said in an

interview, “About 10 years ago, I started thinking about fusing a film about dreaming with a

heist-film structure (Taubin 32).” He first got the idea of writing about this dream-story from

his lucid dream – dreams in which the dreamer has complete consciousness and awareness

about the fact that one is dreaming and can therefore interfere or influence, even create the

dream as he or she wishes (Holzinger 216). In other interview, Nolan said that he had lucid

dreams one night and he attempted to manipulate the dream. However, this attempt was

“frustratingly elusive,” a hint that such things are possible on a grander scale (Hurd).

Up to this point I became more and more fascinated of how this man could produce

such an intriguing work because of a dream. I was always fond of dreaming; I could imagine

a story inside my mind after I had an interesting dream. However, this was merely a simple

imagination, a continuation from the dream I had before; I never thought that one can really

make a story from having a dream. This fascination arose once again when I took a literary

theory class in 2012. The subject of psychoanalysis attracted me more than other theories

given by my lecturer. The things that happen within one’s self such as unconsciousness and

dreams are not an exact science. You cannot tell what is inside someone’s mind or predict

what dreams you will have when you are sleeping, or the connection between these two.

There is always room for discussion and possibilities. Therefore, I am going to discuss my

favourite movie using Freud’s (1856 - 1939) psychoanalytic theory.

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The topic related to dream is always drawing attention and is interesting to be

discussed further. Dream themed stories are produced from time to time. Movies such as

Requiem for a Dream, Avatar, Vanilla Sky, and Inception are a few examples of box office

movies that have dreams as its theme. There are also some classic children stories which

explore wonderful worlds inside dreams, such as Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland;

both remain popular until now. Why do these so-called children fairy tales and some

unrealistic, extraordinary settings in the stories still exist nowadays? Because dream world is

indeed an exciting world that one cannot stop looking into.

Sigmund Freud, who was the first to introduce the psychoanalysis theory, is often

criticized and considered crazy. However, his theories are still popular and his name is still

frequently used when talking about dreams. All of Freud’s work depends on the notion of the

unconscious, which refers to the mind beyond consciousness that has a strong influence upon

our actions. Therefore, this notion will be discussed in the paper and used to examine several

scenes in Inception’s dream world in order to unfold the link between the dream world and

the characters’ mind. Dream work and the unconscious are closely bound: dream

interpretation in psychoanalysis is a tool assisting in the discovery of psychic contents within

the unconscious mind. Freud, himself, termed dreams as the ‘royal road to the unconscious’.

I am going to analyze Inception using psychoanalysis because the whole movie is

about dreams, and according to Freud when we talk about dreams, our unconscious plays an

important role in forming it. Interpreting dreams has become an appealing subject for some

people. People in Asia, such as Indonesians, believe that dreams could harbour special

meaning, which is called as Primbon Mimpi. There are many books produced to help people

deduce the meaning of their dreams. Other country such as Japan also believes similar things

like this. Japanese is particularly known for their hatsu-yume (the first dream in a new year)

belief. It is said that if a person has a dream about Mount Fuji, hawks, or eggplants (or the

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combination of these three), that person will gain a good luck throughout the year. Those are

a few examples from numerous superstitious beliefs about dreams that I believe exist in many

countries.

The existence of those beliefs in the societies implies that dreams really are powerful

and significant in people’s lives. Inception also suggests that dreams are influential; they are

very powerful and can affect one’s behaviour through an idea one’s get from a dream. This

writing is also made in order to convey a message that dream is indeed meaningful because it

helps us to get a better understanding of ourselves and sometimes influences our actions.

2. Summary of the Text

The story starts with a business conversation conducted by several men. Two of

them are selling their skills: stealing secret information inside one person’s head through their

dreams when they are sleeping. It turns out that this meeting is a dream itself. The two men –

Cobb (DiCaprio) and Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) get an order to steal information from Saito

(Watanabe); therefore they try to trick Saito in a multilayered dream. Unfortunately, they

failed in this mission because they could not get the whole information they needed. In the

first dream, Saito is aware that he is in a dream and locks up some information from Cobb; he

knows that Cobb is attempting to trick him. However, when Saito wakes up and has a quarrel

with them, he then learns that he is still in a dream.

