Freudian Monster When asked to write about a monster who portrays the Freudian Personality Theory, I immediately thought about one of my favorite Christmas movies, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. The Grinch came to my mind because of how he depicts the Freudian id, ego and superego. While a child usually would not pick up on this certain behavior, now as I am older, it is very evident that the Grinch is a perfect example. The Grinch portrays the Freudian id, the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest. Throughout most of the entire movie, the Grinch is controlled by the id. His hatred roots back to being made fun of at school, never being accepted, and being rejected by Martha May, his crush, on Christmas day. During the movie, the Grinch concludes …show more content…
At the beginning of the movie, he almost never fails to cater to his id and strives to not turn into his superego. As the movie progresses, he grasps the fact that he is able to arbitrate his superego and id by practicing his ego, therefore, balancing out his personality structures. An example of the Grinch’s ego is him wrapping her up in wrapping paper after realizing he saved her. His superego kicks by saving her after his id influenced him to push her into the gift processor. By the end of the movie, his superego becomes the more prevalent part of his personality. After being showed love from the Whos, the Grinch’s heat softens and he starts performing heroic acts instead of being a villain. In one of the last scenes, he is shown putting his life on the line by saving the sleigh from falling down the
Choosing a critique was challenging, because in my opinion I feel there was a piece of each critique in the poem "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," by Dr. Seuss. However the one I chose that I believed was strongly demonstrated is the psychoanalytical analysis. As a student who wants to major in psychology this is very relatable.
Sigmund Freud created the structural model of personality that describes the id, ego, and superego parts of a person. Id is represented as the devil and based on the pleasure and benefiting themselves. Ego is the angel and devil together, where there is balance of good and bad. Lastly, superego is shown as the angel with good behavior and morals. In Golding’s book Lord of the Flies, he uses Jack, Ralph, and Piggy to represent Sigmund Freud’s theory of the three personalities: id, ego, and superego.
Freud primarily subscribed to the idea that there are two energies that drive human behavior. These two energies are sex – the pleasure principle and aggression. The human mind is comprised of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. Within the realms of the mind, the human personality is controlled by the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is driven by the pleasure principle. The superego is the instinctual moral good, which aims to please the ego ideal, or the magnified moral values. The ego interacts with both the id and the superego and aims to please both components (Connors).
Although a sociologist can look at Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch that Stole Christmas in all three of the major theoretical perspectives, the main one expressed is symbolic interactionism. The Grinch that Stole Christmas is a story about a “who” who was not considered to be part of their “whoville” society due to the fact that he not only looked different from the rest of the people, but he acted in different ways than their norms. The story is merely about how the Grinch hates the “whos,” because of how they treated him; until, a little girl named Cindy Lou Who gains a curiosity for the Grinch and wants to give him another chance to be a part of their society. Throughout the story both of the main characters develop a deep connection to each other. Upon viewing the story from a symbolic interaction perspective view, I discovered how the story thematically symbolizes an important part of Christmas by giving people another chance; meanwhile, focusing on the relationship between the main two characters help them regain faith, and while the setting symbolizes their society’s purpose.
“The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were to tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.” (Seuss).
A natural tendency is for characters to change and develop throughout a story as it progresses. A character can develop from A kind personality to a angry personality. For instance how Scrooge changes from greedy and cruel to selfless in A Christmas Carol. When Scrooge is put through a series of test to see what life is like outside of his shell, his demenur on life changes. ALthough characters can also change in a negative way. Scrooge's gradual change in attitude from selfishness to selfless conveys the theme, the populace has the power to change their ways no matter how distasteful their actions once were.
The psychodynamic approach was proposed by Freud. This approach towards personality is based on the notion of underlying forces such as the id, ego and superego which are either present from birth or develop during childhood shape our behaviour and personality as such. Experiences in childhood are proposed to be the basis of human personality, according to Freud and as such Psychodynamic theory proposes that some undesirable unbalances between the id and superego can create the arising of ego defence mechanisms which explain individual differences in behaviour. Freudian theory has been adapted by neo-Freudians, however while psychodynamic
The next perspective the Grinch demonstrates is humanistic. Being humanistic means you have the freedom to change your behavior. Following this concept, you could have something called unconditional positive regard which is a basic acceptance of someone no matter what they do or say. The Grinch gave a good example of this when he found it alright to raid Whoville and take everything they have; right after he did this he felt great about himself which demonstrates his strong unconditional positive regard for himself. Another concept he showed was his strong self-actualization which is the growth of an individual toward fulfilling higher needs. The Grinch showed this when he returned everything to Whoville and his heart grew three sizes
Orson Scott-Card’s Ender’s Game is one such example, wherein the Wiggin siblings can each be interpreted to represent an aspect of Freud’s theory. Peter, cruel and self-centered, can be seen as the id; Valentine, kind an empathetic, as the super-ego; Ender, kind but capable of extreme violence, as the ego. Alternatively, Valentine can be seen as the ego as her relationship with Peter progresses, while Ender can play the role of a super-ego that has been manipulated by the corrupted moral views of the surrounding
When the Grinch throws Cindy Lou in the mail machine, it displays the growing power of the ID. Max his dog convinces the Grinch to help Cindy. Therefore, the Grinch rescues her. Max is the representation of good! Max represents the superego in the Grinch.
Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? The Grinch is a great example of how a person can change their badness into goodness when accused of doing wrong. He became a good person. The Grinch returned all the presents and saved Cindy Loo. He had a heart.
There is no best part of the holiday season. The holidays are a pile of overused Christmas songs mixed will divorced parents spoiling their children to make their kids like them over their ex. The large and ‘great’ holiday meals will fatten people up like its thanksgiving. The human race is crumbling under the stars of My 600 Pound life. Also, people get presents from multiple people pretending to be their friends, and the one family member they actually like. Then one will see all the children around the world awaiting some fat old man to creep into their house and steal their food. Next, one will see the bratty children running around with their new toys and screaming at the top of their lungs. One may see the author as a Grinch, but they
The Theory of Freud within The Road Sigmund Freud was a very popular neurologist who had one very important idea: a person’s psyche is made up of three different parts. These parts include the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the little devil on one shoulder and is all about impulse and doing things for yourself. The ego is the mediator and the reality principle. The superego is the little angel on the other shoulder that acts as your conscience.
Freud was the first to suggest that everyone has a large unconscious. He identified the Id, the ego, and the superego as the three parts of the personality. The Id operates on “pleasure principle”, the ego operates on the “reality principle”, and the superego operates on the “moral principle”. Henry Turner lived a life controlled by his Id until a dramatic event that completely changed his life and the way his subconscious and conscious perceive and react through everyday events. After his accident, Henry’s life changed and he became more dependent on his superego.
In addition, Psychodynamic trait theory by Sigmund Freud demonstrates the mental development of the main character’s personality traits in the film. Freud theorized that a personality comprises of three parts: ID, Ego and Superego. The ID represents an