An Analysis of the Protagonist in the Magic Barrel from the Perspective of Freud’s Theory

【Abstract】： This paper applies Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory in the analysis of the male protagonist---Leo Finkle---in the Magic Barrel. By analyzing three psychological phases of Leo Finkle， we could find that the conflicts between the id of Leo Finkle and the reality make him inhibit himself， but he uses his ego to pursue love， and finally the superego makes him sublimate his own spirit.

【Key Words】： Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory； the id； the ego； the superego； conflicts

Ⅰ. Introduction

The Magic Barrel tells the love-chasing process of the protagonist---Leo Finkle. The author emphatically describes the suffering and the psychological status of the protagonist. There are three phases in that process： at the beginning， Leo Fikel makes his efforts to pursue love； and then， he encounters all kinds of obstacles and suffers a lot； finally， he finds the right girl for himself.

Ⅱ. Theoretical Support---Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

Sigmund Freud（1856-1939） is considered to be the founder of the psychodynamic approach to psychology.（Wikipedia， 2016）. Freud’s assignment of the mental process to three psychic zones： the id， the ego， and the superego. The id is the reservoir of libido， the primary source of all psychic energy. Its function is to gratify our instincts for pleasure without regard for social conventions， legal ethics， or moral restraint. In view of the id’s dangerous potentialities， it’s necessary that other psychic agencies protect the individual and society. The first of these regulating agencies is the ego. As the rational governing agent of the psyche， it regulates the instinctual drives of the id so that they may be released in nondestructive behavior patterns. The ego is governed by reality principle. Superego is another regulating agent which primarily functions to protect society. Acting either directly or through the ego， the superego serves to repress or inhibit the drives of the id. （Guerin， 2014）.

Ⅲ.An analysis of the Protagonist in the Magic Barrel from the Perspective of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

3.1The Repression of Leo’s Id

The conflicts between Leo’s expectation for a bride and Salzman’s recommendation to these wrong candidates inhibit Leo’s own id. Leo is a rabbinical student in the Yeshivah University. After six years study， he is going to be ordained in June. Having for six years devoted himself almost entirely to his studies and had no time to find a company， Leo Finkle has the desire for a marriage which may make it easier to win himself a congregation. If he were married， he would live a happy life. Therefore， we can see that Leo’s desire for marriage is his “id”. It’s a kind of uncontrolled impulse toward the pleasure as well as a primary desire.

However， in the match-making process， Salzman---the matchmaker---has never found an ideal candidate for Leo. Salzman recommends three ladies to him. The first one is a young and rich widow. But for Leo， he said， “Marrying a widow has never entered into my mind”. （Brooks et Warren， 2015：578）. We scan see， in Leo’s inner heart， he hopes to find an innocent and gentle one. While Salzman still insists to introduce the widow to him. Obviously， Leo’s self-pride has been injured. The second candidate is a very smart and well-educated high school teacher whose age is about 32. Similarly， her age is out of Leo’s imagination. He can’t accept a bride who is older than him. The third one is a rich and young girl， but is little lame on her right foot. Again， Leo rejected her. After Salzman introduced the three ladies to him， he felt very depressed. There are some excerpts which portray the psychological status in texts， for example，

“Leo got up heavily and went to the window. He felt curiously bitter and upbraided himself for having called in the marriage broker.” （Brooks et Warren， 2015：580）

“Though he had felt only relief at the marriage broker’s departure， Leo was in low spirits the next day.” （Brooks et Warren， 2015：580）

“He was infuriated with the marriage broker and swore he would throw him out of the room the minute he reappeared….and when Leo’s anger had subsided， an unccountable despair grew in its place..” （Brooks et Warren， 2015：584）

What’s more， Leo also suppressed his thought in mind， especially when Salzman asked him what he is interested， he felt extremely uncomfortable. The texts describes like this， “Leo flushed but controlled himself.” （Brooks et Warren， 2015：582）.

All in all， Leo desires for an innocent， young and healthy bride， but the matchmaker seems can’t understand his desire. Then， the strong conflicts between Leo’s expectation for a bride and Salzman’s recommendation to these wrong candidates come in to being， which suppresses his “id” for a right bride.

3.2The Adjustment of Leo’s Ego

Although Leo’s “id” has been suppressed， the power of his “ego” helps him to regulate his psychological status and adjust himself to actualize his “id”. Facing these inappropriate matches， his desire， the id indeed， hasn’t been achieved. He is depressed but doesn’t abandon himself to his sentiment. That is to say， under the regulation of his ego， Leo starts to think rationally and views his marriage from a more reasonable way. He not only tries to pursue his love in a more practical way but also begins to have a reflection on himself and the whole event.

For example， although Leo turns the high school teacher down， he agreed the matchmaker to have a date with the high school teacher---Lily H. In page 582， the novel describes like this， “Leo was silent， amused at how he had entangled himself. But Salzman had aroused his interest in Lily H.”（Brooks et Warren， 2015：582） Actually， the previous failure makes him learn to face the reality. Form Freud’s psychological perspective， his “id” is not governed solely by the pleasure principle any longer at that moment. It’s also regulated by the reality principle of his “ego”. Consequently， his ego serves as the intermediary between his inner world and the world outside. His id becomes the “realistic id”. He doesn’t blindly chase his love from his primitive impulse. Instead， he tires to chase the love without suffering.