Knowing that they really are capable of doing extraction (stealing from a dream),

Saito asked them to work for him. His order is unusual though: he does not want them to steal

information; instead he wants them to plant an idea inside his competitor’s – Fischer

(Murphy) – dreams. They refuse at the first time. Arthur says that inception cannot be done.

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However, Cobb says that it is possible to plant an idea within someone’s mind; he does not

want to do this though. Saito then tempts Cobb with a promise to remove Cobb’s charges and

send him back to his country, to his home and his children, which results in Cobb’s approval.

Cobb assembles his team and finds the other three persons with their own specialties

to work with. Ariadne (Page), as an architect, is in charge of designing the world within the

three levels of the dreams. Eames (Hardy), a professional forger, has to transform himself

into Peter Browning (Fischer’s right-hand man) in order to get information from Fischer.

There is also Yusuf (Rao), the chemist who has to make his own special sedative in order for

the team to be able to execute these almost-impossible three levels of dreams. So the team

has 5 people to carry out the plan, but Saito insists on joining the team to make sure they do

the job properly; so there are 6 people in total doing the infiltration.

The information has been collected; the preparation has been done; it is now the time

to execute the plan. They are now in a flight together with Fischer and succeed in making him

fall asleep. The flight goes for 10 hours, which gives them a week in the first dream level, six

months in the second level, and 10 years in the third level. The time seems to be slower in the

dream because the mind works more quickly. However, there are many unexpected problems

that happen due to Mal’s interference (Mal is the projection of Cobb’s unconscious within the

dreams) in order to fail the mission. Saito also gets shot in the dream and therefore they are

now racing against the time to complete the mission and return safely into the reality.

3. Literature Review

As stated above, psychoanalysis was first introduced by an Austrian neurologist

named Sigmund Freud. He used psychoanalysis in neurology as a therapy to cure mental

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disorders “by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious (unconscious is the

part of the mind beyond consciousness that has a strong influence on our actions) elements in

the mind” (Barry 97). A lot of people are cynical of his work, but many – especially literary

scholars – also consider Freud as one of the significant figures of 20th century. Along with

Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Albert Einstein, he reformed the conception of human life in

the modern Western (Leitch 913). It’s influential because his theory affects the way people

think about themselves, whether they are aware of it or not.

Psychoanalysis finds its way in many aspects of human life, such as in medical,

social and cultural, also academic aspects (Whitehouse-Hart 1). Looking from the field of

psychology, psychoanalysis is no longer considered valid. Psychologists regarded

psychoanalysis as merely his subjective interpretations and there is no scientific data to

support it (Davis). However, as stated above, literary scholars argued that Freud’s theories are

very influential; it is still applied into a variety of disciplines – especially literary criticism.

Thus, the use of psychoanalysis to examine literary works is not uncommon nowadays.

It is interesting to know that psychoanalysis was derived from literature and can be

used to examine literature as well. Freud had long taken great pleasure in the arts, particularly

literature – plays and novels, fine art and sculpture (Kaufman 367). I think his fondness of

literature was the basis for early development of the psychoanalytic criticism. Walden and

Poch (113-114) even suggested that Freud’s principles are closely related to literary works

since he was an avid reader. His infamous work, The Interpretation of Dreams is especially

related to literature. They suggested that his greatest influence for working this paper was the

first novel that he read.

As one literature form, motion pictures – or what we usually called films – have

been analyzed using psychoanalysis in the past few decades. The range of the movies being

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analyzed can also very differ. For example, Dumas (40) analyzed 1950s movies – Invaders

from Mars, Robot Monster, and The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T – to find relation with uniformity

of cinematic representation in 1950 that reflect the society’s concerns at that time.

Psychoanalytic film analysis also has been applied to the study of horror movies which is

popular since mid 1980s onwards. It seems like Hollywood took psychoanalysis seriously.

Nathan G. Hale stated this in his journal – The Rise and Crisis of Psychoanalysis in the

United States – “The number of Hollywood movie stars, directors, and producers who were

‘in analysis’ was legion” (Paul 159).

One of the Hollywood directors that belong to the group is Christopher Nolan.

