The purpose of this research is to provide a textual analysis, interpretation, and study of a brief passage from The Words by Jean-Paul Sartre. The research will establish the context for analyzing the text and then discuss the pattern of ideas that dominate the passage and the intent that underlies these ideas.
What must be first of all understood about the text under discussion is that its autobiographical nature positions it in the tradition of a confessional. However, the big picture of the text is that it is plainly an analytical confessional. The perspective from which the writer is presenting his account of his relationship with his family is adulthood, and it is to be expected that an adult who reflects on his childhood would be able to characterize his behavior and feelings in a way that would help explain how the adult emerged. But Sartre's approach vividly illustrates how much more complex, detailed, and nuanced the psychology of one developing child is than most people might think.
Whether the subject of the text--the child Sartre himself--is typical or atypical of all children is less important than the evidence the adult Sartre is willing to marshal in presenting the manner in which the child makes a complex project of presenting himself both to himself and to those with whom he comes in contact. The declaration "I keep creating myself" (32) is strong support for early onset of a complex psychology. Furthermore, the complexity derives not so much from the child's extraordinary intelligence as from what is his apparent inability to experience life directly and simply. Meanwhile, however, the child's continual misreading of the consequences of creating himself places him in the position of having to continually relearn and re-create. How that comes about can be seen in the description of the boy's relationship with the people nearest to him--family and servants.
The text makes the case that the absence of a father ...