“Three years ago my dad left her but one night divine inspiration struck and just like that she became a local celebrity to the 40 and over self help crowd”. (The DUFF 1:29)

This quote from the movie “The DUFF” is significant because it demonstrates a positive approach to dealing with difficult situations such as breakups. This is due to the possibility that the mother stayed at home, quit her job, and became depressed. She, on the other hand, did the exact opposite, focusing more on herself by turning her grief into a goal which is called sublimation. According to Freud, “the wish itself may be directed to a higher and consequently unobjectionable aim (this is what we call its ‘sublimation’)” (Freud 2215). Simply said, your negative emotions are channeled positively and productively. This is beneficial because she has become a better version of herself, which will improve her confidence as a result of her accomplishment. Not only did she help herself, but she also motivates her audience to be better versions of themselves. As a result, Sublimation is a defense mechanism that permits us to react more positively by transforming them into something more acceptable.

“My own horse had died in the night… two horses, enormous creatures with powerful flanks, one after the other, their legs tucked close to their bodies, each well-shaped head lowered like a camel’s, by sheer strength of buttocking squeezed out through the door hole which they filled entirely”. (Kafka n.pg.)  

This quote from “A Country Doctor” is significant because it interprets the doctor’s repressed thoughts on how he views himself. His description of the groom’s horses exposed his repressed thoughts of feeling insecure and weak. This is because he claims that his horse is dead while the groom’s horses were vigorously described. Similarly, this image portrays his thoughts as well because it’s showing the horses coming out of his head which is the comparison he puts himself through, his horse and the groom’s horses. Furthermore, the horses also show the failure of the repression process because the doctor’s thoughts were expressed in terms of a dream. This, according to Freud, is repression because the doctor’s repressed thoughts of feeling insecure were rechanneled into his unconscious mind, a dream. For example, Freud states, “it seems identical in all essentials with the process of distortion which transforms the repressed complexes into symptoms where there is unsuccessful repression” (Freud 2223). Thus, the doctor’s goal of repressing his thoughts failed since they were brought back to him by his unconscious mind. Generally, we sometimes try to conceal specific thoughts simply because we’re scared of facing them. However, concealing your thoughts isn’t always a solution as the aforementioned doctor instance demonstrates.

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