Christopher Nolan, the director and scriptwriter of Inception, has made several works before

that can also be discussed using psychoanalysis such as Memento, The Prestige, and the

newest Batman trilogy. The central themes of his movies are usually concerning a

traumatized hero, a dead woman, and a plot involving manipulation and dissimulation (Fisher

37). Similarly, Inception also has its main character deal with his trauma and unconscious

throughout the movie.

All of Freud’s works based on the notion of unconscious (mind beyond

consciousness) that has a strong influence upon our actions. Many earlier accounts of the

unconscious simply saw the unconscious as a ‘storehouse’ for forgotten memories that may

or may not be remembered again (Power 612). Freud, however, extended the range of

influence of the unconscious into every aspect of our lives. The idea is that this storehouse is

made from the repressed desires, feelings, memories, and instinctual drives. Repression is an

attempt of 'forgetting' or ignoring of unresolved conflicts, unadmitted desires, or traumatic

past events, so that they are forced out of conscious awareness and into the realm of the

unconscious (Barry 97). In simpler words, the unconscious is meant to work as a protecting

force of our mind from tragic or traumatic events. Modell (539) in his journal, Some

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Comments on the Freudian Unconscious conveyed the fundamental role of conflicts in the

psychoanalysis; it distinguishes the psychoanalytic unconscious from the totality of

unconscious brain processes that are the subject of investigation of neuroscience.

Psychoanalysis deals with observing processes that are unconscious because of conflict.

Freud’s notion of unconscious in his native language (German) has caused some

confusion and debates for some people. In German, the term ‘unconscious’ is supposed to be

das Unbewusste. However, Freud used it interchangeably with das Unterbewusste which is

similarly close with das Unbewusste but not identical, because the literal translation for das

Unterbewusste is ‘subconscious’ (“Unconscious or Subconscious?”). After a while, he

decided to use ‘unconscious’ to avoid confusion. However, the theory is expanded since then,

and nowadays, many scholars used the term subconscious to address the memories which can

be retrieved if attention is paid to them. The subconscious mind lies just below

consciousness, and it can be accessed by raising a question. We can assume that the

‘storehouse’ is very big and there are many rooms inside. The subconscious are the doors that

need certain keys to open the rooms and unleash those certain memories to the consciousness.

After the numerous studies on his patient, Freud realized that unconscious often

expresses itself in the form of dreams. The unconscious, though repressed, can never be

quelled entirely (Rivkin & Ryan 391). They emerge in dreams. Thus, Freud came up with his

famous term dreams are royal roads to the unconscious. He then published a book entitled

Interpretation of Dreams in 1900. This book suggests that there are hidden wishes or desires

that manifest themselves at night in dreams. The feelings, memories, wishes, or desires which

are repressed and stored in the unconscious are beyond our control.

Freud believed that there are two major parts which formed the dream – the manifest

content and the latent content. The manifest content is what the dreamer remembers when

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they are awake; what they would consciously describe to someone else when recalling the

dream. Freud suggested that the manifest content has no meaning at all because it is a

“disguised representation of what’s underlying the dream – the latent content” (“Introduction

to Sigmund Freud’s Theory on Dreams”). On the other hand, the latent content – or the

dream-thoughts is the true meaning of the dream. It is the forbidden thoughts and the

unconscious desires, or simply said, it is the repressed unconscious itself. These appear in the

manifest content but will be disguised and unrecognisable. Manifest and latent content are

tied together in some way. Freud calls the process of transformations which connect up the

two levels (the latent content transformed into the manifest content) the dream-work

(freud.org.uk). It means that the dream-work is the mechanism which takes the raw material

of the latent and combines it together into a dream.

Freud’s ideas in the book have raised many arguments and comments since its

publication. The theory proposed by Freud has continued to expand years even after he's

gone. Maclagan (335) argues that “the exchange between dreaming and the conscious mind is

more flexible and mutual than Freud assumed,” implying that the nature of the dream-work is

dynamic. It is a ‘complicated traffic’, back and forth between conscious and unconscious

levels. Not only a manifestation of the locked traumatic memories that can take part in the

dream, but also some conscious or subconscious memory.

