The Role of Unconscious in Directing the Character’s Behaviour; A Psychoanalytical Study of Toni Morrison’s Novel, “A Mercy”

Abstract

This study examines Toni Morrison’s A Mercy from a psychoanalytic perspective with significant reference to the role of the unconscious in directing the characters’ behavior. Sigmund Freud’s ideas and postulations have been adopted in this research paper. To Freud, human behavior is directed by factors that are usually unaware of the humans ‘unconsciousness. This idea explained later in this paper is significant in the sense that it reveals new hidden dimensions of human characters through Morrison’s successful choice of a certain literary narrative technique. The psychoanalytic reading of Morrison’s ideas and techniques helps readers to create new meanings and to provide new ideas in understanding African American fiction. Finally, this paper tries to prove that a stable character is a balanced character in which the social and psychological aspects are well-integrated.