PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM OF DEXTER MORGAN

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM OF DEXTER MORGAN CHARACTER
IN THE NOVEL DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER; PSYCHOANALYSIS
APPROACH
A Thesis
Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of the requirement for
The Degree of Strata One
Intan Baiduri
108026000087
ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF ADAB AND HUMANITIES
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
JAKARTA
2015
ABSTRACT
Intan Baiduri, Psychological Problem of Dexter Morgan Character in the Novel
Darkly Dreaming Dexter; Psychoanalysis Approach. Thesis: English Letters
Departement, Adab and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University Syarif
Hidayatullah, Jakarta 2015.
This research studies about Darkly Dreaming Dexter novel by Jeff
Lindsay in 2004. The writer focuses on Dexter Morgan as a main character by
using Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory. Firstly the writer analyzes about
the characteristic of Dexter, and then analyzes about the psychological problem
from the concept of Sexual Stage Development and Structure Personality id, ego,
and superego of the main character in the novel. The writer uses qualitative
method and descriptive analysis technique to analyze the novel. The writer also
does some procedures to do this research, such as reading the novel itself,
marking the text that relied to the problem, exploring the main character, read
many theories which appropriate with the novel and then analyzing and
understanding the story.
Based on the research, the writer finds that the main character suffers from
neurosis disorder, namely Post-traumatic Syndrome that turn him into murderer
which are caused by his traumatic experience and the pain in his childhood. His
psychosexual development is disrupted in his early age. He has witnessed his
mother get murdered in front of his eyes, he sit locked amongst puddles of bloods
for two and a half days without given enough food and drink. Although he does
not remember the event, but since that his life changed. His psyche is disordered
because his three parts of structure personality , id, ego, and superego, does not
work properly. In this story the main character tries to overcome the trauma.
Therefore, his ego makes some defense mechanism such as; Repression,
Displacement, Sublimation, Intellectualization, and Rationalization. His ego
makes usage of many defense mechanisms to help him cure his psychological
problem.
i
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by
another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the
award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher
learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text.
Jakarta, July 2015
Intan Baiduri
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the name of Allah, The most Gracious, The most Merciful
All praises be to Allah SWT., the lord of the universe. Alhamdulillah, with
His fabulous guidance, the writer would to be gradeful to Allah because the writer
accomplish the fluent process in every step of making this thesis. Peace and
blessing are dilivered to the most honorable prophet Muhammad SAW, his
families, friends, and followers.
The writer would like to say her gratitude to:
1. Prof. Dr. Sukron Kamil, M. Ag, the Dean of Adab and Humanities
Faculty, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.
2. Dr. M. Farkhan, M. Pd, the Head of English Letters Department.
3. Drs. Asep Saefuddin, M. Pd, the Head Secretary of English Letters
Department.
4. Elve Oktafiyani, M. Hum, the Vice Secretary of the English Letters
Department, and she also the writer’s advisor thank you very much and
much for her time, advices, suggestions, support, and patience in finishing
this thesis.
5. The writer’s parents: Sanukri and Maryamah, who always give support in
financial or material, and pray to the writer in completing this thesis. Her
lovely siblings, Diaz Eko Rama Firdaus, Indi Ariestamaya for your help,
support and pray. Her cousin Ihda Ihsaniah thank you for support and help.
and her big families.
v
6. Rayi Raspati who always there cheering her up, thank you for your
support, help, encourage her with best wishes, and stand by her through
the good times and bad.
7. All her friends, the students of class C 2008 and Literature class for being
her classmates especially Fitri Shaura, Nurlaila, Siti Mawadah, Nadia,
Suci Wulandari, Mahesa Julia, Nuris Zuliastanti, Irma Amelia.Thanks for
both joy and sorrow. Rika Fauziah, Kharisma Chima, Nur Aishah Fahmi,
Tyas, Ina Mutmaina for struggling with her. Firman Hakim, Tubagus
Satriyadi thanks for your help.
8. And all people who helped the writer to finish this thesis that cannot be
mentioned one by one. Thank you for their kindness. May Allah bless for
the success.
