A Study On Rebecca’s Inferiority Complex In The Gravedigger’s Daughter From The Perspective Of Individual Psychology Theory

Joyce Carol Oates is an outstanding contemporary female writer in the United States,who has won multiple awards such as the Booker Prize and the O’ Henry Award.Her works reflect the plight of the people at the bottom of American society.Since her novel The Gravedigger’s Daughter was published,it has aroused widespread reading among readers.Oates uses a large number of inner monologues to show readers the psychological crisis that Jewish immigrants have suffered in the United States and how the protagonist Rebecca Schwart,as a descendant of Jewish descent,falls into inferiority complex.Based on the inferiority complex and psychological compensation in Adler’s Individual Psychology theory,this thesis conducts an in-depth analysis from three aspects: the manifestations and causes of inferiority complex,and the methods of compensating for it,aiming to reveal the psychological crisis represented by Rebecca in the novel.Firstly,Rebecca’s inferiority complex is manifested in multiple aspects.Rebecca with inferiority complex adopts an evasive attitude towards patriarchal domination and cultural hegemony,obeying others’ instructions all the time.The constant obedience leads to her psychological problems.She is excessively nervous,generating repeated hallucinations.She also has a deep mistrust of men and does not believe they will truly love her.More seriously,she questions her Jewish identity and denies her self-value.Secondly,Rebecca’s inferiority complex stems from three reasons.The first reason is psychological defect and physical defect.Under the influence of the idea that men are superior than women,Rebecca yearns for a male life.Such masculine protest consciousness leads to Rebecca’s inferiority feeling about her female identity,and her ugly appearance exacerbates her inferiority complex.The second reason is terrible interpersonal relationships.In the family,she lacks parental love,and her weak will for gender equality in love makes it difficult for Rebecca to maintain good relationship with her lover.The marginalization of Rebecca’s social status is the third reason that causes her to fall into inferiority complex.As a Jewish descendant,Rebecca suffers from racial discrimination of anti-Semitism in America.As a member of the lower-class,she suffers from strong exclusion from the American community and gets trapped into a serious inferiority complex.However,with her strong will,she finally achieves psychological compensation through active and effective strategies successfully.She starts to learn to appreciate the beauty of women and improved her self-cultivation,gradually accepting her imperfections.And then,the family relationship of mutual respect and love,as well as the equal gender relationship,brings her enough happiness and satisfaction to achieve psychological compensation.Finally,Rebecca actively retrieves her Jewish identity and gains a sense of belonging.She bravely faces traumatic experiences,breaks the shackles of the past,and realizes her self-value,stepping out of her inferiority complex.By using Adler’s Individual Psychology theory to interpret the novel,this thesis reveals the dual oppression suffered by Jewish American women under racial discrimination and patriarchy,and reflect the psychological injury suffered by the Jewish community,especially Jewish women.At the same time,it reveals the reliable means of psychological compensation for inferiority complex,which can be used for reference by ethnic minority groups trapped in inferiority complex to a certain extent.