“She led him to the top of the stairs where light came straight from the sky because the second-story windows of that house had been placed in the pitched ceiling and not the walls. There were two rooms and she took him into one of them, hoping he wouldn’t mind the fact that she was not prepared; that though she could remember desire, she had forgotten how it worked; the clutch and helplessness that resided in the hands; how the blindness was altered so that what leapt to the eye were places to lie down, and all else-doorknobs, straps, hooks,the sadness that crouched in corners, and the passing of time -- was interference.------It was over before they could get their clothes off. Half-dressed and short of breath, they lay side by side resentful of one another and the skylight above them. His dreaming of her had been too long and too long ago. Her deprivation had been not having any dream of her own at all. Now they were sorry and too shy to make talk.”(25)
When taking a closer look at this passage and what its elements are, a whole new story emerges from it. As they are getting ready to have sex, the distribution of details that have come up, show not only what they see, but also what they also show the ambient surroundings that are in. The ambient sound and iciness help the reader see the bigger picture of a scene in where both characters want the feeling of excitement and adrenaline, but even though they may want the feeling back, they can’t remember how to get it. Applying the psychoanalytic lens, gives a better understanding of how when they are in bed, the motivation and passion that is supposed to be present, is suddenly is gone with the wind and has left a tail of debris. What follows are unconscious actions that lead both Sethe and Paul D to regret what they have done.
The ambient sound that is presented in the surroundings gives this scene a sense of emptiness, but one that is haunted by the past. When sex happens most of the time there is no noise around and is left with the sound of silence or even the feelings of those doing the action, yet when we take a look at this particular scene, the sounds don’t come and go, instead they are trapped in a room of four walls. The white noise within the walls along with the “light [that] came straight from the sky” psychologically allows audience to feel that the past is always with us, in this part Sethe is able to “remember desire, [but forgets] how it work[s].” The distinct statements of reality show that unconsciously our minds wonderoff to thoughts that create feelings, but don’t create instructions to get it back. This then translates into realizing that the warmness of sun is not warm and only creates a light of lies.
The coldness that is felt is through the memories that even though they may want to forget, unconsciously they still appear and reappear when we think that we have dealt with it. Unconsciously, a million things go through our minds, we see this to be true and explicitly shown through when Sethe and Paul D are “lay[ing] side by side resentful of one another.” When they lay side by side, they may be tired, but they don’t really seem to interact after that and instead are “sorry.” When we view this psychoanalytically, and try to put ourselves in their place, the mind is carried over to the mistakes that, even though may be some regret in the actions that happened, the real regret comes when you see that person again. Our minds try to get over what we desire in the past, but if we get that opportunity we most likely would take that chance. In this case, both Sethe's and Paul D's ego are desiring that feeling of adrenaline, but are also saying that it may not be right. As a consequence, that happens because of unconsciously and consciously subjecting to their superego of wanting to have sex of each other, since they never got the chance to. As the chance is set put forth in front of them, afterwards everything seems to freeze and they just stare in to the emptiness of ice when it is in the form of ice--molecules are all frozen in time, but once it melts, the water runs of and then evaporates. This metaphor is what makes them both deny what they just did, but in this case as they were having having sex, the ice was slowly breaking and once they were done it exploded. The ice exploded and the water started running as it evaporated, immediately after Paul D regrets what he just did completely.
Rationalization, regrets, blank spaces and water are all rapidly written in a way that its a domino effect. The end of the effect is that the moments of the past make us want something that we may not be able to remember how it should be, but the feeling that we never got still lays within us. As we have seen, Sethe and Paul D, go through this and in the end realize that [their] deprivation had been not [like a] dream of [their] own at all. [And] Now they were sorry and too shy to make talk.” This is a choice that if we apply the psychoanalytic lense is something that is going to haunt them when they see each other again.
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