Jakarta, July 2015
The writer
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... i
APPROVEMENT .............................................................................. .......ii
LEGALIZATION .........................................................................................................iii
DECLARATION ...........................................................................................................iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................1
A. Background of the Study .............................................................................1
B. Focus of the Research .................................................................................4
C. Research Question .......................................................................................5
D. Significant of the Research ..........................................................................5
E. Methodology of Research ...........................................................................5
1. Method of Research ................................................................................5
2. Objective of the Research........................................................................5
3. Data Analysis ..........................................................................................5
4. Instrument of Research ...........................................................................6
5. Unit of Analysis ......................................................................................6
6. Place and Time of the Research .............................................................6
CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK ...............................................7
vii
A. Character and Characterization ....................................................................7
B. Sigmund Freud’s of Psychonalysis Theory ................................................10
CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDINGS ..........................................................24
A. Character Analysis ....................................................................................24
B. Dexter and his Psychological Problem .....................................................29
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions ...............................................................................................39
B. Suggestions ................................................................................................40
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...............................................................................................42
APPENDICES .....................................................................................................44
viii
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Novel is a work fiction in which the imagination and the intellect are
combined to express life in the form of story; and the imagination is always be
directed and controlled by the intellect. 1 It aims to show the motives and
influences which govern human life and the effects of personal choice upon
character and destiny. Through a novel, people can learn many things. There are
what message that the writer wants to deliver, how the actors on the novel solve
their problem and how to see human character generally.
The length of a novel is about seventy to hundred pages. A novel should
have certain mass to qualify the title.2 There must be a strong relationship between
the contents and the title because a little can be interested for the reader.
The problems or issues of novel determine from its theme. Many aspects
of life become story theme in a number of literary works, for example
psychology. The behavior of human relates to psychological aspects. Specifically,
the reality of psychology can be seen from any psychological phenomena which
are suffered by human being when they respond or make a reaction toward
themselves and surrounding.
Novel and Psychoanalysis have relationship and both of them correlate
each other. Novel is a medium to describe Psychoanalysis topics that contains
1
William J. Long, English Literature, (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1909, p. 341.
David Mikics, A New Handbook of Literary Terms, (London: Yale University Press,
2007), p. 209
2
1
2
development of the life cycles, family life and human personality. Psychoanalysis
is one of the approaches to find the unconsciousness of the character in the novel
analysis.3
Psychoanalysis theme is one of the themes which can be easily determined
from the development of the character. It caused ―Psychonalysis applied concept
about personality which is used the configuration of individual unique adjustment
to her or his behavior.4
Psychoanalysis thought places a great premium to the importance of early
experience and suggests that many of the early social and personal experiences of
the childhood become the models for his later personality.
5
Meanwhile,
Psychoanalysis is one of the story topics in the novel which tell about the wishes
and fears that people have, it is also about their memories in the past and how
these memories fulfill their relationship in the present which is about their
struggle to cope with painful feelings such as fears and anxiety.6
One of many novels which depicts psychology is Darkly Dreaming
Dexter. It is a 2004 novel by Jeff Lindsay and Published July 2004 by Orion
Books Ltd. It is the first series of the Dexter book series about serial killer Dexter
Morgan. This novel contains 288 pages and it has been adapted into the Showtime
television series with the title Dexter.
3
Apsanti Djokosujatno, Psikoanalisis dan Sastra (Depok: Universitas Indonesia, 2003).
p. 112.
4
Ernest Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson. Introduction to Psychology. (USA: Harcourt,
Brace & World Inc, 1967). p. 483.
5
Robert M. Liebert and Michael D. Spiegler, PERSONALITY; Strategy for the Study of a
Man, Revised Edition (Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1974). p. 54.
6
Lawrence A Pervin. The Science of Personality second edition (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2003). p. 5.
3
The author of this novel, Jeffry P. Freundlich was born on July 14, 1952 in
Florida and later became a writer under the pen name Jeff Lindsay. He graduated
and attended Ransom Everglade School in South Florida, Middleburry College in
Vermont and graduate school in Carnegie Mellon. He grew up in Florida, and
knows the area and feel of Miami which really helps set the background for the
Dexter book series.
This novel was inspired when Jeff was speaking in a room full of
insurance agents, real estate agents, and other shady people of the sort. He noticed
all the fake emotions and fake smiles of people who didn‘t really want to be in
there. He started taking notes on napkins and that night, the idea of Darkly
Dreaming Dexter was created. In the 1970‘s, at Carnegie Mellon in theater he had
a directing teacher from Romania who taught him the concept ―illegal laughter‖
which means to make the audience laugh but feel like they did something wrong
for laughing. He strives to make Dexter witty and funny, but creep the reader out.
