An Interpretation Of Dick Diver's Fall In Tender Is The Night From The Perspective Of Structural Theory Of Personality

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald?1896-1940?is one of the greatest American writers of the 20^thcentury,and the speaker of the“Jazz Age”.Tender Is the Night is his most autobiographical novel,which presents Dick Diver's fall in the process of succumbing to the upper class.Although this novel has been interpreted from many perspectives,a few scholars have ever attempted to interpret Dick Diver's fall in the process of succumbing to the upper class in light of Freud's Structural Theory of Personality.This thesis tries to interpret the process of Dick Diver's fall under the guidance of Freud's Structural Theory of Personality.The process of Dick Diver's fall is coincident with super-ego,ego and id illustrated by Freud.By interpreting Dick Diver's super-ego,ego and id in the process of his fall,this thesis intends to find out the key inner factors that lead to his tragic life.Dick Diver's fall undergoes three stages in the process of succumbing himself to the upper class.First of all,Dick Diver's super-ego plays a dominant role in his personality by repressing his id and ego.Under the drive of ego ideal and conscience,Dick Diver behaves perfectly,and attempts to cure the whole sick upper class with his own moralities.Secondly,as the story goes on,Dick Diver's ego replaces his super-ego,following the guidance of reality principle in the conflicts among id,ego and super-ego.At last,his id is in control of his personality after fighting with his ego.In this period,Dick Diver blindly pursues pleasure and gives up the reality principle,venting his sexual desires and destrudo excessively.In the end,Dick Diver chooses to exile himself in a small town.By interpreting Dick Diver's fall in light of Freud's Structural Theory of Personality,this thesis has arrived at the conclusion that Dick Diver has never solved his inner conflicts among id,ego and super-ego in the process of succumbing to the upper class,which eventually caused his tragedy.In the process of personality formation,the development of his healthy personality is severely affected by the unbalanced relationship among id,ego and super-ego.It is significant that we should have good self-knowledge to build up healthy personality in the practice of increasingly complex interpersonal relationships and social life,and learn to deal with inner conflicts among id,ego and super-ego,simply because a healthy personality is helpful for us to achieve a harmonious relationship among man,society as well as nature.