Another belief that is arisen in these modern days is that dreams influence our

conscious thoughts and actions (Power 614). Even though what’s left after waking up is only

the manifest content which sometimes is just some little fragments, the emotions or feelings

we experienced in the dreams remain. This feeling affects us in the real world. How many of

us joyfully start a day and have a good mood after having a good dream? On the other hand,

how many feel gloomy and reluctant to get up after having a terrible dream? In extreme

cases, there are also some people who want to change travel plans after envisioning their

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death in a dream about fiery plane crash, like what Morewedge and Norton proposed in their

journal research When Dreaming Is Believing: The (Motivated) Interpretation of Dreams.

Their studies suggested that people exhibit a general belief that dreams hold hidden meaning

and, therefore, have a general tendency to interpret their dreams and allow those dreams to

impact their judgment and behaviour. However, not all dreams are interpreted. The dreams

that are most likely to be interpreted are the dreams that have the most relevance to one’s life.

Based on the theories above, the writer would like to propose these questions: Are

dreams really the royal road to the unconscious that manifested our repressed trauma,

memories, and feelings? And if it is true, do dreams really have an impact towards someone’s

life? The writer will examine the events that happened to the characters in Inception in order

to seek for the answers.

4. Discussion

Inception’s main character, Dominick Cobb, encounters the projection of his

unconscious (Mal) several times in the movie. She appears within the multilayered dreams

and jeopardized the mission carried by the team. Freud’s dream-work theory will be used to

analyze this phenomenon: who or what is Mal, and why does she attempt to fail Cobb’s work.

We will also look at Robert Fischer, the other character that holds a significant role in the

movie. After discussing the unconscious of these two characters, we will see if the dreams

they have experienced really affect their lives.

In the movie, the term subconscious is used repeatedly and refers to the

subconscious mind where many of the interactions take place. Basically it means almost

everything that happens in the dream sharing. However in this paper, the writer will make a

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distinction between unconscious and subconscious. They will have different meanings, as

several scholars suggested in the previous section. The term unconscious indicates the

repressed trauma, feeling, memories, as Freud’s theories suggest; meanwhile the term

subconscious concerns the accessible memories where one can easily access the dreams like

the movie implied.

4. 1. Repressed memories, feelings, and trauma within dreams

In his book, Beginning Theory, Barry asserts that when some wish, fear,

memory, or desire is difficult to face we may try to cope with it by repressing it from the

conscious mind. But this doesn't make it go away; it remains alive in the unconscious and

constantly seeks a way back into the conscious mind. One way for it to resurface is

through the process of dreaming.

This concept is introduced to the audience in the beginning of Inception, when

Cobb, Arthur, and Saito were talking. They are discussing how to defend their

subconscious while asleep because in a dream conscious defences are lowered and their

thoughts are vulnerable. This scene introduced us to the notion of subconscious that the

whole movie revolves around. And as stated above, it is also suggesting that subconscious

contains repressed or hidden memories that will re-emerge within a dream.

The first example is when Cobb and Arthur are in the middle of a set up to make

Saito unwary so they can steal the hidden memories that contain information of his

company’s secret. Suddenly, a woman named Mal appears and ruins the whole operation

by telling Saito their purpose. This first appearance marks a series of her appearances as a

troublemaker for Cobb’s team in doing their work later on. Once they come back into

reality, Arthur confronts Cobb about what happened in the dreams. They have not told us

who Mal really is, but hints are given to us such as this dialogue:

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ARTHUR. And you-what the hell was all that?

COBB. I had it under control.

ARTHUR. I’d hate to see out of control- (Nolan, 17)

And later on, in a hotel where they are about to run away from the company who employs

them:

ARTHUR. Down in the dream... Mal showing up like that ...

COBB. Yeah. I'm sorry about your leg.

ARTHUR. It's getting worse, isn't it? (Nolan, 20)

These dialogues indicate that somehow Cobb is the one who is causing the

failure. Well it is true; he is the one to blame – his unconscious. We soon learn that Mal is

the deceased wife of Cobb; she is only a projection of Cobb’s subconscious. She

committed suicide because she could no longer tell the difference between dreams and

reality due to spending so many years in the dream world. Mal’s suicide is definitely a

horrible memory that Cobb’s trying to forget.

