Forgive Me Character Analysis

By noticing the inner conflict of the id, ego and superego in Leonard in Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, readers can gain a better understanding of a deeper conflict in which Leonard has to battle himself rather than the world around him, introducing a more profound meaning to the novel. Standing next to a river, holding a gun to his head, Leonard is prepared to pull the trigger and end his life for good. He sees no reason to keep living; his parents couldn’t care less about him, he’s been bullied in the worst way possible, and everyone forgot his birthday. Feeling confident in his choice, Leonard attempts to pull the trigger, but his finger freezes and causes a delay in his death. Leonard curses his finger and then stops to think for a

This becomes a pattern in Leonard’s thoughts where he doubts himself and later debates whether or not he should have gone through with killing himself instead of reaching out for help and going back to the life he always lived. Leonard’s ego made this thought come at just the right time because “the ego is the rational, pragmatic part of our personality… and its job is to balance the demands of the id and superego in the practical context of reality” which is exactly what happened as Leonard lowered the gun (Boundless). Sigmund Freud discovered the three parts of the brain responsible for decision making; the id is impulsive, the superego concerns itself with social morals, and the ego displays a balance between the two. In this situation, Leonard’s id had most of the control, telling him to pull the trigger now. And he would have done it, if his ego didn’t rush in and tell him to stop his finger and lower the gun. Leonard thinks he wanted the id to prevail, he wanted to be impulsive and end everything once and for all because his mind convinced him it was the right thing to do, but his ego proved him