I hope that by now it's clear why I asked you to read Beyond the Pleasure Principle before Will 'O The Wisp. At very least, Freud's theory of the drives and of the compulsion to repeat are useful concepts with which to interpret Drieu's novel and, particularly, the psyche of Alain.
An interesting thought recently crossed my mind apropos of the intersection between Drieu's novel and Freud's drive-theory. That is: Freud explicitly associates the life-drives with the unconscious, while the death-drive is an "ego-drive" (with the caveat, of course, that parts of the ego are not conscious - for instance, the preconscious). If this is the case, then this implies that Alain's self-destruction is not due to an unconscious urge (after all, his use of drugs and ultimately his suicide are quite deliberate acts), but are rather manifestations of a perhaps hypertrophied ego. After all, sexuality is associated with the unconscious and the life-drive, and Alain seems to have "difficulties" in that respect.
What other implications follow? Moreover, how could we interpret this otherwise?
I leave the floor to you.
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I completely agree with this interpretation. Alain’s suicide was foreshadowed throughout the entire novel. Yes, taking the drugs was a deliberate attempt to destroy his existence; however, I think the most important factor in the novel that leads the reader to believe his decision to die was not an unconscious urge was that throughout the novel’s entirety he is saying goodbye to his friends. If his decision to commit suicide was an unconscious urge then what explanation can be provided for him going about his rounds to say goodbye to his loved ones?
ReplyDeleteAlain supports Freud’s idea that life-drives are unconscious. He is unable to find a reason for existence. He cannot hold onto that “something” or “someone” he has been yearning and searching for. He has no control over his life, other than partaking in activities, such as drugs, which lead to his self-destruction. Hence, by committing suicide, it is his only way to take control over his life, even if that means ending it.
Quote from stephanie
ReplyDelete"If his decision to commit suicide was an unconscious urge then what explanation can be provided for him going about his rounds to say goodbye to his loved ones? "
I think Allein say goodbye to two women in his mind by the time that he let second women left him to New york and saying he wouldn't follow. So, consciously he let women go which was one of his free will(assuming the other one is money) Therefore because he lost both of free wills, ego-drive(unconscious) which includes information from conscious operate to death drive.
I also thought for the explanation of the other free will; money. He tried to get those at the same time involving with "rich women" unconsciously although he don't admit consciously.
Thus from the beginning, his unconscious was desperate to operate life drive by having rich women(Dorothy) which is his free-wills but after he failed(Dorothy left), he leans his psyche on drug to confuse himself to stop death-drive of his ego without knowing reason of existence.
However at the second time when the other women also left him, his unconscious attempted to lean on drug again but in this time, his ego starts to find what the reason of existence is. At the time he realized that he was deceiving himself for a while, his ego-drive drive suicide
Although it can be interpreted that Alain's suicide is due to an unconscious urge, I disagree. I think that Alain's suicide was due to his extreme cowardly and weak nature. He had the sense to go see all his friends before killing himself, but never once did he make the effort to go to America to straighten things out with Dorothy--he just admitted defeat when it came to her. I think that it is a horrible and cowardly thing for a person to commit suicide. I think that his drive to kill himself was purely conscious, and this is evident in the fact that he did not just wake up and kill himself, he went to see his friends and went about his day. He had been contemplating suicide for a long time before this so that also proves that it was something he wanted to do, not just his unconscious death drive.
ReplyDeleteAlain's desire to die can definitely be related to Freud's theory of the death drive. Because the death drive is associated with the ego, it is mostly conscious. In the novel, Alain is consciously aware of his desire to die. He views death as his only way to commit an act of his own will. Also, Alain wants to choose the method by which he dies, which relates to Freud's theory that the death drive causes each individual to want to die in his or her own way. According to Frued, the compulsion to repeat is a manifestation of the death drive. In the novel, Alain experiences a lot of repetition in his own life. For example, he cannot hold onto money, women are constantly leaving him, and he even begins to use drugs again at the exact same location at which he first began using them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the idea that Alain’s suicide was associated with the “ego-drive” or the preconscious. Alain deliberately made an attempt to kill himself, making his suicide planned. He believed that he could not accomplish anything else in life and therefore had no point in continuing his meaningless life. There is no doubt that Alain planned his death. He thought about every aspect of preparing his death, from measuring his heart with a ruler to putting a cloth beneath him so there would not be a mess to clean up afterwards. Alain surrounds himself with objects in his room which he tries to connect himself with, but has no luck in finding pleasure in these objects. These objects can be directly related to the people he surrounds himself with in his life. He is not truly happy with any aspect of his life, which is why he believes there is no purpose in continuing. He no longer has the life drive anymore.
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