Psychoanalytical Theory in Literature Pieces - Book Report/Review Example

Harris Kamran English Literature 14 March 2008 A Literary Analysis Literaturehas always been used to explore the structure, psychodynamics and functioning of societies of different periods. Through emotional details of characters, settings and plots writers strive to provide their readers with understanding of societal issues, family life and relationships. The aim of this paper is to explore Freud's psychoanalytical theory about gender personality and mother-daughter relationship through specific and distinct contexts of four great literature pieces: Little Women by L. Alcott, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by B. Smith, The Bluest Eye by T. Morrison and a short story Cleaning Up by M. Gordon. While exploring Freud's concept I chose to take the position of Nancy Chodorow, a feminist psychoanalyst who explores the mother-daughter relationships, supporting Freud's concept. In the article Family Structure and Feminine Personality she takes on where Freud left off and "focuses on relationships rather than behaviors (as Freudians tend to)" (Nancy Chodorow); it examines the mother-daughter relationship which has been ignored; and it should be considered as a general model because of the universality of the aspects of family structure discussed. Chodorow argues that differences in male and female development are a result of women's universal responsibility for early child care and for later female socialization (Nancy Chodorow). " She emphasizes that these are subconscious social interactions versus conscious parental intent that contribute to the formation of a personality. However, such parts of the individual's conscious personality as self-concept and gender identity are dependent upon the stability of the unconscious aspects of the personality" (Nancy Chodorow). Chodorow states that the development of the different personalities of a boy and a girl growing up in the same environment, and their distinct approach toward life and its dealings, is profoundly influenced by their relationship with their mothers. In other words, the mother, through her interaction with her children, unconsciously shapes their personalities and their approach towards life. According to Chodorow, a boy has a relatively distant psychological relationship with his mother, and hence, it is easier for him to develop a separate and individual personality and existence. On the other hand, a girl, through the common gender factor with her mother and hence, a common psychological link, is more in synch with her mother, and from early childhood, her mother's actions and personality greatly effect her personality and character development. A girl subconsciously adapts her mother's personality traits and psychologically remains attached to her for a significantly longer time than a boy does. This means that she has trouble developing a distinct personality and recognizing her own character and self. The mother, too, doesn't make it any easier for her, since, being a woman, she can connect with her daughter and sees much of herself in her. Therefore, she keeps on treating her as if her daughter were one with her. This strong relationship poses troubles for the daughter in working out her own life.. These and other characteristics of the theory would be discussed, compared and analyzed through a literary analysis of the mother-daughter relationships developed in the four fore mentioned literary works. Cleaning Up, by Mary Gordon, is a short story developed in Tennessee between the late 60s and the early 80s. It is a retrospective life-journey of a young woman Loretta, who struggles with an inferiority complex, developed as a consequence of her mother's embarrassing drunken episode in the public when Loretta was thirteen years old. The fact that "she had to go out" (Mary Gordo) of the church when her mother underwent the fit of anger and starting embarrassing herself, and that Loretta tried to calm her down and take her back to their house, shows the closeness of their relationship, and how personal the matter was to Loretta. Throughout the story, it has been fostered that Loretta tried to understand her mother better and tried to decipher her mother's frame of mind and her approach towards society. This shows her underlying desire to know her mother more and to follow in her footsteps. Even as a grown up woman, she makes her decisions the way she believes her mother would have wanted her to. She dedicates her entire life in fighting the factors that had come into her life as a direct or indirect result of her mother's life and actions. For the same reason, she experiences a desire to punish all the people who did not understand the misfortune of "the darkness that invaded" (Gordon) her mother. Even though, as a child, Loretta was not accountable for her mother's actions, she still subconsciously accepted the burden of social responsibility. Loretta's personality unintentionally absorbs the feeling of low