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Brush Salesman #8

"I was in an apartment building and I hinted something to my boss that I might quit Fuller Brush. He said nothing but went down to the patio and started talking with two other Fuller men, one of them the branch manager, and the other a German. When I came in the German began talking about quitting and the others tried to get him not to. They showed him how much money he was making, etc. and how foolish it would be to quit. Then they turned to me to ask if I didn't agree with all this. I said I did, and then he asked me why I wanted to quit. The little act they had been putting on was just to show me how foolish I would be if I did quit. I said I wouldn't quit until I was not making any money or my school work was hurt. They said OK. But then the manager began talking about my sales record. He said he wanted to see more than the $65 I turned in last week. I really turned in over $100 but my boss needed some of it to fill his quota. At this point I walked away, but I heard my boss saying that I had worked for him and earned another $50. This seemed to satisfy the men."


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The three characters appearing in this dream are all individual male characters. The boss and the branch manager were both coded as being known, because the dreamer did work for the Fuller Brush Company and it was felt that he could name both of these individuals if he were so requested. The German could have been identified on the basis of his accent and may have been known to the dreamer personally. Since the German was also identified as a Fuller Brush man, he was coded as O because this takes precedence over an ethnic coding.

Coding of social interactions in this dream presents some problems. The dreamer's hint that he might quit Fuller Brush sounds as if it might be an aggressive action involving rejection by the dreamer. Yet whom is he rejecting? Is it an actual character such as the boss or branch manager, or should it be coded with a question mark for the impersonalized brush company? We decided that his boss would be the probable victim, so the victim was coded as 1MKA. In actuality, this coding does not distinguish between the boss and branch manager, which is preferable in this particular situation. A more specific aggression is involved when the branch manager begins to discuss the dreamer's sales record and says that he wishes to see more money turned in. This apparent aggression was coded as an A3 with the dreamer as the victim of the manager's remarks. Things become a bit tangled again as one tries to unravel the boss's actions in filling his quota. With some hesitation, a helping friendly act was coded for the boss because of his speaking in defense of the dreamer and satisfying the others that the dreamer had been doing a satisfactory job. Of course, it could be said that the boss had also behaved aggressively in using some of the dreamer's money initially, but it is not clear whether this may have been company policy. What is clear, however, is that without being requested to do so, the boss did spontaneously exonerate the dreamer, regardless of the preceding events.

The first activity was a verbal one from the dreamer to his boss when he hinted about quitting. The next activity was the boss going down to the patio. This was coded as an L rather than M because it was not specified that the boss walked down. It is possible that he might have taken an elevator. A mutual verbal activity was coded for the boss talking with the branch manager and the German. The dreamer received an M code for coming into the patio, since this would have involved walking. No code was given for the dreamer coming down to the patio as there was for the boss, since the dreamer's trip was not mentioned in the report. A code of V was listed for the German when he began talking, but the others trying to get him to remain and showing him about the money he was making did not receive a code because it was not clear what methods they used to accomplish this. The three characters received a P code for turning to the dreamer, and all three are credited with a verbal activity directed toward the dreamer for asking him why he wanted to quit. In actuality, probably only one person asked him, but since the report states that "they" turned to ask, all three are represented in the coding. A series of reciprocal verbal replies follows. First the dreamer is credited with a VR when he replies to them that he did agree, then another is entered for someone, probably the boss, asking why the dreamer wanted to quit. The dreamer then receives a VR for replying that he won't quit and the final VR appears when they, presumably all three, reply by saying okay. The preceding coding is intended to reflect that there was one continuing verbal activity going on, and the various questions and replies that made up the bulk of this conversation were coded as reciprocal activities. Then a V was coded for the manager who began talking about the sales record. This introduced a new topic of conversation and was coded separately from the preceding conversation. No S code was given for the boss mentioning that he wanted to see more than $65, because this does not refer to any current or completed activity but to a colloquial way of speaking. The same explanation holds for why the dreamer "turning in" money was not coded. The dreamer walking away received an M code, and an A code was recorded for hearing his boss. The last V appears for the boss explaining to the other two men about the other $50.

Only one setting was coded, an indoor one for being in the apartment building. Although mention is made of going down to the patio, it is not clear that this was located outside, and it was therefore treated as if it were a part of the building itself. With regard to familiarity, it might appear that the apartment building was not too familiar since it is only described by the word "an," but the patio is described by the definite article "the," suggesting that the dreamer may have had some experience with this building. A Q code therefore seemed best to handle this ambiguity. In the latter part of the report the dreamer describes walking away, but it was never stated how far away he walked or to where, so no additional setting was coded.

The first two objects in Dream 8 are AR and are coded for the apartment building and the patio. Four MO codes were assigned; the first for the mention of how much money the German was making, and the remaining three for the specific sums of money mentioned, i.e., $65, $100, and $50.

A temporal code was entered for the reference to last week. The negative codes were given for the boss saying "nothing," the others trying to get the German "not" to quit, asking the dreamer if he "didn't" agree with this, the dreamer saying he "wouldn't" quit, and the dreamer "not" making any money.


[Go back to the dream report]     [Go back to the discussion of this dream's coding]

Char. Aggression Friendliness Sexuality Sett. Modif.
1MKA
1MKA
1MOA
D3>1MKA
1MKA3>D
1MKA4>D
  IQ


 
Obj.
AV
AR
MO
MO
MO
MO
Activities
DV>1MKA
1MKAL 
1MKAV=1MKA +
1MOA
DM 
1MOAV 
1MKA + 
1MKA + 
1MOA
P 
1MKA + 
1MKA + 
1MKA
V>D
DVR1MKA +
1MKA +
1MOA
1MKAVRD
DVR1MKA
1MKA + 
1MKA + 
1MKA
VRD
1MKAV 
DM 
DA 
1MKAV>1MKA +
1MOA
Temp.
1
 
Neg.
5
 
Success Failure Misfortune Good Fort. Emotions  
           
 
 
 
 


The brush salesman: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
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