The Impact of Repression on The Unconscious Mind

Introduction

Repression is the consent where a person goes through a traumatic experience, leading the individual to unconsciously push the information out of consciousness and become unaware of its existence, repressing them and leaving them in the unconscious mind. Sigmund Freud discusses repression extensively in “Five Lectures On Psycho-Analysis.” This psychological mechanism is exemplified in the character of Emily in “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner. Throughout the story, Emily exhibits signs of repression when her need for affection is continuously ignored.

Repression and the Unconscious Mind: A Psychological View

Emily and her father’s relationship is not the typical loving relationship between a father and daughter. Instead, Mr. Grierson, her father, is overly protective and controlling, treating Emily more as a possession than a daughter. When her father dies, Emily exhibits signs of repression by denying his death to avoid emotional pain. Despite the lack of affection from her father, he was the only person she had, making denial her only means of maintaining happiness. Eventually, Emily acknowledges her father's death and breaks down crying. This repression extends to her sexual desires, as her father kept her isolated from men, forcing her to suppress these natural needs. According to Freud, sexual repression often leads to psychological damage. Freud asserts, “The predisposition to neurosis is traceable to impaired sexual development in a different way” (Freud, 1910).

Emily's neurosis becomes apparent when she denies her father's death and keeps his body with her, a fact that the townspeople eventually notice due to the smell. Freud describes neurosis as a complex doomed to early repression, yet it exerts significant influence from the unconscious: “The complex which is thus formed is doomed to early repression; but it continues to exercise a great and lasting influence from the unconscious. It is suspected that, together with its extensions, it continues the nuclear complex of neurosis, and we may expect to find it no less actively at work in other regions of mental life” (Freud, 1910). In other words, Emily was likely stressed and unsatisfied with the lack of affection and validation in her life, which compounded her psychological distress.

The Role of Homer Barron

Homer Barron, Emily’s lover, enters her life after her father's death, representing a choice that defies her father's preferences. When Emily falls in love and attempts to express her sexual desires to Homer, she discovers that her feelings are unreciprocated due to Homer’s homosexuality. This revelation triggers violence in the story, culminating in Homer’s poisoning and subsequent preservation as if he were still alive. Freud points out, “The investigation of hysterical patients and of other neurotics leads us to the conclusion that their repression of the idea to which the intolerable wish is attached had been a failure. It is true that they have driven it out of consciousness and out of memory and have apparently saved themselves a large amount of unpleasure. But the repressed wishful impulse continues to exist in the unconscious” (Freud, 1910). Emily finally receives the attention she craved, but her inability to fulfill her needs due to unrequited love leads her repressed feelings to surface, driving her actions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Freud’s concept of repression is evident in “A Rose For Emily” through the character of Emily Grierson. Her need for affection, deeply ignored, leads her to madness. Emily ultimately represses her sexual desires due to her father's prohibition of romantic relationships, resulting in mental illness. When she believes she has found love, she is met with disappointment, prompting her to release her sexual frustrations in a tragic manner.

References

Freud, S. (1910). Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis. London: The Hogarth Press.

Faulkner, W. (1930). A Rose for Emily. Forum.