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Freud id & super ego evaluation
Freud's personality theory
According to Freud, the ego _____
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Through The Natural’s allusions to the Bible and Sigmund Freud, Bernard Malamud reveals that humanity is innately imperfect through man’s temptation, inevitability of failure and the decline of success, and ego. Temptation is an unfortunate yet inevitable aspect of human nature, and through Malamud’s allusion to Bible this reality is made clear. In the Natural, Roy Hobbs’ struggle with temptation is prominent, and after constant failure to resist he finally reaches the point of no return. Before the big set of games in which the Knights have the final opportunity to win the pennant, Roy falls for Memo’s temptations: The raft with the singing green eyed siren guarding the forbidden flame gave off into the rotting flood a scuttering one eyed …show more content…
When he finally touches the bottom, his goal, he finds himself grasping liquid mud. The fluidity of the mud symbolizes Roy’s inability to set concrete, reachable goals. His goals are constantly changing, and he is never able to grab on to them, hence the liquidness of the mud. His inability to be proud of his effort to reach the bottom is a result of the extreme expectations that he sets for himself. The ghostly sardines represent the many goals that he has set but been unable to reach, and thus none of these goals give him any pride. These radical goals that Roy sets for himself are completely a result of his prominent ego. Therefore, once again, because Roy, the supposed hero of the story and also a person intended to represent the common man, is limited by his ego it exposes the fact that human nature must then be naturally flawed. In accordance with this truth, Freud describes that “The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer” (Sigmund Freud). This essentially says that Roy’s extreme expectations never change simply because the ego is not easily changeable. Moreover, the ego’s job is to be, “The representative of the outer world to the id,” (Sigmund Freud) and therefore it must satisfy the id‘s desire while also considering reason. The compromise that was made between the id and ego for Roy is essentially his high expectations that seem reasonable in his mind and satisfy the id’s desire. What Roy’s ego doesn’t realize however is that because it has been ignoring the, “provocations of reality,” Roy’s goals aren’t as reasonable as they seem. To give an example of this, when Roy was shot by Harriet his ego never dissipated, he still maintained the same set of expectations as he did before he was shot when he says, “You have to have the right stuff to play good ball and I have it. I bet some day I’ll break
The book “The Natural” talks mostly about the heroic acts of Roy Hobbs, his strength of not giving up his wish. The book is basically about the characters flaws that lead him to his fate. Hobbs wish was to become one of the most popular baseball players ever existed in history. He wanted to break any record that was ever existed in any record books, he wanted to be remembered in history forever. Hobbs meets Harriet Bird in the train who did not like his notion of becoming popular and shoots him in his upper body with a gun. One of Hobbs biggest flaws was falling in love with Harriet. But his flaws lead him toward his fate in the sense that he did not quit what he had planned for his life to become one of the best baseball players. At the age of 34, he came back in to the baseball game and tries to make things right for himself. Hobbs character in the book gives a similar role as it was given by the Greek tragedy characters; hubris like characters. Hobbs character was brought to suffer extreme sorrow like the Greek tragedy characters. Hobbs did not seems to learn from his mistakes, one of the biggest mistakes was falling in love with Harriet and in the second time he was fell in love with Pop's niece Memo which is a clear example that shows he does not learn from his mistakes.
Are humans natural born sinners? Are we content with our self-indulging human nature? Flannery O’Connor shows us through her stories that the worst quality in a human is selfishness. Through grotesque characters, O’Connor demonstrates the common theme of selfish human nature to display the ability it has to ruin/drive people crazy and that people only look to religion when they are desperate.
The role of symbolism in Bernard Malamud's The Natural is important in helping the reader understand the theme and meaning of the novel as well as the time period in which it took place. Malamud¡¦s use of symbolism defines the character of Roy Hobbs and shows how the events occurring around him affected his decisions and, eventually, his career.
Roy Hobbs is also a natural in the sense that he is a kind of idiot. In the pre-game Roy shows lots of this characteristic. It started right way in the book on page four where he isn’t able to put both feet in separate pant legs. He had a hard time of doing some simple stuff like shavi...
