Struggle between id and superego in The Black Cat

Yang Juanjuan

【Abstract】After reading The Black Cat， written by Edgar Ellen Poe， Im haunted by the narrators struggle between his id and his superego. He did not balance his id and superego so that his ego lost control and he became neurotic disorder and consequently conducted evil deeds.

【Key words】id； superego； ego； struggle

【作者簡介】杨娟娟（1992.12- ），女，汉族，安徽枞阳人，苏州大学研究生在读，研究方向：英美文学。

According to Freud， the id is a chaos， a cauldron of seething entertainment. It has no organization and no unified will， only an impulsion to obtain satisfaction for instinctual needs， in accordance with the pleasure-principle. It consists largely of these desires regulated or forbidden by social convention. The narrator had the inclination to destroy or harm others， though he would defend himself by making excuse---alcohol. At first， from infancy his disposition was tender and humane. Thats the result of his harmonious relationship between his id and superego. His ego was in a balanced state. But later on， he could not continue to keep his id and superego balanced， that is to say， his ego lost control. His temperament experienced great change for the worse. Every time he committed crimes， he felt guilty but went on losing control and next time still committed crimes， and his feeling of remorse became less and less.

Among the three crimes， the narrator more or less went through the struggle between his id and superego. The id contains ones secret desires， darkest wishes and most intense fears. The superego acts as an internal censor， causing one to make moral judgments in light of social pressures. In contrast to the id， the superego operates according to the morality principle and serves primarily to protect society and one from the id. The ego is， to a large degree， the product of conflicts between what society says and what one wants. When the ego is forced to acknowledge its weakness， it breaks out into anxiety： reality anxiety in face of the external world， normal anxiety in face of the superego， and neurotic anxiety in face of the strength of the passions in the id. The narrator experienced neurotic anxiety in the short story. After he first cut one eye of the first black cat， he experienced a sentiment half of horror， half of remorse and had been guilty. However， at the same time， this sentiment was feeble and equivocal. When he hung the cat， he burst into tears with bitterest remorse in his heart but didnt stop hanging. After his house was on fire， he thought of his former atrocity and regretted the loss of the cat. He adopted a new black cat which had a splotch of white covering nearly the whole region of the breast. This splotch of white like a gallows reminding his previous deed of cruelty. Soon his feeling turned from like to disgust and hatred. This kind of contradiction is the conflict between his id and superego. His ego was struggling between these two which resulted in his mental disorder. As a result， he killed his wife but set himself at once， deliberating on hiding the corpse. We can never see his remorse and his love towards his wife in the process. Even when the police came to his home for investigation， he felt no embarrassment. Until now， reason left him totally and his ego completely lost control.

In addition， the importance of black cats eye should not be overlooked because the eye actually reflected the narrators morality and conscience. After he became irritable， he maltreated his wife and pets but made scruple of maltreating the black cat. Thats out of restraint of superego on his evil id. After he cut one of the cats eye， he was still ill-tempered because the remaining eye warned his darkness every now and then. Frightful as the socket of the lost eye was， its the narrators condemned conscience that made him frightened and restless. Later he cannot tolerate the torment resulted from the collapse of his ego， so he hung the cat. We can tell this action is the outcome of desire for destruction disobeying the moral principle. The conflict between his id and superego again appeared and further pushed the narrator to the verge of neurotic disorder. His evil desire being satisfied， he devoted himself to looking for another same species and similar appearance for atonement. The discovery of the second black cat also deprived of one eye made the narrator repulsive， because this eye is the reflection of his morality. The remaining eye made him think of his guilt. Again， the conflict within drove him to neurotic disorder completely， then he killed his wife with no shame at all. That last time the cats eye mentioned is when the police found the corpse and the cat sat upon its head with solitary eye of fire. Apparently， he was afraid of this eye. His terror came from his superego fighting against his id.

References：

[1]Edgar Allan Poe， The Black Cat and Other Stories， England： Penguin Readers， 1991.

[2]Sigmund Freud， Translated by John Reddick， Beyond the Pleasure Principle and Other Writings， England： Penguin Classics， 2003.