The first book of the series Darkly Dreaming Dexter won the 2005 Dilys
Award and the 2007 'Book to TV' award. It tells about Dexter who works for the
Miami Metro Police Department as a forensic blood spatter pattern analyst. He
was adopted at the age of three by Miami police officer Harry Morgan and wife
Doris due to the murder of his mother. Although his parents loved him, but he did
not love himself or everybody around him, he never feels his heart beats and he
has no emotions. But he found himself satisfied, his heart beats when he kills
something. He realizes that he had always found gratification “to be hatred, in
hating and being hated”, not love.7 His urges to kill are directed by an inner voice
7
Freud claims that there are two instincts: Eros and Thanatos. Love and sex are Eros
instinc while hate and aggressively are Thanatos instinct
4
he refers to as the "Dark Passenger", who keeps prodding him to kill. Kill makes
the voice satisfied for a while, but always comes back. This feeling for kill then
develop to be source of his anxiety when he did not kill something.
After several years, he realizes that his urge to kill is about to grow. And
from several talks with his father, he knows that he should kill people who have
gotten away with murder as a way to channel his homicidal urges in a positive
direction. He kills murderers, rapists and other undesirables he believes have
escaped justice. His job as a blood spatter expert for the Miami police department
puts him in the perfect position to identify the latest crimes and keep an eye open
for his next victim.
Therefore, the writer is interested to analyze Dexter Morgan using
Psychoanalysis theory. It is caused by her strong enthusiasm to know about the
psychoanalysis particularly in exploring the literature. On the other hand, in
various ways, a psychoanalysis approach has opened new possibility to the study
of human mental cases in connection with literature. Then, the writer uses theory
of psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud to discuss further about Dexter‘s
psychopathic personality in the Darkly Dreaming Dexter a novel by Jeff Lindsay.
B. Focus of the Research
According to the background of the study above and to limit the research,
the writer focuses the problem on the main character in this novel, Dexter
Morgan, using Sigmund Freud‘s Psychoanalysis.
5
C. Research Question
Based on the background of the study, the writer would like to concentrate
and limit it by formulating a research question as follows:
1. How is the character of Dexter Morgan potrayed?
2. How is the character of Dexter Morgan viewed from psychoanalysis?
D. Significance of the Research
Generally, the writer expects this research will give the benefit to the
readers. The writer wishes that the readers could get deeper understanding about
psychoanalysis theories, especially about personality structure in analyzing novel
and will help the writer to complete her study as one of her obligations to reach
the Strata one (S1).
E. Research Methodology
1. Method of the Research
The method that is used in this research is qualitative method. The
answers of the research question had are revealed by explaining,
describing and analyzing the main character and the data with
psychoanalysis theories of Sigmund Freud.
2. Objective of the Research
The objective of this research is to describe Dexter‘s psychological
problem which relates the causes why he murders more than 20 persons to
complete his question.
3. Data Analysis
The data analysis of this research used qualitative by analyzing and
describing the major character. The novel is analyzed by reading the novel
6
itself, marking the text that relied to the problem and then exploring the
main character and his psychological problem.
4. Instrument of the Research
Instrument of the research in this research is the writer herself by
reading the novel of Darkly Dreaming Dexter repeated, quoting the texts,
and then making notes on everything relied to the problem.
5. Unit of Analysis
The analysis unit that is used in this research in Darkly Dreaming
Dexter novel by Jeff Lindsay, which published in July 2004 by Orion
Books Ltd.
6. Time and Place of the Research
The research started on the eight semester of academic year 2012,
English Letters, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. The
research also located at Adab and Humanity Faculty‘s library, main library
of UIN, and other libraries which can give references information about
that material that the writer needed.
7
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL CONCEPT
The writer tries to explain the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter as the text of
the object of the research. In this research the writer uses the theory of Sigmund
Freud‘s psychoanalysis to understand the problem which had by the character of
Dexter Morgan. Moreover, Freud‘s psychoanalysis approach is used by the writer
to describe Dexter‘s personality and his conflict.
A. Character and Characterization in Novel
Novel has intrinsic and extrinsic elements. Intrinsic elements are the
internal form of novel such as plot, character, characterization, theme, setting, etc.