self-worth and defines her future position toward life. She finds relative comfort in dark bars and in casual sexual affairs, where her inferiority is consistent with people surrounding her. Such surroundings do not contrast her low self-worth like the church community or the Lavin family had. Such outcome is consistent with the part of the psychoanalytical theory where unconscious aspects of the personality are responsible for conscious concept of self-esteem. In the novel, The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison develops a similar line of themes in very different societal settings and backdrop, affirming the universality of the effects, influences and the fashion of the mother-daughter relationship. Written in 1970, this novel revolves around the lives of three young, African-American girls who discover the world to be an "unyielding" (Morrison) place, and approach it with their own, distinct styles, based on their personalities shaped heavily by their mothers. The degree of impact mother-daughter relationships have in formalizing children's personalities in the same settings and time is beautifully established though the characterization of the protagonist, Pecola Breedlove, and her friend Claudia McTeer. Both girls strive to understand their mothers, win over their love, and get close to them, albeit in their own ways. Claudia has to make sense of her mother's stern attitude toward her as a way of expressing love, and has to accept that expression of love in order to quench her desire of knowing that she is loved (Rosenberg Ruth 1987). She puts herself in her mother's shoes and tries to understand how she feels, and tries to comprehend her approach toward herself, epitomizing the closeness of her relationship with her mother just as Loretta had done in Cleaning Up. And once she establishes this fact, she grows more sure of herself and her place in society, fighting the societal image of a black girl as lower or unimportant, and finding her own destiny (Rosenberg Ruth 1987). Pecola, too, wants to be loved by her mother, but fails to find that love because of her mother's negative attitude toward her and her preference of someone else's white child over her own daughter (Kulkarni 1993). Chodorow writes: "Good mothering, which does not result in psychological problems for the child, comes from someone who has a firm sense of self and value and who freely chooses parenting" (Nancy Chodorow). Apparently, this is not Pecola's case, since Mrs. Breedlove never tries to be a mother to her child. She prefers a white child of an affluent society over her own black daughter (Kulkarni 1993), literally driving her daughter Pecola to insanity in the effort to win her mother's love. Chodorow says that when a girl looks at herself, she finds a reflection of her mother, which is that of low self-esteem and a side-lined personality. This has been depicted in this novel through the character of Pecola Breedlove. However, whether the daughter accepts this view of the mother or not depends upon the degree of the daughter's growth as an individual, and her separation into her own personality and self. Pecola received and accepted her mother's comprehension of her devalued place in society as an African-American girl, never finding her own self, never differentiating into an individual (Nancy Chodorow). In an organic mother-daughter relationship, seeing herself as a reflection of her own mother can become the strength of the daughter's character, as it is in the case with Claudia McTeer, who develops a strong character and independent thinking approach. However, as with Loretta in Cleaning Up and Pecola in The Bluest Eye, this very psychological link may turn out to be a bane for the daughter's life and personality, determining the course, actions, and decisions she would take in her life, and establishing a weak and antisocial or self-destructive attitude toward the society or one's own self, as Loretta and Pecola, respectively, had developed. The two novels, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, explore the relationship between a mother and a daughter, and the way each deals with the other in light of societal changes. Both novels deal with the lives of girls and follow their personal journey from immaturity toward adulthood, through the complex overlapping of young adults, little women and grown up women (Elbert, 1), each fighting her own battle, and striving to change her destiny to live a better life than what the society might offer her, grasping for knowledge from her mentor, the mother, and making it her own. Both mothers encourage their children to work hard, be smart and make their own way to happiness despite the preset societal expectations. However, the two different models of the mother-daughter relationship define the route each must take in order to reach her destiny. Each novel, in its own way, explores the relationship which can be studied by applying the discussed psychoanalytical theory. The mother-daughter relationship in Little