Fractured Selves: A Psychoanalytic Study of Identity, Trauma, and Hegemony in Native Son and The Bluest Eye

Richard Wright (1908-1960), a prominent African American author from the early 20th century, examines the impact of racism on African American communities in his renowned novel Native Son (1940). The narrative recounts the tragic life of Bigger, a 20-year-old Black man, who becomes a victim while navigating the injustices imposed by white Americans. His struggle to establish an independent identity ultimately ends in failure within a hostile environment. Similarly, Toni Morrison, an acclaimed African-American writer, portrays the hardships and psychological trauma endured by Black-American communities as victims of systemic racial oppression in her fiction. Her debut novel, The Bluest Eye (1970), tells the poignant story of Pecola, a young African American girl who suffers a mental breakdown under the weight of racial prejudices during the 1940s. Pecola and Bigger embark on separate yet equally unachievable quests: Pecola’s obsession with conforming to white beauty standards and Bigger’s pursuit of self-determination both prove illusory. Drawing on Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory, this study investigates how anxiety, trauma, neurosis, and delusions embedded in their psyches emerge during identity formation in the mirror and imaginary stages, culminating in disruptions during the symbolic stage. Their authentic selves either clash with or are subsumed by the dominant symbolic framework. Within these stages, Pecola and Bigger confront the construct of the big “Other,” which has engineered a culturally oppressive world for Black individuals. This tension between the imaginary and symbolic realms creates a rift between reality and the ‘Real’ for Pecola and Bigger, leaving them unable to reconcile their inner desires with external realities. Pecola’s descent into madness and Bigger’s reluctant acceptance of his societal role as a criminal underscore the devastating psychological toll of these conflicts. Bigger’s actions stem not from inherent criminality but from a fractured sense of self and unresolved internal turmoil. This paper discusses the mechanisms by which cultural hegemony sustains racial hatred in early 20th-century American society. Employing a qualitative methodology, it applies Lacan’s psychoanalytic framework alongside Antonio Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony to illuminate the psychological disintegration of Bigger and Pecola. Furthermore, it highlights the mutually dependent dynamic between the ruling and subordinate classes. This research demonstrates that the unattainable aspirations imposed on individuals like Pecola and Bigger serve to perpetuate their suffering, revealing how their psychological breakdowns were structurally rather than incidentally constructed.