Dysfunctions of Form and Psyche in The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner under a psychoanalytic lens with a focus on Freudian perspectives. Freud’s model of the id, ego, and superego are used at the basis for exploring the motivations of the novel’s viewpoint characters, with a focus on the repression these characters exhibit in their narration. The theme of repression is then expanded out into the wider narrative in order to examine how it informs the novel’s unreliable narrative. The thesis begins with an in-depth exploration of how Robert Wringhim, the novel’s protagonist is driven by the repressed urges of his id, and how those urges are sublimated into an acceptable form by disguising them as a religious crusade personified by his double Gil-Martin. Gil-Martin’s role in amplifying Wringhim’s repressed urges beyond the justification of the superego is then illustrated. Finally, these themes are connected to Freud’s writings on writing and dream analysis to outline the ways in which these psychological elements shape the ways in which information is conveyed within the novel.