Analysis

Psychoanalysis writing exercise on The Haunted Boy

PROMPT:

In her summary of Lacan’s theory of the mirror stage, Mary Klages notes that:

“The child takes that image in the mirror as the summation of its entire being, its ‘self.’ This process of misrecognizing one’s self in the image in the mirror creates the ego, the entity that says ‘I.’ In Lacan’s terms, this misrecognition creates the ‘armor’ of the subject, an illusion or misperception of wholeness, integration, and totality that surrounds and protects the fragmented body. To Lacan, ego, or self, or ‘I’dentity, is always on some level a fantasy, an identification with an external image, and not an internal sense of separate wholeness.” (80)

Interpret Hugh’s encounter with his own reflection in the mirror (166) in light of this quote. What does Hugh’s specular image suggest about his ego development? What role does the mother play here?

In making your argument, be sure to provide evidence from Klages and from the primary text (“The Haunted Boy”). Here is the citation information for it–Carson McCullers, “The Haunted Boy.” Collected Stories of Carson McCullers, Houghton Mifflin, 1998, pp. 158-170.

Length: 1 page single-spaced

Due: Friday 26, 11:59pm.