A Winnicottian Investigation on Krys Lee’s Characters’ Self-Fragmentation

Abstract

The Present research paper attempts at investigating the concepts of ‘True self and false self’ in the female characters presented by Krys Lee. Despite the fact that much has been carried out theoretically and clinically on the subject of the mother-child relation, the literary works of the Asian writers, in terms of cultural, social, psychological and artistic subjects and issues, have received little attention. Apart from the ordinary meaning of self, Winnicott, one of the 20th century’s greatest psychoanalysts and thinkers, believes that it is a more complex term that plays a crucial role in demonstrating one’s mental and emotional status. The sense of self is developed in every individual from infancy through the relationship with the mother. The baby’s true self or false self depends on how a mother adapts to the baby’s needs and desires. This dependency is identified as good-enough mothering, and if it is a successful form of adaptation, the infant begins to believe in external reality leading to the ego or self-development. The selected female characters’ actions, reactions and relations in “Drifting House” are symptomatic of their insecure childhoods, and frustrating developments. Their split characters, denial of reality, some sort of aggression and the lack of trust in the environment could be the echo of their childhood’s failure in receiving adequate care and attention.