An Interpretation Of The Main Characters In On The Road From The Perspective Of Psychoanalysis

On the Road,the representative work of the “Beat Generation”,has gained a lot of recognition for its spirit of seeking liberation and pursuing freedom.However,by analyzing the characters in the works,we can see that the slutty characters in the works do not represent all the writer's thoughts.The spiritual level behind the characters' behaviors reflects the conservative nature of the writer's traditional thoughts,his indulgence in behavior,escape from reality,shame and anxiety of life's inaction,especially the ending of the story of the protagonist Sal's return to real life,suggests the return of personality and inner conscience.Personality structure theory and anxiety and self-defense mechanism theory are two important contents of Freud's psychoanalytic theory.Taking Freud' s psychoanalytic theory as the theoretical framework,the two branch points of the theory,personality structure theory,anxiety and self-defense mechanism theory as the breakthrough point,and selecting the famous scholar Wang Yongnian's On the Road translation version as research corpus,using qualitative research as the main research method,document analysis and induction as the supplementary research methods,this paper analyzes the behaviors and thoughts of the two main characters in the novel,Dean and Sal,explore their personality construction,anxiety and various defense mechanisms triggered by anxiety,and the hidden roots of thought and mental state behind the unruly figures.From the perspective of personality structure,Dean's crazy image is actually a spiritual degeneration in the name of the realization of “ego” and a dynamic process in which “id” releases desire as much as possible;Sal's tangled characters are actually blind escapes and rebellions driven by the “ego”,and finally choose to compromise and return under the mediation of “ego”.From the perspective of anxiety and self-defense mechanism,Dean is an extreme representative of the complete imbalance of personality structure but relying on the self-defense mechanism to relieve anxiety;Sal is a representative of traditional thoughts that,after experiencing personality imbalance and anxiety,rationally adjusted the personality structure and finally choose to return to real life.Through the analysis of personality structure theory and anxiety and self-defense mechanism theory,only when the subject achieves the balance of “id”,“ego” and “superego” in the personality structure,and adopts appropriate psychological defense mechanisms,can a perfect personality,a correct outlook on life and values,a reasonable life be chosen,and become a positive energy for building a harmonious society.From the perspective of Freud's psychoanalytic theory,using personality structure theory and anxiety and self-defense mechanism theory to study the unruly character images of the two protagonists in Kerouac's novel On the Road,interpret and analyze their negative and depraved behavior and deep-rooted thought roots can deepen people's deeper understanding of On the Road,which is more in line with the logic of human thinking,peek into the spiritual world of the “Beat Generation”represented by the protagonists of Dean and Sal,reveal and analyze the inner nature of its lifestyle,inspire the reflection and awakening of contemporary people,urge people to choose the right way of life,establish the correct outlook on life and values,and achieve the effect of learning from the past.