The Reconstruction Of The "Self"

In Henderson the Rain King, Saul Bellow shows us a vivid character-Henderson, the millionaire who is suffering from spiritual illness but also tries to find a solution. The key point of his spiritual illness is that there is a ceaseless voice of "I want, I want" in his mind. But he does not know what he really wants. The trouble comes from the conflicts among the id, ego and superego. The hero Henderson, in order to find his way out of the crisis, goes into African hinterland. After a series of adventures he gets the harmonious personality structure and completes the spiritual transformation eventually.By analyzing the conflicts among the id, ego and superego of the character from the personality structure perspective, the thesis tries to expose the application of the defense mechanisms which shows the spirit transformation. It reveals the mental illness which is caused by distorted personality and the progress of how to get the healthy psychology finally. Normally, the id, ego and superego are in coordination and balance, so as to ensure the normal development of personality. However, the ruin of the balance can cause the mental illness and endanger the development of the personality.The thesis is divided into five parts. The present thesis starts with the brief introduction of the main purpose-the analysis of Henderson the Rain King from the perspective of the Freud’s personality structure theory. And it also makes a brief introduction of the writer, the content, the significance of the novel, as well as the relationship of the psychological theory with this novel. Chapter One analyzes the inner world of the character. It is the original state of his progressing, which shows the conflicts among the id, ego and superego. Chapter Two is based on the power changes of the three parts of the personality structure according to the experience of the protagonist in remote Africa. As the end of the journey, Chapter Three is based on the study of the psychological states when Henderson returns to America after a series of setbacks. The main purpose of this chapter is to analyze how the defense mechanisms which Henderson applied help him integrate his conflicting emotions and thoughts. In Conclusion, the thesis comprehensively describes the combination of the text and the related theory, the final purpose of paper and academic significance.It seems that, along with the quickening of the process of global integration, it is hard to find a piece of "pure land" on the earth, even in remote Africa. So, the search is becoming useless. The only possibility is to reform the human nature, to pursue their changes, just as Henderson. And if everyone wants to do something for others, maybe the world will change. That is what makes life worthwhile. The world will gradually become better.