Unfortunately， that date with Lily H dampens his enthusiasm for marriage again.. Although Leo seeks for his love and marriage under the reality principle， his “id” is powerful. According to Freud’s Psychological theory， we know that， though a large portion of the ego is unconscious， it nevertheless comprises what we ordinarily think of as the conscious mind， while the id is entirely unconscious. In the process of the dating with Lily， Leo’s id still struggles with his ego， once they fights against with each other， the suffering will continue to haunt in the mind of Leo. In another word， when he dates with Lily， his will is driven by his ego， but Leo’s desire for a true love and marriage still dominates in his mind. Once again， the conflict between Leo’s id and ego come into being. Specifically speaking， during the dating process， he gets irritated when Lily asked him the things about God. Because it seems that Lily misreads him. The text describes Leo’s thoughts like this，

“He stared at her. Then it came to him that she was talking not about Leo Finkle， but of a total stranger， some mystical figure， perhaps even passionate prophet that Salzman had dreamed up for her--- no relation to the living or dead.” （Brooks et Warren， 2015：583）.

It’s not hard to see， Leo really cares about whether the company can know his heart or not. As for the stiff conversation， stupid question and the strange women， he really hopes to find a girl he loved. However， after this dating， he has a further reflection on himself， and finally takes advantage of his ego to adjust his mind status again. Firstly， he figures out the relationship between him and God. He believes，

“…with the shocking force， that apart from his parents， he had never loved anyone. Or perhaps it went th other way， that he did not love God so well as he might， because he had not loved man. It seemed to Leo that his whole life stood starkly revealed and he saw himself for the first time as he truly was---unloved and loveless.”（ Brooks et Warren， 2015：584）.

Secondly， he has a new knowledge of himself and holds a totally positive vision of love. He deems that，

“Although he is imperfect， the ideal was not. As for his quest of a bride， the thought of continuing afflicted with anxiety and heartburn， yet perhaps with this new knowledge of himself he would be more successful than in the past. Perhaps love could come to him and a bride to that love. As for this sanctified seeking who needed a Salzman” （Brooks et Warren， 2015：585）.

Through the reflection， Leo develops his own new idea about love and marriage. He is no longer interested in an arranged marriage， and admits the necessity of premarital love. That is， he wants to be in love with the one he married.

From the analysis above， we can know that Leo learns to view his love from a rational perspective. Such kind of reason comes from the regulation of his “ego”. His id is still the drive force in the process of his love-pursuing， while the “ego” conducts him more reasonably.

3.3 The Power of Leo’s Superego

Leo’s ego has balanced his inner desire well with the reality， but does he find the true love at the end？ The answer is yes. However， before the happy ending， his “ego” is strongly assaulted and challenged by some difficulties. And by the power of his superego， Leo thinks deeply and makes hard choice， eventually finds him the beloved bride. Actually， Leo has developed a new love vision， he decide to find real love instead of depend upon the arranged marriage. But as the days went by， he doesn’t meet any right one in the social life. On one morning， with a sudden relentless gesture， Leo opens the envelope which Salzman left for him. He finds a snapshot of a girl， which makes him surprised. It gave him the impression of youth---spring flowers. At the first glimpse of the snapshot， Leo believes that he has found the right girl he had dreamed for a long time. When he hurriedly reaches to Salzman， he suffers a psychological attack again. Because the girl in the snapshot is Salzman’s daughter， named Stella. According to Salzman’s description， she is an inglorious woman. In the text， Salzman says like this，

“She is not for you， she is a wild one---wild， without shame. This is not a bride for a rabbi….like an animal. Like a dog. For her to be poor was a sin. This is why to me she is dead now.” （Brooks et Warren， 2015：589）

After Salzman’s explanation， Leo fells into the abyss of pain again. As for Leo’s “id”， he hopes to own an innocent and perfect bride. However， this girl he fell in love at first sight is degrading in her soul. The conflict between his “id” for love and the social conventions occurs again. He has a hard struggle in mind. The text portrays it like this，

“he woke， beating his breast. Though he prayed to the rid of her， his prayers went unanswered. Through days of torment he endlessly struggled not to love her； fearing success， he escaped it. He then concluded to convert her to goodness， himself to God. The idea alternately nauseated and exalted him.”（Brooks et Warren， 2015：589）.

According to Freud， the superego is the moral censoring agency， the repository of conscience and pride. It is the representative of all moral restrictions， the advocate of the impulse toward perfection. （Guerin， 2014：130）. Just because of Leo’s superego， at this hard moment， he decides to accept Stella. He prepares to have a influence on her and save her with his love. And in the end of this story， Leo meets Stella by carrying a small banquet of violets and rosebuds. At that moment， Leo is like an angel. And undoubtedly， it is his superego that helps him to find his “id”--- the right bride.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

By applying the three psychic zone of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory， this paper emphatically analyzes the protagonist’s psychological status and suffering in his love-chasing process. The conflicts between Leo’s expectation for a bride and Salzman’s recommendation to these wrong candidates inhibit Leo’s own id. Although Leo’s “id” has been suppressed， the power of his “ego” helps him to regulate his psychological status and adjust himself to actualize his “id”. And by the power of his superego， Leo eventually finds him the beloved bride.

5. References：

[1]Wilfred L.Guerin. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2014. Print.

[2] Wikipedia， “Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theories”.https：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freud%27s_Psychoanalytic_Theories.html， （accessed on Jan. 1st， 2016）

[3]布魯克斯，沃倫. 小說鑒賞[M]. 北京：世界圖書出版公司， 2015：576-590.

[4]伯納德.馬拉默德. 馬拉默德短篇小說集[M].南京：譯林出版社，2003：67-95.