Sample_op_(psychoanalysis)(3).docx

SHUTTER ISLAND: A LOOK INSIDE THE HEAD OF EDWARD DANIELS Psychoanalysis is a therapeutic method originally created by Sigmund Freud for treating mental disorders by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the patient's mind and bringing repressed fears and conflicts into the conscious mind, using techniques such as dream interpretation and free association (Oxford English Dictionary). Moreover, Guerin (2005) said that the foundation of Freud's contribution to modern psychology is his emphasis on the unconscious aspects of the human psyche. A brilliant creative genius, Freud provided convincing evidence through his many carefully recorded case studies, that most of our actions are motivated by psychological forces over which we have very limited control. In literature this approach suggests that literary texts, like dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author, that a literary work is a manifestation of the author's own neuroses (Delahoyde, 1999). This paper will present the Psychoanalysis Approach its manifestations in the Shutter Island (movie) as seen through the use of the iceberg metaphor: the id, the ego, and the superego, this paper will also showcase three of the defense mechanisms (denial, projection, and rationalization) which were enacted by the character Edward Daniels. Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche; they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction our mental life is described (McLeod, 2007). The id demands immediate satisfaction it operates on the pleasure principle (Freud, 1920) which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately regardless of the consequences. The id in this movie is represented by Dolores Chanal, a wife to Andrew Laeddis/Edward Daniels she acts as the pleasure principle because Daniels cannot get over her death and the guilt of being the one who killed her, the hallucinations of Daniels seeing her wife gives him the satisfaction because it made him believe more that he is not the one who killed her and for the main reason that if he can still see her then she is still alive which only means that it satisfies his desire to get his beloved wife back. On the other hand, Daniels himself represents the ego. The ego operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands (McLeod, 2007). This is evident since throughout the movie Daniels always finds a logical way

out of any situation and has an answer for every question even though his reality is really different from the real reality since he lives in a world he created in his head. Moreover, to complete the iceberg metaphor is the superego. The superego incorporates the values and morals of society (Guerin, 2005) which was represented by Dr. Cawley and Dr, Sheehan and was evident when it was admitted in the movie that this time in history when a person is mentally ill he is either given a medicine or undergoes a surgery, lobotomy as what is stated in the film but these doctors in the case of Daniels believed that he could heal his own mind if they let him play the fantasy he created a more humane action compared to giving him a medicine that will take his life away or let him undergo surgery that would make him forget. To further support the character’s mental state Daniels alongside his invented reality shows different defense mechanisms which may help the audience understand him more. First defense mechanism manifested by the character is denial; denial involves blocking external events from awareness. If some situation is just too much to handle, the person just refuses to experience it. This was shown by the character when he kept on denying who he really is because he cannot accept what he did, also, denial was evident in the whole movie because if he did not deny the facts he would not create his own version of reality to escape the guilt of what he did. Next, projection, this involves individuals attributing their own thoughts, feeling and motives to another person. This defense mechanism was very evident when he believe his

inmate was Andrew Laeddis because of his scarred face he believes that Andrew now is ugly for what he had done therefore he projected this idea onto his inmate. Another defense mechanism is rationalization it is the cognitive distortion of "the facts" to make an event or an impulse less threatening which was presented when Teddy believes that someone else killed his wife. He also distorted the fact that not only he is the one who killed her but also that he is Andrew Laeddis he may have done this to escape the guilt and the pain it caused him because he obviously loved his wife so much. The prominence of the psychological approach was very much seen in the movie through the iceberg metaphor: the use of id, ego, and superego to explain the character’s behavior and the presence of the different defense mechanisms that proves and explains Daniels’ mental state after the death of his children and wife.

References a. Simply Psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved September 08, 2016, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/defense-mechanisms.html b. Simply Psychology. (n.d). Retrieved September 08, 2016, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html c. Simply Psychology. (n.d). Retrieved September 08, 2016, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html d. Prezi. (n,d). Retrieved September 08, 2016 from https://prezi.com/fxuw3_k4egge/shutter-island-movie-analysis/