| William Faulkner is one of the greatest American South novelists in the twentiethcentury. Published in1932, the novel Light in August occupies the important positionin his literary career. Joe· Christmas，the hero in Light in August has become one ofthe most remarkable heroes in American literature.According to Freud, the personality structure consists of the id, ego andsuper-ego. Christmas’ personality is made up of irresistible id, unrealizable ego andvulnerable superego, which conflict between one another. Christmas’ id isoverwhelming beyond the control of his ego or superego. If the harmony among thethree forces is broken, the person may be bothered by anxiety. Sigmund Freudclarified three types of anxieties based on his research namely reality anxiety, neuroticanxiety and moral anxiety. For Christmas, his reality anxiety strives from hismotherless childhood and isolation from society; the distort of erotism and abnormaldesire often make Christmas suffer from the neurotic anxiety; while the uncertainty ofhis identity makes him unable to escape the bothering of moral anxiety. When theanxiety troubles people, some defence mechanisms will be used, which can be dividedinto positive and negative. Under the pressure of anxiety, Christmas takes advantageof some negative mechanisms such as regression, passive aggression, delusion,repression, repression, displacement and acting out. This thesis analyzes the reasonsthat have caused the tragic fate of Christmas: Christmas’ overwhelming idsuppresses his ego and his superego is irrealizable; while he takes negative defensemechanisms when dealing with anxieties, which leads Christmas’ tragedy. |
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