Meanwhile, the extrinsic elements are the external forms of novel such as history,
sociology, and also culture when novel has been created. In this research the
writer concentrates on the analyses of the characters.
The definition of character arose into two patterns as below:
a. The character is literary genre; a sort, and usually witty, sketch in prose
of distinctive type of person.
b. The character are the persons presented in dramatic or narrative work,
who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and
dispositional qualities that are expressed in what the say- the dialogue,
and by what they do- the action.8
On the next developing, then it raised various terms of characters. There
are the major character, the protagonist; the antagonist, flat character, round
character, dynamic character, and static character. Here is the explanation.
8
M. H Abrams. A Glossary of Literature Terms ( New York: Macmillan Publishing,
1998). p. 86
7
8
The major character or central character at the plot is the protagonist; his
opponent, the characters against whom the protagonist struggle or contend is the
antagonist.9 The protagonist is usually easy to identify: he or she is the essential
character without whom the protagonist there would be not plot in the first place.
So it is the protagonist‘s fate (the conflict or problem being wrestled with) on
which the attention of the reader is focused.
The antagonist can be somewhat more difficult to identify, especially if he
or she is not human being. In fact, as was intimated earlier, the antagonist may not
be living creature at all, but rather the hostile social or natural environment with
which the protagonist is forced to contend.
Flat characters are those who embody or represent a single characteristic,
trait or idea, or at most very limited number such qualities.10 Flat characters are
also referred to as type character, as one- dimensional character, or when they are
distorted to create humor, as creatures. Flat characters are also referred are usually
minor actors in the novel and the stories in which they appear, but not always so.
It has much in common with the kind of stock characters who appear again and
again certain types of literary works.
Round characters are just the opposite. They embody a number of qualities
and traits and are complex multidimensional characters of considerable
intellectual and emotional depth whose have capacity to grow and change. As an
addition, the major characters in fiction are usually round character, and it is with
the very complexity of psych characters that most of us become engrossed and
fascinated.11
9
James H Pickering, and Jeffrey D Hoeper, Concise Companion to Literature ( New
York: Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc., 1981). p. 24
10
Ibid. p. 25
11
Ernest W Burgess and Harvey J Locke, The Family: From Institution to
Companionship. 2nd ed., (New York: American Book Company). p. 26
9
Dynamic characters include the protagonist in most novels, which by
virtue of their very size and scope provide such excellent vehicle for illustrating
the process of change.
Static characters leave the plot as they entered it, largely untouched by the
events that have taken place. Although static characters tend to be minor one,
because the author‘s principal focus is elsewhere, this is not always the case.
Characterization and character are the two contradiction elements.
Character is a person in the story while the characterization is the way which the
author used how to represent the character in the story.12
From these understanding, it can be concluded that characterization is the
means by which writers present and reveal character. The process characterization
in a story is usually narrative description with explicit judgment.
13
Characterization can be generalized from these techniques to list the following
major methods of revealing character in fiction:
1. Action. We judge people by the way they act, particularly in crucial
situation.
2. A person’s speech. Like his action, can be revealing. In addition to
showing such thing as age, nationality, education, all of which serve as
identification. Speech can reveal habits of mind and the reaction to
people and events both sharply indicative of character.
3. Description. Physical appearance can be a clue to character, but the
writer of fiction seldom stresses it.
12
13
Ibid, p.56
Ibid
10
4. Environment. The presenting of a person’s surroundings, particularly
those he deliberately chooses, including the recreations he keeps
contributing to an understanding of his character.
5. Thought. To reveal a person’s thought is an act of omniscience.
Mental states, such as nervous, anger, horror, can be indicated by
physical reaction, such as sweating palms, etc.
6. Explanation. Explanation is an outright statement by the narrator
about his characters.14
Those descriptions can be concluded that characterization is the process,
which a writer makes the character seems real to viewers or we also can say that
the characterization will be easily investigated.
B. Sigmund Freud’s of Psychoanalysis Theory
1. The Structural Elements of Personality
During the 1890s, the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud developed a
method of psychotherapy known as psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud is a
prominent figure who is very creative and productive in writing works. One of his
famous works is the theory about psychoanalysis.