Oscar Wilde, an acclaimed Irish Poet, novelist, dramatist and critic once aptly commented, “Men become old, but they never become good”. The philosophical aspect of this quote relies on the basis that human beings are inherently malevolent. Through his pessimistic perspective, Wilde clearly captures the ill-disposed mindset of mankind. Moreover, there are various deductive arguments that discredit the optimistic depiction of human nature. One of the prime examples can be found in Kurt Vonnegut’s literature. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle, through the illustration of his characters, the author symbolizes the four elements of human fallibility.
The question “What makes us who we are?” has perplexed many scholars, scientists, and theorists over the years. This is a question that we still may have not found an answer to. There are theories that people are born “good”, “evil”, and as “blank slates”, but it is hard to prove any of these theories consistently. There have been countless cases of people who have grown up in “good” homes with loving parents, yet their destiny was to inflict destruction on others. On the other hand, there have been just as many cases of people who grew up on the streets without the guidance of a parental figure, but they chose to make a bad situation into a good one by growing up to do something worthwhile for mankind. For this reason, it is nearly impossible to determine what makes a human being choose the way he/she behaves. Mary Shelley (1797-1851) published a novel in 1818 to voice her opinions about determining personality and the consequences and repercussions of alienation. Shelley uses the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau to make her point. Rousseau proposed the idea that man is essentially "good" in the beginning of life, but civilization and education can corrupt and warp a human mind and soul. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (hereafter referred to as Frankenstein), Victor Frankenstein’s creature with human characteristics shows us that people are born with loving, caring, and moral feelings, but the creature demonstrates how the influence of society can change one’s outlook of others and life itself by his reactions to adversity at “birth”, and his actions after being alienated and rejected by humans several times.
In life, there are times when every human being will face challenging obstacles. In the beginning of the novel The Natural, by Bernard Malamud, demonstrates a theme that heroes are not always what we expect them to be as people, and more often than not their flaws bring their personal tragedy. Roy’s life changing experience happen when he was in Harriet’s hotel room and was shot in the stomach by her. At that moment, of course Roy has struggled with keeping up with his baseball career but, toward the end not only that heroes have their priorities straight in life: they become a better human being once they have overcome the traumatic experience. It took Roy years to overcome his difficult experience that put his baseball career in jeopardy. Throughout his experience, he never gave up on his passion and love for baseball, which motivated him to try to become the best baseball player. From there, he eventually got back on that baseball field as not only a new and improved baseball player but an inspiration to people. Tragic downfalls of heroes in our society made them a stronger human being as they are today. As for Roy, throughout his long, tragic downfall, he eventually learned a lot of life experiences
Human nature would dictate two different outcomes in this book: depression, and determination. Conversely, in A Lesson Before Dying, Human nature points to loyalty that Grant has towards his aunt that raised him.
The Road is a phenomenal example of how raw human nature shapes peoples’ decisions. It addresses the behaviors of people neither informed nor controlled by a social order. In the essence of The Road, people’s actions are highly dependent on the person’s basic needs. A lack of basic human needs often results in the more disturbing view of human nature. (Gilbert pg. 43) Betrayal, suicide, and cannibalism are all examples of behaviors that human nature can bring out of people.
It is hard to say that one is human and perfect at the same time. Human beings are not capable of achieving perfection; if that would be so, humans would stop being humans. By nature the human race is full of flaws, some appearing as early as in the womb. From defects in the body, to defects in the mind, to the mistakes that one makes in quotidian life, it is impossible to deny that human imperfection exists. To try to manipulate humans into perfection is not only impossible, but it takes away the very essence of being a human being. The short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, illustrates this teaching through the character of Aylmer, an ambitious and devoted scientist who is appalled by his wife Georgiana’s birthmark, believing it to be a perceivable sign of her human flaws and eagerly waits to remove it from her cheek. This story raises riveting questions such as, what is humanity all about, can human beings ever achieve perfection through science, is Hawthorn attacking science or a wider issue, and more significantly, should science take the place of God. Through the use of symbolism in “The Birthmark”, Hawthorn indirectly implies that imperfection is an essential part of being human and that science should not interfere; thus he is hinting his personal views toward science and its limitations over nature.