In Inception, there are two ways to wake from the dream sharing besides waking

naturally when the sedative wears off. The first method is to use a “kick” – a shock

sensation such as falling, hitting water, or a sharp jolt – to snap you out of the dream. The

other method is to get yourself killed. In the real world, Mal felt like she is still living in a

dream; she is desperate to go back to reality and she ended up killing herself. As a

husband and the closest person to Mal, this shocking experience must left him in

emotional and mixed feelings that he unconsciously repressed.

Mal’s death traumatized Cobb, and he is haunted by his wife’s projection in his

dreams ever since. He was an architect before; he builds and designs his dreams. But since

Mal appeared in his dreams, he was not able to create the dream world; just like what

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Ariadne pointed it out to us, “You won't build yourself because if you know the maze,

then she knows it. And she'd sabotage the operation. You can't keep her out, can you?” He

is afraid of Mal’s interference; he cannot restrain her, for the unconscious is

uncontrollable.

Mal’s death leads Cobb into great misery because not only is Mal missing, but

also his children are. Cobb is accused of killing his wife by the authorities and he has been

running ever since. He cannot stay in the United States and has to leave his children in his

parent’s custody. His longing for his children caused a projection of the last image he has

before leaving his house:

Ariadne follows his gaze to the garden. A small blonde boy faces away from them,

crouched on his haunches to look at something on the ground.

COBB. It's James. And there's Philippa. I thought about calling out, so they'd turn and

smile those incredible smiles... but I'm out of time-

THIN MAN. Right now. Or never, Cobb.

COBB. Then I start to panic. I realize I’m gonna regret this moment, that I need to see

their faces one last time. But the moment's passed. And whatever I do, the dream's

always the same... When I'm about to call... they run. (Nolan, 68-69)

We can see that his regret, unfulfilled wish and frustration of not being able to say

goodbye or at least have a good memory of them is rushing back in his dreams. Cobb

cannot keep it under control; sometimes it resurfaces in bad timing, causing troubles for

him. For example, when Cobb is supposed to trick Fischer to join his team through a

conversation in the second layer of the dream, the projection of James and Philippa

suddenly appears and diverts his attention. Even though Cobb is only distracted for a

minute, Fischer is noticing that there is something strange happening around them. As a

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result, Fischer becomes suspicious and Cobb almost fails in gaining Fischer’s trust

because of this incident.

We can analyze throughout the movie that as time goes by, Cobb unconscious’

interference is getting worse. In the first layer of the dreams when his team is kidnapping

Fischer, a train suddenly cuts off their escape route and makes Saito get shot in his chest.

This train is also part of his unconscious projection, formed out by his past memories with

Mal. On the second layer of the dream, as mentioned above, he catches a glimpse of his

children’s back and it distracts him. The deeper they go down, the stronger the

unconscious bursting. Mal shows up once again in the third layer and sabotages the

mission just when it’s about to succeed.

4.2. The dynamic of the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious within the dream

As the writer has pointed out above, this movie has not used the term unconscious

even once in the entire screening. Instead, it uses subconscious for everything that happens

in the dreams. However, a distinction between these two notions should be made because

the subconscious suggested by the movie is not as deep as the unconscious. It seems like

this subconscious lies in the middle between the conscious and unconscious, and we can

still control it.

The most obvious example of subconscious in the movie is the inception job

itself. The team is aware of what they are doing in the dream; they know that they are no

longer in a real world, and they are there to work. They brought with them the memory of

their task and what they need to do to accomplish it. Ariadne (the architect), for instance,

she is the one who is in charge of designing the dreams; she creates a hotel, a small town,

and a facility in snowy mountain for the team. Like what other architects do, she too

makes blueprints and models beforehand, and then in the dreams these places are

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projected by her subconscious in every level of the dream as the stage where the job is

carried out. The memory from her conscious is easily brought into the dream.

On the other hand, Mal’s appearances in the dream come from the deeper part of

Cobb’s mind, and they are uncontrollable. Thus Mal is not merely a projection of his

subconscious; but unconscious. Mal is a projection of unconscious that manifest itself in

Cobb’s subconscious. Just as Maclagan argues, the nature of the dream-work is dynamic,

it is a complicated traffic. The conscious, subconscious, and the unconscious have

interchangeable movements – back and forth inside the dream and it is uncontrollable.

