So I have this end of the year essay to write on a novel of my choice and I picked, "The Story of Lucy Gault", and the assignment is to pick one of, psychoanalysis, gender criticism, or archetypal criticism to do on the novel. There was not much choice with this novel so I picked psychoanalysis. I decided to do how the id psyche lead to the tragic event in the novel. I started my essay if there's anything I can improve on or any corrections please let me know. Please and thank you!!!
Throughout the course of our lives we face many undesirable situations in which we must make a difficult choice, a choice that may decide what the future has in store for us. These decisions should be made after careful thought of what each option may render for ourselves and those we care about. However many individuals hastily act upon their impulses leading to unfortunate consequences. This is because your impulse refers to your id psyche urges. The id is the centre of your desires, wants, and things that we basically must have. Impulse is our drive to get those things. The id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the consequences or the reality of the situation, which in return leads to regretful events. William Trevor's, The Story of Lucy Gault, recounts the tale of a young girl's wrecked childhood after a series of faulty decisions were made in atonement to the id psyche. After psychoanalyzing this heartrending novel it is clear that Lucy and her parents spending the majority of their lives without the comfort of having each other by their sides is because the id psyche controlled the actions of Everard Gault, Mr. Horahan, and Lucy Gault.
Everard Gault's aggressive id psyche is the onset to the severance. In response to the three locals attempt to set his rural house afire one night, Everard impulsively takes out his gun and pulls the trigger, wounding one of the trio. His id psyche took over him when he was trying to defend his house and family although he was aware that this imprudent engagement would surely enrage the group even further. Because of this event he and his family are forced to leave their beloved home, "We had been happier at Lahardane than anywhere else, but there would be revenge for the shooting, how could there not be?"(11). Because Everard acted out on his id psyche and shot the boy, they had to go against Lucy's will and flee the country, leading to their separation after a misunderstanding. His aggression created a personal problem, because the boy, Mr. Horohan, and the rest of his family assumed the firing was an attempt of murder. "The violence will go on, truce or not. You can tell it will, you can feel it. We can't be protected Everard, you shouldn't have fired a shot" (9). The Id psyche caused Everard to act without foreseeing the upcoming consequences. Everard Gault regretfully apologized multiple times, without receiving forgiveness.
Mr. Horohan's actions driven by his id also played a key role in the wreckage of Lucy's family. After the shooting, Everard Gault realized the boys will come back to get revenge, so with a last string of hope he apologized to Mr. Horohan and his family, first through the mail, but when he received no response he went in person. There, his apology was rejected, and the Horohan's behaved aggressively, acting out on their id psyche. He rejected the apology even though he was well aware that his son was attempting to destroy Everard's house and that Everard only fired a shot in defense. Mr. Horohan also knew that this meant Everard Gault and his family would have to leave their perfect life behind and flee Ireland. Everard then left the Horohan household in disappointment. At home Mrs. Gault knew that they had no choice but to leave now. "Not a word I said was taken into consideration. Everard, we have one another and we have Lucy, we must begin again, somewhere else" (page 12). Mr. Horohan knew he was at fault, and accepting the apology was the least he could do, but his id psyche took over and he rejected Everard's apology. Because of this egotistic decision, Everard's family was destroyed. Years later, when Mr. Horohan had realized what he did he went to see Lucy, "In the quietness of the room Lucy tried to say that she might have married the man she loved, that her father and mother had been driven from their house, that her mother had never recovered from her distress" (190). The id psyche had yet again cause regret in this novel, but Mr. Horohan's actions could not be taken back. Mr. Horohan's actions did not only lead to the separation of Lucy and her parents but also with the man she loved. Lucy would not accept the proposal of the man she loved before seeing her parents. It was because of Mr. Horohan's id psyche taking control when he and his group was attacking Everard's house and when he rejected Everard's house that Lucy lost the happiness in her childhood, her parents and lost the man she loved.
Lucy Gault's id-ridden decision to run away from home is amongst the three main causes of the domestic tragedy. Lucy Gault's Protestant family is driven away from Lahardane as three locals attempt to set their rural house afire. The day before her family is scheduled to flee Ireland for England and safety, Lucy Gault runs away into the woods, "she was cross the way the things were, she had it in mind to run off so they'd maybe take notice of her" (page 47). Lucy acted aggressively in an attempt to satisfy her desires instead of looking at the possible realistic options to satisfy her parents and herself, which ultimately lead to her own destruction. Her parents finding a scrap of her clothing at a nearby beach assume the worst. Convinced Lucy has drowned, they depart Lahardane for a life of wandering and grieving in Europe rather than in England as planned, leaving them out of touch with their old life. Days later Lucy is discovered by two servants only to find her parents gone. Had Lucy not acted upon her id psyche she would have saved herself and her parents much misery. The Gault's family lawyer remembers the heartache her parents suffered because of Lucy's rebellious actions. , "he and his wife had gone down to the strand time and time again, how they suffered the torments of hell by day and by night, and now apparently were travelling purposelessly, all because their wayward child decided to runaway" (page 49). It's clear that because of one decision based on her id psyche her parents and she were disconnected creating a long-term angst for all of them.
In conclusion, the strong id psyche in Everard, Mr.Horohan, and Lucy Gault lead in the separation of Lucy from her parents. A series of events controlled by the id psyche caused great destruction. Firstly, Everard Gault acted aggressively upon impulse and shot Mr. Horohan putting his family in danger, which in the long run lead to him and his wife unknowingly abandoning their beloved daughter. Secondly Mr. Horohan acted aggressively and for his benefit, rejecting Everard's apology, leaving them no choice but to flee from the country in which they have lived all their lives. Lastly, Lucy acted upon her id, thinking only of fulfilling her wishes, without anticipating the complications that her actions would present and ran away from home. All these things lead to Mr. and Mrs. Gault leaving Ireland without their 9 year-old daughter, Lucy. This tragic novel is a perfect demonstration of the fateful outcomes of making decisions upon impulse using one's id psyche.
I guess I would give it a B. The thesis is clear, and the writing is good, but... the main idea of this is a bit too simple. I mean, maybe it is going to get you an A, but my problem with it is that the id ego can be blamed for almost all human problems! So, I think you can say something slightly more complex about it.
You can dig deeper by reading more about id, ego, and superego, and quote freud about his main observations... find a concept associated with id ego that you had not yet heard of, and see if you can find examples of it in the story. It is not good enough to just talk about the characters' errors and at the end of every paragraph say, "That was because of id." I think you should give a bit more discussion and citation of Freud's work about this, and then find a way to use the story to show evidence of these concepts related to id.
Know what I mean? Instead of limiting this to the simple fact about "id" and what it is, go deeper in your reading of Freud and in that way make the essay deeper, too.
:-) I hope that helps and that I am not just being a nitpicker.
