Killer Inside Me And A Rage In Harlem: An Archetypal Analysis
Benny Huynh
Dr. David Hayes
ENG4U
13 June 2013
An Archetypal Analysis of society in Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me (1952) and Chester Himes’ A Rage in Harlem. (1989)
Known as the founder of analytic psychology, Carl Jung revolutionized the way the world looked at the human mind through the creation of “the archetype, the collective unconscious”, and the personality (introverted and extroverted) (Wikipedia.org). Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts such the archetypes of the conscious and unconscious mind. Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me (1952) and Chester Himes’ A Rage in Harlem (1989) are two works of literature that explore these archetypes. In order to thrive in society, as presented in Thompson’s and Himes’ novels, characters (such as Lou and Imabelle) are forced to adapt and change in order to achieve their goals. Thus, I argue that archetypal theory is a useful tool to analyze the evolution of both Lou and Jackson’s psyche in The Killer Inside Me (1952) and A Rage in Harlem (1989).In particular I look at the ego, persona, and shadow in Thompson’s and Himes’ novels. …show more content…
As C.G Jung mentions, “the ego is a product of the consciousness” (1973:7). This suggests that the above decisions are made consciously and not, perhaps, as the result of passive socialization due to external influences such as religion or the mass media. It is important to note that the ego interacts closely with its counterparts the ‘id’ (one’s desires and impulsive needs) and ‘super-ego’ (one’s relation to reality) by acting as a mediator between the two. Thus, the ego is created from a compromise between a person’s individual desires and the dominant social norms of society (or a specific
Dr. David Hayes
ENG4U
13 June 2013
An Archetypal Analysis of society in Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me (1952) and Chester Himes’ A Rage in Harlem. (1989)
Known as the founder of analytic psychology, Carl Jung revolutionized the way the world looked at the human mind through the creation of “the archetype, the collective unconscious”, and the personality (introverted and extroverted) (Wikipedia.org). Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts such the archetypes of the conscious and unconscious mind. Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me (1952) and Chester Himes’ A Rage in Harlem (1989) are two works of literature that explore these archetypes. In order to thrive in society, as presented in Thompson’s and Himes’ novels, characters (such as Lou and Imabelle) are forced to adapt and change in order to achieve their goals. Thus, I argue that archetypal theory is a useful tool to analyze the evolution of both Lou and Jackson’s psyche in The Killer Inside Me (1952) and A Rage in Harlem (1989).In particular I look at the ego, persona, and shadow in Thompson’s and Himes’ novels. …show more content…
As C.G Jung mentions, “the ego is a product of the consciousness” (1973:7). This suggests that the above decisions are made consciously and not, perhaps, as the result of passive socialization due to external influences such as religion or the mass media. It is important to note that the ego interacts closely with its counterparts the ‘id’ (one’s desires and impulsive needs) and ‘super-ego’ (one’s relation to reality) by acting as a mediator between the two. Thus, the ego is created from a compromise between a person’s individual desires and the dominant social norms of society (or a specific