So why exactly does Cobb’s unconscious try to sabotage his every mission? The

answers have been stated in the movie numerous times, but let’s take a closer look at it.

After returning to the real world, Mal continued to believe that she was still dreaming and

believed that dying was the only way to 'wake up'. On their wedding anniversary, Cobb

went to the hotel room they always stayed in and found out that Mal is outside the

window, prepared to jump. She asked him to jump with her, but he refused and attempted

to bring Mal to her senses. She ignores him anyway and jumped to her death. Obviously

this tragedy left him with mixed feelings such as sorrow, pain, regrets, and guilt.

However, there must be something deeper other than these feelings. “The

subconscious is motivated by emotion, not reason,” said Cobb. The emotion of the tragic

events is resulting in Mal’s projection within the subconscious area. However, the reason

why Cobb still cannot escape from these emotions is stored deep down in his unconscious

‘storehouse’. Ariadne, who feels that the whole mission is endangered by Mal, tries to help

Cobb. She tries to convince Cobb that Mal's death was not his fault and that he needs to

focus on the mission.

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ARIADNE. It might have been your idea to push the limits, Cobb. But you’re not

responsible for the idea that destroyed her. The idea that her world wasn’t real... that

was her own idea from her own mind. Your guilt defines her. Powers her. ...

COBB. You don’t have to do this for me-

ARIADNE. I’m doing it for the others. They don’t know the risk they’ve taken coming

in here with you. (Nolan, 93)

Ariadne keeps reminding him that he cannot blame himself forever, that it is not his fault

and it is time to move on.

We can see then that in the fourth layer of the dream Cobb and Ariadne are forced

to look for Fischer after Mal shot him. This fourth layered is what they call as Limbo.

Limbo is an unconstructed dream space – a place of random subconscious impulse. Mal is

waiting for them here and eventually Cobb has to confront her. From their intense

conversation, Ariadne finds out a shocking revelation:

MAL. What do you feel?

COBB. Guilt. I feel guilt, Mal. And no matter what I do, no matter how hopeless I am,

no matter how confused, that guilt is always there, reminding me of the truth.

MAL. What truth?

COBB. That the idea that caused you to question our reality came from me.

MAL. You planted the idea in my mind? (Nolan, 133-134)

From the dialogue above, one can conclude that Cobb had performed an inception to his

wife in order to make her want to go back to reality. He is the one responsible for the idea

that grows inside Mal’s head. This is what he tried to forget, an agonizing memory that is

buried deep under his unconscious. There is a reason why he always feels guilty. He does

not allow himself to be happy because of this. This is why his unconscious always tries to

stop him accomplishing his job.

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Ariadne, who constantly questioning the cause of Cobb’s ‘wild’ unconscious,

eventually made Cobb confronts his unconscious. She is the ‘subconscious’ that helps us

unravel the deepest memory that repressed in Cobb’s unconscious.

Just like Ariadne who acts like the subconscious for Cobb, the whole work done

by the team also serves as the subconscious in accessing Robert Fischer’s unconscious.

Fischer is the target of the whole operation. He inherited a multi-billion dollar empire from

his father, Maurice Fischer. The huge corporation soon becomes a superpower that

dominates the energy supply of half the world. This is why Saito asks Cobb to do

inception, to make Fischer destroys his father’s empire. They try to change his mind by

planting the idea that Maurice did not want him to take over the company. They need to

plant the seed of the idea into Fischer’s unconscious. The focus here is not about the

planting of the idea, but the focus is what Fischer’s found in his unconscious.

Robert’s relationship with his father was not too good. Raised by a hugely

powerful individual like his father, Robert experiences insecurity where he thinks he

cannot cope with his father’s standards. The team’s objection is to make Fischer recall this

sentiment in his subconscious. In the first layer of the dream, Fischer is kidnapped by

Cobb’s team and ordered to tell them a pass code for his father’s safe. This safe is not real,

of course; it is only a distraction for the actual plan of the team. After insisting that he does

not know the pass code, Peter Browning (Robert’s godfather and Maurice’s right-hand

man) is taken in and the kidnapper threatens to kill him. In order to not to let his uncle

Browning got killed, Fischer tries hard to remember the pass code during the given time.

