MANIFESTATION OF THE UNCONSCIOUS: A PSYCHOANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE CHARACTERS IN ‘CLEAR LIGHT OF THE DAY’

Abstract

This research paper analyzes the novel ‘Clear Light of the Day’ to explore the factors present in one's unconsciousness and their effects on personality development by using Freud's (psychoanalytic theory, 1910). Moreover, this research also aims at analyzing the major characters of the novel by applying Freud`s Psychoanalytic theory of identifying the elements of personality, i.e., Id, Ego, and Superego in the said novel. It has been found that the memories and past events affect the characters’ perception of almost everything. The researcher has tried to explain the problems faced by the Das siblings and their relationship with their parents after analyzing multiple factors including psychological, political, and familial that affect the characters’ personality development and how these factors result into conflicts, grudges and hatred for their family members. The characters have been found struggling internally to cope with the evils present around them and balance it with goodness, and the stages in their struggle that manifests in the Id, Ego, and Superego development. It can be found that the characters’ actions were the result of their past experiences which reside in their unconscious waiting for a chance to be manifested through their actions.