Love As A Way Out: An Analysis Of The Protagonist In Flight Based On Freudian Personality Structure

Sherman Alexie(1966-) is one of the most popular Native American writers. Up to the present, Alexie has published twenty-two works, including four Indian novels. As the third one, Flight was published in 2007, which is widely acclaimed as a great novel for its advocacy of eliminating racial hatred and strengthening racial integration. Recently, more and more researchers at home have turned their attention to American Indian novels. However, the research into Flight is inadequate, which just focuses on the racial issues. This thesis has analyzed Flight based on Freud’s psychoanalysis theory.In the novel, Alexie presents the protagonist’s fantastic spatio-temporal traveling, during which different experiences provoke the protagonist into conflicts among the three different components of the personality structure. When the id, the ego, and the superego prevails respectively, the protagonist will take different actions accordingly. Traveling across time and space means the spiritual exploration. At the end of the traveling, the protagonist abandons the assault and hostility directed by the id and begins to understand and accept others under the governance of the superego, thus concluding the traveling of love-pursuit.This thesis consists of six parts.Introduction makes a sketch of Alexie’s family, education, and his literary achievements, summarizes the study on this novel Flight both at home and abroad, and thus reveals the significance of the thesis under study.Chapter One makes an overview of the Freudian Personality Structure theory and its application into the novel. It states that the theory can well explain the psychological changes that have happened to the protagonist named “Zits”. Therefore, it can serve as the theoretical foundation for the subsequent interpretation of Flight.Chapter Two is the part which reveals the protagonist’s miserable growing background and analyzes his life surroundings without love and care. Driven by the id, the protagonist becomes indifferent and hostile. He even degenerates himself into the acts of theft and impulsive killing. Under the control of the id, the protagonist loses his reason and his direction, beginning a life of self-exile.In Chapter Three, it mainly deals with the fantastic journey. The different experiences during the traveling put the protagonist into the conflicts of the id, the ego and the superego. When the id prevails, he tends to take revenge and kill others recklessly, heedless of consequences. When the ego based on “the reality principle” gains the upper hand, the protagonist begins to be aware of the evil deeds he has done and feel guilty. Finally, when the superego prevails, the protagonist gains the meaning of understanding and forgiveness, brave enough to sacrifice himself for others.In Chapter Four, it focuses on the reality after the traveling. The protagonist actively hands in the weapon, learns to accept, and becomes sincere and kind-hearted, which shows the peace of the id, the ego and the superego with the superego as the direction. His superego gains sublimation and the traveling of love-pursuit is concluded successfully.The last part is Conclusion which summarizes and reviews the previous chapters and draws the conclusion that keeping the balance of the Personality Structure is vital to the shaping of healthy personality in modern society. As for the protagonist, the only way out is to accept, forgive and love, merging himself into the dominant society, in a positive way.