This Peter Browning is not real; he is actually Eames who’s in disguise. Here, we can say

that Eames is functioning as the ‘subconscious’ tool for Fischer. Eames’ job is to dig out

some information that can be used to smooth out their plan. He retrieves this information

from Fischer:

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FISCHER. We didn't have a lot of meaningful experiences together. After my mother

died, I went to him in my grief. You know what he told me? "There's really nothing to

be said, Robert.

BROWNING. He always had a hard time with emotional-

FISCHER. I was eleven, Uncle Peter.

BROWNING. He loved you, Robert. In his way.

FISCHER. "In his way?" At the end he called me to his deathbed. He could barely

speak, but he took the trouble to say one last thing to me. He pulled me close... I could

make out only one word. Disappointed. (Nolan, 84-85)

Eames understands that the relationship between Fischer and his father is worse than what

he thought. Fischer as a child felt that he was not loved and supported by his father, even

hated by him. This is the repressed feeling that unconsciously he tried to bury.

This piece of information is then used as a scenario in the third layer of the dream.

Ariadne designs this level of dream as a snow fortress with a big safe. This safe is not a

safe that has been talked about before; this is a safe that contains Fischer’s unconscious.

The safe is opened; the image projected in front of him is his bed-stricken father muttering

his last word. This is the subconscious projection of his last painful memory with his

father. He felt that he disappointed his father because he couldn't be him:

FATHER. (hoarse whisper) I... was ... dis ... dis ...

FISCHER. I know, Dad. You were disappointed that I couldn't be you.

The dying man SHAKES HIS HEAD with surprising energy.

FATHER. (whisper) No... no. I was disappointed... that you tried. (Nolan, 140)

Maurice then points to a cabinet where Robert finds the will and a pinwheel his father

made personally for him once as a child.

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The dialogue exhibits Robert’s genuine wish (it is a dialogue between him and his

unconscious). He realized that this is what he’s been longing for, not the recognition of

years of endless hard work, but merely an acceptance of his existence, knowing that his

father actually loved him. So once again, the movie gives a perfect example that

subconscious assists us to find the truth of our unconscious.

Nevertheless, the dynamic movements between the three (conscious,

subconscious, and unconscious) do not stop there. What happened in the dream is brought

back into reality (conscious). And this process, where the dreams are brought back to our

conscious, is where dreams become important for us, the dreamers.

4.3. The Importance of Dream

Modell (536), in his journal, stated that dreaming is a neurophysiological process,

but the dream itself is not. The content of a human dream is unique and at the same time

full of meaning. Cobb and Fischer both acquire something valuable from the dream. The

encounter with their unconscious that happened in the dream changes them. After

confronting his unconscious (Mal), and Cobb realizes that he has to let go of his painful

memory. He does not want to do it before because he felt like he does not deserve

happiness. But he needs to move on for his children.

MAL. You remember when you asked me to marry you?

You said you dreamt that we’d grow old together.

COBB. But we did... We did, you don’t remember? I miss you more than I can bear, but

we had our time together. And now I have to let you go... (Nolan, 142)

We can see that he decided to let go of Mal and make a peace with himself. Perhaps it will

not be an exaggeration to say that Inception’s ending is the most talked-about ending up

until now. It stirs many arguments back then in 2010, and there’s still a ton of theories

being tossed around the Internet about it until now. The two biggest debates are whether

Dwi 20

Cobb was still in a dream or did he return to his children in the “real world.” The answer

of the dispute is actually not important. The important thing is the fact that Cobb is finally

being able to move on from the unconscious that is haunting him.

The next person to get on with his life is Fischer; he is going to carry out his

father’s last request with a light heart since he does not have to do it under pressure. “The

will means that Dad wanted me to be my own man, not live for him. And I'm going to,

Uncle Peter,” said Robert Fischer (Nolan, 143).

I believe that for Fischer, it is not important what his father truly meant to say if

there is time left. The dream itself has become some sort of healing process for Fischer.

He becomes at peace and is no longer conflicted with the idea that his father does not love

him. When he discovered that his father kept the pinwheel, it becomes a proof for Fischer

that his father did love him. Is it real? No, we know that that is just a dream. However,

that all seems real to him and he now believes his father loved him. His hidden wish of

reconciliation with his father has finally occurred and it affects him very much, although it

was not real.