Women has the element of a deep-founded understanding and closeness between the two. The novel develops around four sisters, and their mother, Marmee, who live against all odds and struggle through their individual lives, helping each other to live up to their dreams. Jo looks up to her mother, who manages the whole March household single-handedly in the absence of her husband, and through her, learns to be independent just like her, and to hold her head high despite all deprivations and calamities of life, always aware that her mother would always be there for her in times of need. Marmee's daughters grow up to be self-reliant and confident because they were certain that their mother will always support them and will always be there to comfort them in life. In Little Women, Marmee's connection with her daughters enables them to establish their own identities outside the bounds of society. . Just like Claudia McTeer in The Bluest Eye, Jo paves her own way through life and finds her own destiny. Her relationship with Marmee results in the development of a strong, independent and assured personality, and a subsequent victory in life. Unlike the relationship of Jo and Marmee, that of Francie and her mother Katie, is a complex one. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, has the element of a daughter's desire to be connected to her mother. She wants to get closer to her mother, know her, form a bond, and learn from her the methods of dealing with life. Meanwhile, the mother in Smith's novel tries hard to push her children toward a better life and away from the ugliness of poverty by trying to make them work hard. Unfortunately, the burden of financial misery makes Katie stern, which deprives Francie from the tender and warm motherly love, bond and guidance that would prevent a young girl from making a lot of mistakes associated with coming-of-age.. "The study of Katie is bold, deadly, without sentiment: a disenchanted mother who without hatred wishes the alcoholic husband dead (''He's worthless, worthless. And God forgive me for ever finding it out''), and who coolly plots her future once he is out of the way. The mother who acknowledges her preference for her son over her daughter -- she loves him more -- but who depends on her daughter's salary and who asks her forgiveness. It is the mother who says of the daughter: ''She does not love me the way the boy loves me. . . She does not understand me.'' Smith's achievement is to make this woman's steely resolve, her fierce sense of reality, her struggle with her own character, not only comprehensible but admirable" ( New York Times, Criticism Provided). However, even though Katie is a young woman who does not have all the answers and is still growing up herself, she is always there to support and protect Francie in times of need. Francie knows that in her heart, her mother holds the best for her, and so she loves her back dearly, albeit reservedly. Throughout her childhood Francie admires her mother's beauty, spiritual strength and pride. Such mother-daughter relationship allows Francie to grow up independent and confident because it provides the necessary conditions for a child to separate her identity from her mother's and reflect her mother's self-esteem. The discussed comparison of the five distinctive female characters, Loretta, Pecola, Claudia, Jo and Francie, and their relationships with their mothers, proves that feminine self-identity is distinctively shaped through early mother-daughter relationships and interactions. The different personality traits and life perspectives each of the protagonists developed confirms that conscious personality as self-concept and gender identity are dependent upon the stability of such unconscious aspects of the personality as feeling supported, protected or loved (Nancy Chodorow). Works Cited Alcott, Louisa. Little Women. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004. 5-380 Elbert, Sarah. Reading Little Women" in A Hunger for Home: Louisa May Alcott and "Little Women Temple University Press, 1984, pp. 151-65. Reprinted in Novels for Students, Vol. 12. Literature Resourse Center. Drexel University. 02 Feb. 2008. Gordo, Mary. Cleaning Up. (Text Provided). ISI Knowledge. 14 March 2008 Kulkarni, Harihar, "Mirrors, Reflections, and Images: Malady of Generational Relationship and Girlhood in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye." Indian Journal of American Studies 23, no. 2 (summer 1993): 1-6. Reproduced in Contemporary Literary Criticism-Select. Nancy Chodorow. Family Structure and Feminine Personality. 14 March 2008 . New York Times. 1999. 14 March 2008 Prenatt, Diane. "Simulation and the Authentic Self: Issues of Identity in Works by Flannery O'Connor and Mary Gordon," Flannery O'Connor Review 3 (2005): 39-48. Rosenberg, Ruth, "Seeds in Hard Ground: Black Girlhood in The Bluest Eye." MELUS 21, no. 4 (winter 1987): 435-45. Reproduced in Contemporary Literary Criticism-Select. Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. 5-493. Read More