PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM ON GREEN EGGS AND HAM

By: Stephanie AlonsoHerbert Castillo

Jennifer FernandesMelanie Nefas

What is psychoanalysis? Psychoanalysis is Freud’s theory of

personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts.

Mind’s structure

Ego: executive mediator

between the id, superego,

and reality.

Superego: internalized ideals; provides standards for judgment and future aspirations; our conscience.

Id: storehouse of our

desires, wishes, and

fears.

SAM-I-AM AND THE GREEN EGGS

Sam-I-Am represents the id of the unnamed character.

The green eggs represent an unconscious desire and part of Sam-I-Am’s identity.

Both are repressed by the ego of the unnamed character in order to avoid being labeled as immature.

His persistence, as portrayed by the text’s cumulative nature, shows the strength of the id.

GREEN EGGS AND REACTION FORMATION

The unnamed character uses reaction formation to avoid eating the green eggs and ham.

Reaction formation: a defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches impulses into their opposites.

In reality, the unnamed character desires to eat green eggs and ham.

TRIUMPH OF THE ID At the end of the book, the id finally

breaks all sorts of defense mechanisms and the unnamed character finally tries green eggs and ham.

The momentary reconciliation between the id and ego give

the unnamed character fulfillment and liberation.

IMPLICATIONS From a psychoanalytic perspective,

Green Eggs and Ham illustrates our constant struggle between an adult life and our childlike remnants.

We should not become jaded as we grow up. Instead, we should allow for sporadic equilibrium between the id and the ego.