Sigmund Freud and Everyday Use :: Everyday Use essays

Sigmund Freud and Everyday Use Sigmund Freud is best known for his development and use of psychoanalysis. The theory of psychoanalysis focuses on the concept of how our unconscious thoughts, feelings, and emotions play an active role in our daily lives. The id, ego, and superego are the three mental zones that encompass our psyche. Each zone has a specific function: The id functions on the pleasure principle; the ego on the protection of the individual; and the superego on protection of society. The degree of which each zone has been developed can be broken down and then analyzed. These three zones can be visualized by imagining a pie cut into three slices. Every individual is composed of different amounts of each mental zone. The ultimate goal is to achieve the perfect balance of the three areas by understanding how each area works alone and contributes to make the whole. In the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, Dee's actions are clearly attributed to her over and under development in specific mental zones. Dee, rather Wangero as she prefers being called, suffers from an overdeveloped id, a distorted sense of ego, and an underdeveloped superego. With this degree of pull and tug, misunderstandings are a common experience between Dee (Wangero) and her peers. The id is the main energy source for the psyche. The id " '...knows no values, no good and evil, no morality' " (HCAL 130); it functions on instinctual motives. Dee (Wangero) possesses a straightforward, rather blunt, disposition about life. Life is hers for the taking and she dares anything to stand in her way. She takes on the attitude that the world was created to satisfy her. Since the world gave her books to read, she expected the world to listen to her read; because the world giving her clothing options to choose from, she expected the world to respect her choices; in changing her name, she expected the world to honor this change. Her id was overdeveloped because she acted on instinctual sources rather than moral for her decisions. The overdeveloped id frequently appears when the self-centered, self-serving side of her become more prominent than her outward orientated, selfless side.