In Freud's Little Hans case, what did the horse symbolize?

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Multiple Choice

In Freud's Little Hans case, what did the horse symbolize?

Explanation:
In this Freudian reading, a child’s phobia is seen as expressing unconscious family dynamics. The horse in Hans’s fear is interpreted as a stand-in for the father—an embodiment of paternal authority and potential punishment. This symbolic link fits Freud’s idea of the Oedipus complex, where the child feels rivalry with the father and a desire for the mother, with fear of the father reflecting castration anxiety. So the horse is best understood as symbolizing the father, rather than the mother or other figures like a bus driver, and the fear itself is a manifestation of that underlying conflict.

In this Freudian reading, a child’s phobia is seen as expressing unconscious family dynamics. The horse in Hans’s fear is interpreted as a stand-in for the father—an embodiment of paternal authority and potential punishment. This symbolic link fits Freud’s idea of the Oedipus complex, where the child feels rivalry with the father and a desire for the mother, with fear of the father reflecting castration anxiety. So the horse is best understood as symbolizing the father, rather than the mother or other figures like a bus driver, and the fear itself is a manifestation of that underlying conflict.

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