Sigmund Freud took time to learn and analyze dreams. He mentions the dreams are attempts to psychically fulfill wishes that are often not fulfilled in waking life. The desires in a dream are often objectionable to the superego, it is disguised into symbolism. Dreams have two different content, the first is manifest content which is the actual storyline that a person remembers in a dream and the second is latent content which is the underlying meaning in a dream. The manifest content is often confusing and misleads how to interpret a dream. The symbols in a dream are not universal but reflects ones personal associations. http://www.bartleby.com/285/