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Connie's Id By Arnold Friend

815 Words4 Pages

Have you ever unintentionally associated something clean with an inappropriate thought? This is one of many of Freud’s theories of reading or speaking something that is internally suppressed. According to Freud, The uncanny is “...something which ought to have remained hidden but which has come to light.” In other words, the uncanny is something that we know and are familiar with, which had previously been buried, however, has now been disclosed and brought to attention. This can be associated with a secret that has verbally been spread, or can be associated with something as deep as a thought that had been repressed coming back to our consciousness. The latter prevalent throughout Joyce Carol Oates’ short story: “Where Are You Going, Where …show more content…

In this context, Connie can be seen as the ego, which must decipher right from wrong. Friend is shady and eventually we discover him to be dangerous –as our Ids can be. Friend overpowers Connie, just as our Ids can overpower our egos to do certain things, and impact our decisions. Oates illuminates this concept in her story when she illustrates: “Arnold Friend was saying from the door, "That's a good girl. Put the phone back." She kicked the phone away from her. "No, honey. Pick it up. Put it back right." She picked it up and put it back. The dial tone stopped” (Oates 8). Connie tries to resist her Id but she eventually gives in and obeys every command that Friend throws at her. Although Oates uses this illustration to exaggerate how powerful our Ids can be, is it an accurate representation of the impact our Ids can have on us. At the end it is revealed that if Connie follows her Id, she will follow a path that is unfamiliar, and potentially dangerous (Oates 9). Connie is giving into her Id, which is convincing her to do something she desires inside, running away. Her Id being able to control her actions by directing her to perform the act of her inner aspirations, can directly relate to Freud’s viewpoint on the uncanny. Connie’s inner wish is just another suppressed emotion that is eventually released by her Id’s

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