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Garcia Gomez 1 Aubreana Garcia Gomez Professor Osgood-Treston 45143 6/28/18 Critical Theory Paper 2: Psychoanalytic Criticism Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis had the belief that past childhood experiences could impact our lives well into adulthood. Freud along with theorist after him, used psychoanalytic criticism to analyze literature. He employed his expertise in psychoanalysis to develop the theory that an author can express a bigger meaning such as anxieties or a desire, to the reader through the symbolism and actions of a character in text. [ CITATION Sau18 \l 1033 ] This paper will use the Freudian theory to analyze “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The protagonists in these two stories give a glimpse of underlying issues and meanings through their actions and thoughts. Freud theorized that a human’s personality was shaped by three parts of the mind. The Id, which functions based from the pleasure principle, which is the desire to avoid pain and seek pleasure. The Ego, which functions bases from the reality principle, which in turn recognizes the consequences of behavior. And the Super Ego, which is responsible for retaining our values and morals. These three parts of the mind have a key role in how our subconscious projects our desires and actions. [ CITATION Mic \l 1033 ] Our two protagonists; Tim O’Brien from “The Things They Carried” and the narrator from “The Yellow Wallpaper” project their desires through their actions and thoughts in their respective story’s. Tim O’Brien wrote his novel in 1990, it gives the unique perspective of a soldier’s mentality while serving in the Vietnam war. What makes this novel unique is his ability to stay relevant way past the Vietnam war, because it focuses on the humans serving in the war as opposed to just the war itself. Applying Psychoanalytic criticism to this story sheds a whole new

Garcia Gomez 2 light on the novel, allowing the reader to really feel and understand O’Brien the characters, frame of mind during the story. It makes it easier to understand the intent behind each of the characters depicted. Such as First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who carries letters from a love interest of his. He carries those love letters until a comrade dies under his watch. Soon after, he burns those letters along with his hopes of ever being in love. He metaphorically burns just enough of himself to go from Jimmy the twenty-four-year-old kid, to Jimmy the solder, the Lieutenant. Although there are parts of the story that go on to focus on supporting characters too. There is a soldier who carries a bile because of his Baptist upbringing, we assume to pray during such a dark time in his life. There is another soldier who reads comic books, perhaps to view himself as the hero to a kid somewhere, or to remind himself that there re heroes out there. Most of all we can assume that the objects a soldier chose to carry with them were to keep them connected to who they were back home. The title of “The Things They Carried” refers to the list of things a soldier had to carry with them as well as the things they chose to carry with them, while “humping” their way through a war enveloped Vietnam. Amongst some of the various objects that a solder chose to carry with them, was their emotional baggage. The choice was an unintentional subconscious one, of course. Tim O’Brien is both the author and protagonist in this story. Making the line between Tim the author and Tim the character a little blurred. This piece of “THE Things They Carried” focuses more on Jimmy Cross then it does Tim O’Brien. However, the reader cannot help but wonder to what extent are the events Tim O’Brien the character, experiences influenced by what Tim O’Brien the author/war veteran experienced? Throughout the story he makes a point to repeat the name of his story “The Things They Carried” throughout what seems like every other paragraph. Later in the story while explaining

Garcia Gomez 3 how their lingo and actions were a result of a way of dealing with their experienced trauma he states “ There it is, my friend, there it is—as if the repetition itself were an act of poise, a balance between crazy and almost crazy, knowing without going, there it is, which meant be cool, let it ride, because Oh yeah , man you can’t change what can’t be changed, there it is, there is absolutely and positively and fucking well is.” [ CITATION OBr16 \l 1033 ] Which leads the reader to wonder about the connections between the repetition in his writing, and the repetition used by the characters. There is a reason he prefaces every other paragraph with a variation of the title. “It was very sad, he thought. The things men carried inside. The things med did or felt they had to do.” [ CITATION OBr16 \l 1033 ] we see that each character was controlled by different parts of their mind, the id, the ego or the superego. But no matter what it was that was driving them to carry those memories or items, it was somehow out of their control what they chose to carry. Obviously, a bulk of the trauma they carried came from the horrors they witnessed while serving. In the book, the deaths of each character are described, in detail. They do paint a very graphic picture of some of the realities that may have happened in history. Giving the reader a chance to almost experience the mental trauma that a soldier went through. With a bigger understanding of their experienced traumas, it is easier to understand O’Brien’s phrasing of the term “There it is.” As mentioned above.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells the story of a young wife and mother who suffers from suspected postpartum depression, and her family’s failure to understand her exact mental state and what she needs to get better. Though her suffering with postpartum depression is never exactly stated it is what we are left to believe. Given evidence by the fact that