He explained that unconscious is larger than consciousness in human‘s
mind. He introduced a number of new terms for the theoretical construction; he
used to describe human mind. He compared the human mind to an iceberg which
unconsciousness is larger than consciousness. He believed that the total
14
Ralph, H. singleton, Stanton Millet, An Introduction to Literature, (New York: The
World Publishing Company, 1966), p.82
11
personality is organized into three major systems; they are id which is concerned
with the immediate discharge of energy tension; ego which regulates the
interactions of the person with his environment; and superego which represents
the moral and judicial aspect of personality. These three systems are in constant
interaction.15
1) ID (Das Es)
In the book of An outline of Psycho-Analysis, Freud states that the human
beings are born with their Id. The Id is an important part of human‘s personality
because as newborns, it allows the human to get basic needs. Id is the eldest and
the most dominant elements in the structure of human personality. Id is the
apparatus personality that is filled of aggressive impulse and libido. It is based on
pleasure principle. On the other hand, Id wants whatever feels good at the time
without consideration for the reality of situation.
The psychical apparatus by studying the individual development of
human beings is named Id. It contains everything that is inherited, that
is present at birth including the instincts. That is laid down in the
constitution- therefore the instincts which originate from the somatic
organization and which find a first psychical expression. This oldest
portion of the psychical apparatus remains the most important
throughout life, the investigations of psychoanalysis started with it.16
15
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96may/freud.html. accessed 05.32 pm on June 13,
2012
16
James Strachey, An outline of Psycho-Analysis (New York: WW Norton & Company
Inc, 1967)p. 1-2.
12
The Id is the original system of the personality; it is the matrix within
which the Ego and the Superego become differentiated. The Id does not care
about reality and the needs of anyone else only its own satisfaction. When the Id
wants something nothing else important.
2) Ego (Das Ich)
The Ego is mediator between the Id and the Superego. The Ego is the
executive branch of the personality because it controls the gateways to action,
selects the features of the environment to which it will respond, and decides what
instincts will be satisfied of their manner. Here are the principal characteristics of
the Ego. In consequence of the pre-established connection between sense
perception and muscular action, the Ego has voluntary movement at its command.
It has the task of self-preservation. As regards external event, it is performed that
task by becoming aware of stimuli by storing up experiences about them, by
avoiding excessively strong stimuli, by dealing with moderate stimuli and finally
by learning to bring about expedient changes in the external world to its own
advantage. Finally, the Ego is conscious mind.17
3) Superego (Das Uber Ich)
The third and last system of personality to be developed is the Superego.
The Superego contains our social morals values which often come from the rules
of right and wrong that we learned in childhood from our parents. The Superego
has a model of an ego ideal and which is uses as prototype against which
compares the Ego (and towards which it encourages the Ego to move). The
17
Psychoanalysis apparatus, http;//webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html. accessed on
June, 2012 07.07 pm
13
Superego is a counterbalance to the Id and seeks to inhibit the Id‘s pleasureseeking demands, particularly those for sex and aggression.
Adapun fungsi pokok das Uber ich itu dapat dilihat dalam hubungan
dengan ketiga aspek kepribadian itu, yaitu:
a) Merintangi impuls-impuls dan Es, terutama impuls-impuls seksual dan
agresif yang pernyataannya sangat ditentang oleh masyarakat.
b) Mendorong das ich untuk lebih mengejar hal-hal yang moralistis
daripada yang realistis.
c) Mengejar kesempurnaan.18
There are two aspects to the superego: one is the conscious which is an
internalization of punishments and warnings. The other is called the Ego Ideal. It
derives from rewards and positive models presented to the child. The conscious
and Ego Ideal communicate their requirements to the Ego with feelings like pride,
shame and guilt. It is as if we acquired in childhood, a new set of needs and
accompanying wishes, this time of social rather than biological origins.19
2.
Sexual Stage Development
The child passes through a series of dynamically differentiated stages
during the first five years of life, following which for a period of five or six yearsthe period of latency- the dynamics becomes more or less stabilized.20 With the
advent of adolescent, the dynamic erupt again and then gradually settle down as
the adolescent moves into adulthood.
18
Sumadi Suryabrata, Psikologi Kepribadian (Jakarta: PT Raja Grafindo Persada, 2006)p.
19
Ibid p.128
Calvin S. Hall. Theories of Personality. New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 52
127
20
14
1) The Oral Stage
The principal source of pleasure derived from the mouth is that of eating.
