An Analysis Of Yakov In The Fixer From The Perspective Of Freud’s Personality Theory

In the tide of history,the Jews suffered and drifted,but the Jewish beliefs were closely linked.Jewish literature,with its unique historical origin,the background culture and the characteristics of the times shines in the ocean of literature with its unique beauty.In the writings of Jewish writers,the suffering of Jews is described as profound and intriguing.Malamud,a writer with “most Jewishness”(Sheldon N.Grebstein,1972:78),has become the leader of many Jewish writers because of the unique style and Jewish theme in his works.Malamud has written a lot of books all his life,writing eight novels such as The Assistant,The Fixer and seven short stories such as The Magic Barrel.The Fixer,published in 1966,won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in the United States,becoming the representative work of Malamud.The story of The Fixer is set against the historical background of Czarist Russia during 1903-1906 when the whole country is full of the emotion of anti-Semitism.Based on the true anti-Semitic event of 1913,the work describes the arrest and imprisonment of a poor fixer Yakov Bok,who,in order to change his poor life,went to Kiev alone to take a chance and was falsely accused of killing a 12-year-old Christian Russian boy,Kinyar Gorov.In more than two years of prison life,Yakov suffered from both mental and physical torture,but still indomitable.Yakov Bok was an innocent scapegoat in the fiercely anti-Semitic waves,took the responsibility of fighting and suffering for his nation.Through the description of the miserable experiences of Yakov,the status quo of the Jews is deeply and truly reflected.With his unique brushstroke,Malamud has created many works with profound thoughts,which are left to later generations to explore.The authors at home and abroad have systematically and thoroughly studied Malamud’s works from different angles.No matter from which point of view,Malamud’s works have become an important branch of American Jewish literature research,leading the upsurge of Jewish literature criticism.This paper takes Freud’s triple personality theory as the theory frame to analyze the protagonist,Yakov Bok,in The Fixer.The full thesis is divided into five parts.In the introductory part,this part briefly introduces the author Bernard Malamud and his literary works,the literature review of The Fixer,and also introduces Freud’s triple personality theory.The first chapter analyzes the concrete embodiment of the,ego and superego of the protagonist,Yakov Bok.The secondchapter analyzes the reasons cause the formation of Yakov’s personality,such as the failure of pursuing the sense of belonging,the persecution in the biased society,and the regaining of "Jewishness ".The third chapter mainly summarizes the demands and coordination between the id,ego and the superego of Yakov,the causes of the change in character and the influence on his life,that is unchanged miserable life,the doomed imprisonment,and the irresistible duty as a Jewish people: suffering for the Jewish people.In the conclusion part,through the evolution and development of Yakov’s triple personality,the sacrificing spirit of Yakov who is willing to suffer for the whole nation is concluded and the way of redemption to realize self-development is found,which reveals that the real redemption lies in the strong and responsible spirit of self-heart and courage.From the perspective of Freud’s triple personality,this paper analyzes the embodiment of Yakov’s id,ego and superego,as well as the root leading to his triple personality,and explores the influence of the formation and change of this personality on his destiny.It reflects the tragic situation of the whole Jewish people in the specific social and historical period from the personal tragedy.It also helps to understand the causes of the suffering of the Jews for generations,and to reveal Yakov’s spirit of willingness to suffer for the whole nation,the spirit of "All men are Jews".Combined with Freud’s triple personality theory to analyze the text,a deeper understanding of the tragic encounter of the protagonist is reflected through his psychological changes.What Yakov suffers is also the whole Jewish people are experiencing.Although the Jews have suffered for generations,as the chosen people of God,they believe that all suffering is valuable and they are willing to suffer for the whole nation.What’s more,through the analysis of Yakov’s experience from the triple personality theory,the way of redemption for the Jews or anyone who is suffering to realize self-development is found,that is the real redemption lies in the strong and responsible spirit of self-heart and courage.