Garcia Gomez 4 she does have a young baby whom she lovingly refers to as “Such a dear baby!” [ CITATION Cha92 \l 1033 ] right after making this statement she does mention that not being able to see her own baby does make her nervous. Adding to the fact that both her husband and brother do not listen to her or understand that their prescribed treatment is not a healthy one for the recovery of our narrator. Wherever her mental state is, it is not a healthy one. Her husband mistakenly gives her every form of therapy to help her, except letting her express and talk about her troubles. She isn’t encouraged to write, although she sates that she is in fact a writer by trade. Through the story we learn she has been locked in a room for 90 days as a form of treatment. However, it is the isolation for her baby and family that drive her onto her mad descent with the yellow wallpaper. The narrator of this story is constantly at battel with her own mind and her loved ones. The battle within her own mind is evident in her writing as she lets her small anxieties snowball into obsessions. Such as her need to peel back the wallpaper to free the woman behind it. Both her brother and husband are doctors and they tell her that she just needs to rest to get better. Their logic being that she needs to avoid all forms of stressful activities, assuming they include thinking as a stressful activity. However, she can feel that she is losing herself, that she is not quite herself. She is left doubting her own validity. Stating “I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time.” [ CITATION Cha92 \l 1033 ] The id, which searches for pleasure in avoidance of pain, takes her obsession with the wallpaper and lets her try and express her desire to escape the forced isolation she is placed under. “I think that woman gets out in the daytime! And I’ll tell you why—privately – I’ve seen her! I can see her out of every one of my windows! It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.” [ CITATION Cha92 \l 1033 ] this

Garcia Gomez 5 quote relates to my previous statement that she is wishful and manic in her obsession with the woman’s escape from the yellow wallpaper. The ego, which recognizes the consequences of behavior, tries to repress her urge to free the woman trapped in the wallpaper. Which I have come to understand as an expression for her to escape her confined room and confined life. She states her doubts in statements like “I am getting angry enough to do something desperate. To jump out of the window would be an admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong to even try.” [ CITATION Cha92 \l 1033 ] There is the part of her brain that pulls her away from the fleeting though she must harm herself. This part of her knows that there will be dire consequences in letting her obsessions get the best of her. Her confined living environment only worsened her condition. Her focus became on escaping and being that she was trapped in the room her only other escape was mentally. Letting her obsessions and delusions take over her. Throughout the story the prescribed treatment only pushes her further into an unstable state of mind. Both stories provide compelling data if read through a psychoanalytic lens. The two protagonists seem to project their actual desires onto that of their actions, dialogue and presented thoughts. Freud employed his expertise in psychoanalysis to develop the theory that an author can express a bigger meaning such as anxieties or a desire to the reader through the symbolism and actions of a character in text. This essay takes his theory and applies it not to the authors but to the central characters.

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Works Cited Delahoyde, M. (n.d.). Psychoanalytic Criticism . Retrieved from Public.Wsu.Edu : https://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/psycho.crit.html Gilman, C. P. (1892). The Yellow Wallapaper . Mcleod, S. (2018). Sigmund Freud . Retrieved from Simply Psychology : https://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html O'Brien, T. (2016). The Things They Carreid. In X. Kennedy, & D. Gioia, Backpack Literature . Pearson .

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