Eating involves tactual stimulation of the lips and oral activity and swallowing or
if the food is unpleasant, spitting out. These two modes of oral activity,
incorporation of food and biting, are the prototypes for many later character traits
that develop.
Biting or oral aggression may be displaced in the form sarcasm and
argumentativeness by displacement and sublimation of various kinds, as well as
by against the primitive oral impulses. Furthermore, since the oral stage occurs at
time the baby is almost completely dependent upon its mother for sustenance,
feelings of dependency arise during this period.
In this stage, the gratification of needs will lend to the formation of
independence (since the baby forms a clear idea about the limits of the self and
has formed its ego), and trust (since the baby learned that specific behaviors will
lead to gratification). On the other hand, a fixation can lead to passivity,
gullibility, immaturity, and unrealistic optimism, and also to the formation of a
generally manipulative personality due to improper formation to the ego. This can
be the result of either too much or too little gratification. In the case of too much
gratification, the child does not learn that not everything is under its control and
that gratification is not always immediate (which are the results of weaning),
forming an immature personality. On the other hand, the child‘s needs may be
insufficiently met, and thus the child becomes passive since it has learned that
whether it produces behavior or not, no gratification will come. In some societies
15
it is common for a child to be nursed by its mother for several years, whereas in
others the stage is much shorter. Sucking and eating, however, compose the
earliest memories for infants in every society. This stage holds special importance
because some tribal societies commonly found in the Southwest Pacific and
Africa, consider the stomach to be the seat of emotions.21
2) The anal stage
After the food has been digested, the residue accumulates in the lower end
of the intestinal tract and is reflex discharged when the pressure upon the anal
sphincters reaches a certain level. The expulsion of the faces removes the source
of discomfort and produces a feeling or relief.
According to the theory, the major experience during this stage is toilet
training. This occurs by the age of two (there may be fluctuations among different
societies as to the age in which toilet training occurs), and results to conflict
between the id, which asks for immediate gratification of its drives that involves
elimination and activities related to it (such as handing faces) and the demands of
their parents. The resolution of this conflict can be gradual and non-traumatic, or
intense and stormy, depending on the methods the parents will use to handle the
situation. The ideal resolution will comes if the child tries to adjust and the
parents are moderate, so that the child will learn the importance of cleanliness and
order gradually, which will lead to self-controlled adult. If the parents emphasize
on toilet training too much while the child decides to accommodate, this may lead
to the development of compulsive personality, extensively concerned about order
21
C. Thompson. Psychoanalysis: Evolution and development. (New York: Grove Press
1950) pp. 7-8
16
and neatness.22 On the other hand, if the child decides to heed the demands of the
id and the parents give in, the child may develop a messy and self-indulgent
personality. If the parents react, the child will have to comply, but it will develop
a weakened sense of self, since the parents were the ones who controlled the
situation, not the ego.
3) The phallic stage
During this stage of personality development, sexual and aggressive
feelings associated with the functioning of the genital organs come into focus. The
pleasures of masturbation and the fantasy life of the child that accompanies
autoerotic activity set the stage for the appearance of the Oedipus complex.23
Briefly, defined, the Oedipus complex consists of a sexual cathexis for the
parent of the opposite sex and hostile cathexis for the parent of the same sex. The
boy wants to posses his mother and removes his father. The girl wants to posses
her father and removes her mother. These feeling express themselves in child‘s
fantasy during masturbation and in the alteration of loving and in rebellious action
towards their parents. The behavior of the three-to five years old child is market to
a large extent by the operation of the Oedipus complex, and although it is
modified and suffers repression after the age of five.
The history and fate of the Oedipus complex differ for male and female.
The boy‘s incestuous craving for the mother and his growing resentment toward
the father bring him into conflict with his parents, especially the father. He is
22
Michael Foucault. The history of sexuality Volume I. (New York: Vintage 1990) pp.
130-131
23
Freud considered that Oedipus complex is one of his greatest discoveries. The Oedipus
complex is named for the King Thebes who killed his father and marries his mother.
17
afraid that his jealous father will remove the offending organs. Freud called this
condition as castration anxiety which includes a repression of the sexual desire for
the mother and hostility toward the father.