In viewing 12 Angry Men, we see face to face exactly what man really is capable of being. We see different views, different opinions of men such as altruism, egoism, good and evil. It is no doubt that human beings possess either one or any of these characteristics, which make them unique. It is safe to say that our actions, beliefs, and choices separate us from animals and non-livings. The 20th century English philosopher, Martin Hollis, once said, “Free will – the ability to make decisions about how to act – is what distinguishes people from non-human animals and machines 1”. He went to describe human beings as “self conscious, rational, creative. We can fall in love, write sonnets or plan for tomorrow. We are capable of faith, hope and charity, and for that matter, of envy, hated and malice. We know truth from error, right from wrong 2.” Human nature by definition is “Characteristics or qualities that make human beings different from anything else”. With this said, the topic of human nature has been around for a very long time, it is a complex subject with no right or wrong answer. An American rabbi, Samuel Umen, gave examples of contradictions of human nature in his book, Images of Man. “He is compassionate, generous, loving and forgiving, but also cruel, vengeful, selfish and vindictive 3”. Existentialism by definition is, “The belief that existence comes before essence, that is, that who you are is only determined by you yourself, and not merely an accident of birth”. A French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, is the most famous and influential 20th - century existentialist. He summed up human nature as “existence precedes essence”. In his book, Existentialism and Human Emotions, he explained what he meant by this. “It means that, first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterwards, defines himself. If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will be something, and he himself will have made what he will be 4”. After watching 12 Angry Men, the prominent view on human nature that is best portrayed in the movie is that people are free to be whatever they want because as Sartre said, “people create themselves every moment of everyday according to the choices they make 5”.
"He was like a hunter stalking a bear, a whale, or maybe the sight of a single fleeing star the way he went after that ball (Malamud, 162)." Since he is young, Roy Hobbs has great ability and amazing talent in baseball. However, just like a tragic hero in Greek myth, those ones who fight for their honor, but fail because of their hubris or the desire of being such immortal and an aspects of not accepting the truth and reality, Roy Hobbs' hubris, ambition and a desire for fame and his fortune really tell that he is a tragic hero.
The nature of man is to accept mediocrity. Mediocrity is defined as “of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad.” If it is human nature to only be ordinary, why does society promote this nature so heavily? If success is what man wants, why are we too afraid to go and work for it? Are there no longer individuals willing to go out and work for what they earn? The nature of man does not only define society, but man as a whole. Mediocrity is exposed in everyday life through acceptance, success, and careers. These themes are shown in literary works such as the following: The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, and Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
In Sandel’s The Case Against Perfection, there was a discussion on the notion of putting effort into an endeavor versus the ease that comes with accomplishing the same task due to natural gift (Sandel,25-29) and it was concluded that we in general as people tend to prefer and even “inflate the moral significance of effort and striving” (Sandel,28) in an attempt to belittle natural giftedness. Having acknowledged this bias in our nature, one is left with very few means to explain these conflicting behaviors. The idea of an ungratefulness for the given and rejection of the natural in favor of pursuing what we perceive as a better alternative, relies on the assumption that we are greedy and perpetually unsatisfiable in nature, an idea that is adopted in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”. Here the main character who desires to achieve total perfection through his wife, whom some could consider to be the embodiment of natural perfection, ends up killing her. This could be taken as warning against the pursuit of perfection, which because of its subjectivity, is actually nonexistent and thus can
In George Herbert’s Man, Herbert gives homage to God, and the centrality of man. The main point of the poem assumes that since God is the greatest being of all, and God created humanity, then human beings are great as well - greater than credit is given. It focuses on the concept that man is a microcosm, or a small-scale model of the world, and that every part of the body has a facet of the world of which it is equal.