Psychoanalysis seeks to treat mental disorders by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind and bringing repressed fears and conflicts into the conscious mind through various techniques.
“] the right string, please,” pronounced, “pull the right string, please,” suggests the difficulty of this endeavor through several visual components. First, the strings of the woman’s hair represent the thoughts from her subconscious. They are violently tangled and slithering away like serpents.
The psychiatrist’s credibility is undermined by sitting behind a schoolchild’s desk. On the desk are some large, very crudely constructed needles that he will be of little use in an attempt to knit her tangled thoughts back together again.
The owl of wisdom is swooping down on the patient, but the archetypical “shrink’s couch” seems to be in a different dimension than the office. It is doubtful that whatever wisdom is in the room can reach the woman.
Further, the psychiatrist is equipped with flippers for the deep dive into the patient's mind. However, the doctor's casual resort shirt, yellow glasses, and slouching posture suggest he may not be very earnest about the exploration.
The patient is wearing a dress that seems to be loosely hung or just papered over her nude body, suggesting surface appearance and the underlying emotional state may be contiguous but not closely reflective.
Clearly, “] the right string, please” is a lament on the difficulty of another person helping someone who is feeling mentally troubled.
