On Amy's Infatuation With "The Other"

Applying Jacques Lacan's Mirror Stage Theory and Desire Theory to film Gone Girl,this paper aims at making a thorough inquiry into the protagonist Amy's alienation and absence during her crazy pursuit of an ideal imago-“the other”.According to Lacan's mirror stage theory and desire theory,it is on the image of “the other” that the infant constructs itself under the influence of the speeches and gazes from the surroundings,and it is after he enters into the symbolic order to be surrounded by the languages and cultures of the human societies and desires the desire of the Other that he could be called a human being.Through these two theories,Lacan illustrates the important influence of “the other” during the subject's self-construction.On the base of these theories,this paper centers on the protagonist Amy's psychological development,revealing the root cause of her narcissistic and alienating identification with the specular image “Amazing Amy”.The paper argues that it is under the joint action of “others”-the image of cartoon figure “Amazing Amy”,parents' linguistic commands as well as readers' gazes that Amy generates in her mind the concept of “the self” as amazing Amy.And through a discussion of Amy's relationship with “Amazing Amy” as well as the three men who have rapport with her,the paper makes an in-depth analysis of the protagonist's violent and aggressive tendency.Besides,it also uncovers the truth about how Amy has been constructed by the symbolic society and gets lost in one and another desire.Thispaper argues that Amy's infatuation with “the other” is in fact out of her pursuit of ideal ego and self-construction.However,Amy is predestined to fail because of her misidentification with an image from outside.The paper discloses the root of the tragedy of Amy's and all the human beings' alienation and getting lost in the desires of the symbolic society.