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PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM ON GREEN EGGS AND HAM
By: Stephanie AlonsoHerbert Castillo
Jennifer FernandesMelanie Nefas
What is psychoanalysis? Psychoanalysis is Freud’s theory of
personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts.
Mind’s structure
Ego: executive mediator
between the id, superego,
and reality.
Superego: internalized ideals; provides standards for judgment and future aspirations; our conscience.
Id: storehouse of our
desires, wishes, and
fears.
SAM-I-AM AND THE GREEN EGGS
Sam-I-Am represents the id of the unnamed character.
The green eggs represent an unconscious desire and part of Sam-I-Am’s identity.
Both are repressed by the ego of the unnamed character in order to avoid being labeled as immature.
His persistence, as portrayed by the text’s cumulative nature, shows the strength of the id.
GREEN EGGS AND REACTION FORMATION
The unnamed character uses reaction formation to avoid eating the green eggs and ham.
Reaction formation: a defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches impulses into their opposites.
In reality, the unnamed character desires to eat green eggs and ham.
TRIUMPH OF THE ID At the end of the book, the id finally
breaks all sorts of defense mechanisms and the unnamed character finally tries green eggs and ham.
The momentary reconciliation between the id and ego give
the unnamed character fulfillment and liberation.
IMPLICATIONS From a psychoanalytic perspective,
Green Eggs and Ham illustrates our constant struggle between an adult life and our childlike remnants.
We should not become jaded as we grow up. Instead, we should allow for sporadic equilibrium between the id and the ego.