DECIPHERING MOURNING AND MELANCHOLIA IN HERTA MULLER’S THE FOX WAS EVER THE HUNTER

Abstract

The present research paper explores mourning and melancholia in Herta Muller’s The Fox was Ever the Hunter. Sigmund Freud wrote an essay, “Mourning and Melancholia,” in which he proposed new ways in which the mind works and grows. He also offered a theory that attempted to explain the origin and progression of melancholic states in humans. The object relations theory that is prevalent today had its origin in this essay on “Mourning and Melancholia”. In mourning and melancholia, the subject cannot identify the object that has led to the loss in his life. As a result, the subject suffers from various psychological dilemmas. Moreover, the person feels traumatized, disturbed and distressed due to this loss. It develops a void in the self of the individual. Therefore, he suffers from alienation and loneliness. The paper discusses the way characters in Herta Muller’s The Fox was Ever the Hunter are dehumanized and ill-treated; thus, they suffer from mourning and melancholia. Their past thoughts haunt them, so they get depressed by this.