Personality Development The purpose of this research is to demonstr

connection between the character and fate of Emily in (Original

Sins( by Lisa Alther, and the theories of personality development

as expounded by Sigmund Freud and Erving Goffman. That the

character of Emily illustrates a workingout in terms of the

Freudian structural hypothesis is apparent in the fact that

Emily's life is framed by a constant pushpull of body, mind, and

action in the world. Chiefly, this inheres in the tension in

Emily's life between her internalization of societal norms, as

learned in her childhood in Newland, Tennessee and her impulse to

break away from a life lived according to norms, as against her

concomitant wish to benefit from the emotional safe haven for the

gratification of her id that living life by rules may supply.

The ego functions that come into play for Emily occur

from the time she leaves home for school. Confronted with new

stimuli in the form of education, she experiences what Freud

calls "cultural struggle" (Freud:70). This occurs in a complex

way. As she discovers through newly educated eyes the demands of

social justice in a repressive white society, she seeks to

address the repression directly. This explains her insistence on

apologizing to a perplexed Lou "for what my people have done to

yours," as well as her experience of guilt with regard to "all

these brave resourceful people facing insurmou

. . .
ts will think about what she selects to wear to Jed's funeral: The fewer trips to this loony bin she called home, the better. She'd spent a lot of time deciding what to wear, whether or not to conform to what Newland considered appropriate funeral attire. She'd have had to go out and buy a black dress and hat, which she'd never wear again. Until the next funeral. So she was wearing her dark brown pants suit and vest, boots, a silk shirt, and loosely knotted tie. As she came downstairs, her parents in their basic black studied her. Finally her mother murmured, "Oh well, I suppose it's your life" (Alther:379). Her parents, of course, are manifest internalizations of normative culture; Emily rejects the internalization but feels guilty or at least uncomfortable about it. She cannot quite relinquish the emotional impact that her parents' disapproval has on her, perhaps for the same reason that she is torn between her longing for emotional fulfillment with Justin and her disgust at his behavior. In any case, as Goffman would have it, she presents herself to her parents, as nearly as possible, in a way that will not threaten them too dramatically, and will at the same time allow he
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Justin Emily, Freud80 Emily, Repeatedly Emily's, Newland Tennessee, Alther529 Sally, Alther438 Freud's, Freud701 Freud, Erving Goffman, Sally Sally, Sally Emily, emily's life, normative culture emily, sense guilt, social activism, structural hypothesis, ie superego, jed's funeral, insistence apologizing, normative culture, cultural struggle, desire aggression,
Approximate Word count = 2028
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)