The sequence of female Oedipus complex is more involved. Firstly, she
exchanges her original object, the mother, for the new object, the father. This
occurs because the girl is disappointed to discover that the boy possesses a
protruding the sex organ, the penis. Then, she transfers her love to father because
he has the valued organ she aspires to share with him. Penis envy is the female
counterpart of castration anxiety in the boy and collectivity they are called
castration complex.24
In psychoanalysis theory is known that mother becomes the first love
object of the baby. Later, the baby realizes that impossible to having the mother as
the object love of his libido. Displacement is the solution to avoid this anxiety.
4) Latency phase
The latency stage is typified by a solidifying of the habits that the child
developed in the earlier stages. Whether the Oedipal conflict is successfully
resolved or not, the drives of the id are not accessible to the ego during this stage
of development, since they have been repressed during the phallic stage. Hence
the drives are seen as dormant and hidden (latent) and the gratification the child
receives is not as immediate as it was during the three previous stage. Now
pleasure is mostly related to secondary process thinking. Drive energy is
redirected to new activities, mainly related to schooling, hobbies and friends.25
24
David Mackey. Penemuan baru dalam dunia Psikoanalisis. (Semarang: PT Raja
Grafindo Persada, 1992) p. 137
25
David Mackey. Penemuan baru dalam dunia Psikoanalisis. (Semarang: PT Raja
Grafindo Persada, 1992)p. 148
18
Problems however might occur during this stage, and this is attributed to
inadequate repression of the Oedipal conflict, or to the inability of the ego to
redirect the drive energy to activities accepted by the social environment.
5) The genital stage
The cathexis of the pregenital period are narcissistic in the character. This
means that the individual obtains gratification from the stimulation and
manipulation of his or her own body, while other people are catheched only
because they help to provide additional forms of body pleasure to the child.
During adolescence, some of this shelf- love or narcissism becomes
channeled into genuine object choices. The adolescence begins to love others for
altruistic motives and not simply for selfish or narcissistic reasons. 26 Sexual
attraction, socialization, group activities, vocational planning, and preparations for
marrying and raising a family begin to manifest themselves.
3. Anxiety
In 1890s, Freud viewed anxienty as the result of repressed libido which
was transformed into anxiety. Thirty years later, he revised his theory to state that
the reverse was true – anxiety led to repression. Freud considered anxiety as a
consciouly painful experience, which arose from axcitations of the internal organs
of the body.27
Freud made a distinction among three types of anxiety which accor in
adulthood: neurotic, anxiety, moral anxiety, and reality or objective anxiety. All
26
Michael Foucault (1990), op cit, p. 142
Robert W. Lundin, Personality: A Behavior Analysis (London: The Mac Millan
Company Collier-Mac Millan Limited, 1969), p. 291
27
19
had the quality of being unpleasant and differed only in their source. They all
shared the main function of acting as a warning signal to the person. It was a
signal to his ego (who felt the anxiety) to do something about it by evading,
escaping, overcoming, or buildng up defenses.28
Neurotic Anxiety results from an id-ego conflict in which the id seeks to
discharge an impulse and the ego tries to place reality restraints on the impulse. In
neurotic anxiety, the treat came from the id. It could take the form of free floating
anxiety, since the person could not identify its source (in the unconsciousness). In
the free floating kind, the person appeared afraid of his own id.29
Moral Anxiety is generated by an id-superego conflict in which the id
impulse is in opposition to the moral and ideal standards of society. Moral anxiety
was experienced by the ego as a sense of shame or guilt and had its origin in the
superego, or more specifically, the conscience. The conscience often used this
moral anxiety to punish the ego when it had done wrong. The original source of
the moral anxiety might have been in the world of reality, in the form of parental
threats of punishment. Like neurotic anxiety the threat lay within the personality.
And therefore the person could not escape his own conscience.30
Reality or Objective Anxiety is produced when a realistic, external threat is
present, such as enemy troops, automobiles on a freeway, or wild animals. In each
case, anxiety is a signal of impending danger. The danger is external and can be
dealt with by taking realistic steps to eliminate or reduce the actual threat. This
kind of anxiety, commonly interpret as fear. Sudden and intense experiences,
called trumatic, childhood dangers, threats of punishment, all have their origin in
external reality.31
28
Ibid
Ibid
30
Robert W. Lundin, (1969), op cit, p. 293
31
Robert W. Lundin, (1969), op cit, pp. 291-292
29
20
4. Defense Mechanism
Defense mechanism is also part of the theory of psychoanalysis of
Sigmund Freud. It is further explained by Sigmund Freud‘s daughter, Anna Freud.