Dreams, as Freud said, offer us a shortcut to understanding ourselves, carry

unfulfilled wishes and issues from the past. What has happened to Cobb and Arthur

confirms it. Each of them encounters their unconscious that projects their hidden wishes

and feelings. They manage to understand themselves better and this event changes their

lives ever since. Dreams are indeed important; this is the message that Inception is trying

to pass on to the audience.

The content of dreams are indeed different for each person, but as Morewedge

and Norton found in their research; people are actually believe that dreams hold hidden

Dwi 21

meaning and therefore they have a general tendency to interpret their dreams and allow

those dreams to impact their judgment and behaviour.

5. Conclusion

This paper aims to study the film Inception using Freud’s psychoanalysis. The

theory of the unconscious is used to analyze two central characters in the movie, Cobb and

Fischer. The movie is solely based on the notion of subconscious, and it never mentions

the term of unconscious, although they are actually vastly different. According to the film,

everything that happened during dream sharing refers to the subconscious. However, the

term unconscious is more suitable to represent certain events that occurred in the dream.

Distinction between these two notions is also needed to be made in order to investigate

their dynamic movements within the dream.

The movie itself is a portrayal of Freud’s dream theories. Remember that Freud

distinguished the dream into two parts: manifest and latent content. The manifest content

usually describes the fragments of images that we remember after we wake up. The latent

content, in contrast, is the true meaning – the essence of the dream. It contains the

unconscious desires of the dreamer. The latent content is the repressed memories,

emotions, and wishes which later on transform themselves in to the manifest content – the

projection and images of the dreamer. We can see from the movie; dreams do project the

subconscious and unconscious of the dreamers. Therefore, the writer support Freud’s

famous saying dream is the royal road to the unconscious; based on the evidences found

in the movie.

The writer encourages the reader to believe in the importance of dreams. Dreams

mean different things to different people, but they are important. The writer believes there

Dwi 22

are many of us in the morning who are curious of the meaning of the dream they just had.

This is showing that people indeed take dreams seriously. And even for some people,

dreams can also become a source for inspiration. It stimulates their imagination and

awakens their creativity into producing famous masterpieces in music, art, films,

narratives, etc. Some examples of these creative people are novelist Mary Shelley

(Frankenstein) and Stephenie Meyer (Twilight), poet Edgar Alan Poe, and, of course,

Christopher Nolan himself who inspired to make Inception based on his dream

experiences.

Finally, the writer also encourages everyone who is interested in dreams and

happens to read this paper to develop further study on Inception. The writer believes that

there are not many discussions about this film for it is difficult to find other papers in

researching the literature review. Psychoanalysis is not the only theory that can be used to

examine Inception. Feminist Theory can be used to analyse some outstanding qualities

possessed by Ariadne and her strength when dealing with difficulties in the mission.

Dwi 23

Acknowledgement

First of all, I would like to thank The Father Almighty for all the blessings He has given to

me. For the strength He always gave me when I faced hardships, for the guidance He

provided so I can finally completed my study in this English Department. I also would like to

thank my thesis supervisor, Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A., for your patience, help,

encouragement, and endless support to me. Also, to my thesis examiner, Deta Maria Sri

Darta, S.Pd, M.Hum, for the time and help you have given so that this paper could be

completed.

I would like to also express my gratitude to my family. To my mom and dad, thank you for

your patience, support, and prayers. To my big sister, Melita, who always supported me in so

many ways. Thank you for the student account you lent me so I managed to find lots of good

articles for this thesis, for your constant curiosity of my thesis progress, and also your

scolding when I got lazy. I love you, Sis! To my aunt, Emiliana, for your moral support and

prayers.

I also sincerely thank you my friends; Elizabeth and Fiona, my best buddies for the whole

college life. Thank you for always be there and listening to my rants, for the endless support

and encouragements you give even after we are separated. Also to my precious friends, Ci

Rut, Angela, and Jeannie, for your continuous reminders and prayers. Last but not least, I

want to thank you all my 2009 FBS friends, for your help and togetherness.

Dwi 24

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