Exploring the Id in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises (1926)

Abstract

This research paper focuses on exploring the id in Hemingway’s The Sun Also
Rises (1926). From Freudian prospective, id, ego and superego are three parts of
human psyche or mind. The id or pleasure principle is dominant throughout the
novel. The instinctive and impulsive urges of the id ruin the ego and superego of
the characters. As the characters strive to forget the traumatic past of the war, they
indulge in excessive pleasure as free sex and excessive alcoholism. The deep
trauma of war rooted in the unconscious of the characters, makes their lives like a
hell. Consequently, the id strives for gratification and pleasure for removing the
trauma from their minds. Brett, who is the heroine of the novel, falls to the urges of
the id blindly. She recklessly indulges in free sex and excessive drinking. Similarly,
Jake, Mike, Bill and Count always seek excessive pleasure in drinking. The
characters search for pleasure is the unconscious urge for life instinct and psychic
energy. The dominant id suppresses ego and superego as a result it creates neurotic
anxieties in the characters.