Chad Price

Professor McDonough
English 102 Section 6
27 April 2015
Fear isnt so difficult to understand. After all, werent we all frightened as children?
Nothing has changed since Little Red Riding Hood faced the big bad wolf. What
frightens us today is exactly the same sort of thing that frightened us yesterday. Its just a
different wolf. This fright complex is rooted in every individual.
- Alfred Hitchcock
How Do We Discover What Someone Is Really Thinking?
Throughout the course, the discussion of ones true, whole identity, has circled for
the entire semester. Primarily, the discussion began with Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde by Robert Stevenson. This chilling story of dual personalities was simply the
beginning to understanding the unconscious and conscious mind. Discovering that one
man has the potential to portray two diverse characters was fascinating. Following this
was The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This novel discovered the influences
people have over ones own mind and the way in which those influences truly take over
oneself. Lord Henry and Basil had an everlasting affect on Dorian, leaving him in
shambles for the remainder of the novel. Lastly, this final work, the film Spellbound, an
Albert Hitchcock film, reviews the concepts of the mind, psychoanalysis, and the desire
to be greater than possible. Spellbound covers the horrors of incurable illness and the
affects that has on a person as well. All three of these works dive into the importance, yet
difficulty of understanding what is hidden in a persons mind and how all aspects of ones
environment guide a person into shaping their true selves.

Years ago Freud tried to understand the ideas of psychoanalysis and what was
capable of being discovered in ones mind. According to the research done by Kathryn
Lavelle, in Freuds ideas of dream interpretation and presentation plays a huge role in
the film and was one of the first films to really discuss the Freudian ideas. (Lavelle)
Alfred Hitchcock began the film at a vicinity that focuses and deals with mental illness,
confusion, and those who are not capable of understanding why they have committed a
crime or act that they have. A main character, Dr. Constance Peterson, was treating a
patient, John Ballantyne, through the uses of psychoanalysis. Freud described
psychoanalysis as the idea that a persons psychological ideas can turn into actual
problems in their life. (Freud) Ballantyne was convinced that he was responsible for
murder. Peterson, however spends the length of the movie trying to prove to him that
what he believed occurred was not true. The use of psychoanalysis throughout the film
was to jump into the minds of those being treated and discover the truth. Ballantynes
mind was filled with guilt and therefore he convinced himself that he was in fact guilty
for the heinous crimes. Peterson, however, knew this was not true and ultimately fell in
love with him and guided him in the unfolding of the truth about what occurred. By
reliving his actions, he was able to comprehend that what occurred was an accident, his
friend was killed accidently, and Ballantyne was just a child who made a mistake.
An interesting concept in which Freud brought to my attention was the idea of a
foreign body in which one is able to dissociate themselves from the body that
committed a specific act. Judith Halberstam in her critique An Introduction to Gothic
Monstrosity written in 1995 discussing Freuds views in an introduction to Studies on
Hysteria written in 1893, Freud identifies the repressed itself as a foreign body. (129)

This ideas plays well on the role in which Mr. Ballantyne plays. In order to block out the
memories of killing someone, despite it being an accident, he dissociates that part of
himself from his true identity in order to live without the guilt. Nothing that hysterical
symptoms replay some original trauma in response to an accident, Freud explains that the
memory of trauma acts like a foreign body which, long after its entry, must continue to
be regarded as an agent that is still at work. In other words, until an original site of
trauma reveals itself in therapy, it remains foreign to body and mind but active in both.
The repressed then, figures as a sexual secret that the body keeps from itself. (129) Due
to this explanation, it makes sense as to white it took Dr. Peterson so long to discover the
truth about what happened in Mr. Ballantynes past.
Primarily, Mr. Ballantyne was disturbed by the dark lines that were displayed on
the table at dinner, and then on Dr. Petersons dress, and then in the snow. Following this
discovery he was upset while viewing kids sliding down a hill in the snow, and then the
rail tracks upon their travels. Little by little Dr. Peterson played with the facts that were
handed to her and was able to take Mr. Ballantyne skiing in hopes of triggering the final
memory. Upon this discovery, Mr. Ballantyne was able to remember the accident and
admit that it was not his fault. Halberstam would view this example as one that perfectly
exemplifies Freuds ideology about the foreign body. In order for Mr. Ballantyne to
relieve himself of the overwhelming guilt that forced him to be an entirely different
person, he had to relive the trauma itself.
The unconscious mind is able to play tricks on a person. Due to the fact that no
one can control the individual thoughts that a person perceives, it is challenging to
develop a theory that is universal. Freud, however, managed to come up with a theory

that states that the unconscious and conscious mind are divided, yet work together to
complete one whole identity. As seen through the other novels discussed in class, the
advances that society was facing is what began to trigger the deeper evaluation of the
mind. According to Matthew Stefanos research in his sixth journal entry, titled
Medicine, Technology, and Science in the Victorian Era he discusses the advances that
occurred throughout the time period and the effects that this had during the making of
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Work Cited
Freud, Sigmund. The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis. The American
Journal of Psychology. Vol. 21, No. 2 (Apr., 1910), pp. 181-218

Lavallee Hitchcock Wiki

Halberstam
Acknowledgements
Lavalle for introducing the work I cited to support my use of Freud (work cited page
Sigmund freud)
Stefano for his journal entry that added insight to my paper
Professor McDonough for the talking points which guided me and introduced me to
Halberstam as a lens throughout the paper