Defense mechanism is a psychological mechanism to defend itself and defense
mechanism has a main function to maintain the balance between the internal
world and external world of the individual. Defense mechanism is activated when
the internal reality demands too much. When external world demands too much,
defense mechanism will be activated too.32 So, defense mechanism as the function
of the ego tries to maintain the balance between the id which always tries to seek
the pleasure and superego which always tries to use the norms from the eksternal
world. There are some defense mechanisms which are explained by Sigmund
Freud and Ana Freud, such as: dissociation, denial, projection, displacement,
rationalization, reaction formation, sublimation, regression, identification, and
intellectualization.
a. Dissociation
There is a difference between repression and dissociation. Repression is
the separation between the consciousness and the unconsciousness and
dissociation is the splitting of the consciousness into separate compartments.
According to John Birtchnell, there are three stages of dissociative process which
are proposed by Mollon: ―the fragmenting of a traumatic memory, imagining
leaving the body and observing it from a distance, and the splitting of
consciousness into a number of separate ego states or mental states, such that what
is known or experienced in one state may or may not be known in another.‖33
33
John Birtchnell. The Two of Me: The Rational Outer Me and the Emotional Inner. (East
Sussex: Routlege, 2003) pp. 207-208.
21
b. Denial
Denial means that people deny the fact about the event which happens.
Denial is used because people do not want to accept the fact about the events that
are considered scary or unwanted. For example: a husband whose wife recently
died denies that his wife still alive and he thinks that his wife only goes to
somewhere, so he still searches for her.34
c. Projection
Projection does not seem like move the thing, because this process is done
unconsciously. In short, ―Klein [1934] (1968) proposed the further step of
projection, by which a person projects these unacceptable parts of her/himself on
to another person, and attributes to this other person that which s/he is denying in
her/himself.‖35
d. Displacement
This defense mechanism tries to change the object of unacceptable
feelings against someone or something, such as a woman who is angry with her
children, but she cannot do anything to her children. And then to reduce her
feeling, she kicks the dog.36
e. Rationalization
Rationalization is to invent an acceptable motive or reason to explain
unacceptably motive behavior, for example a soldier who killed civilians tries to
rationalize their action by thinking that they only follow the order, so it can reduce
the anxiety.37
34
Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. Abnormal Psychology, Fourth Edition. (Boston: McGrawHill, 1959)p. 50.
35
John Birtchnell. Op cit., p. 208.
36
Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. Loc cit.
37
Ibid.
22
f. Reaction formation
This defense mechanism tries to adopt the attitudes or behaviors that are
the opposite of one‘s true disposition. For example, a person who has high sexual
desire tries to against his feeling and shows that he/ she really hates anything
about sex.38
g. Sublimation
Sublimation is the process to transform the sexual pressure to become the
pressure which is suitable to the norms and the cultures which exist in the society,
such as a person who has strong aggressive impulses trains to be a boxer.39
h. Regression
Regression as a defense mechanism is the condition when people cannot
move to the next step of human development, because they cannot feel
comfortable with the next step that they have to face. John Birtchnell explained
about regression in his book, ―this is a process by which an adult, in order to avoid
the stresses of adult sexual behaviour, regresses to an earlier stage of sexual
development. Rycroft (1995) observed that a sublimating person may regress to
the sexual behaviour against which the sublimation is a defense.‖40
i. Identification
Identification is one of defense mechanisms which adopts ideas and values
of someone in a superior position in order to elevate self-worth.41
38
Ibid.
Ibid.
40
John Birtchnell. Op cit., p. 208.
41
Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. Loc cit.
39
23
j. Intellectualization
Intellectualization is the defense mechanism which tries to show cognitive
aspect excessively. People use this defense mechanism to cover their weakness.42
5. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Posttraumatic stress disorder is a server anxiety disorder that can occur in
people who have been exposed traumatic life events. PTSD is the development of
anxiety related symptomps after an event that nearly everyone would view as
frightening or dangerous.43 Such events are beyond what most people experience
in their daily life and include such stressors as war, concentration camp
experiences, accident, natural disaster, abuse, rape, etc. In some cases where the
stress was exceedingly severe, individual may relive the event and behave as
though they are going through it all over again.
The major symptomps commonly occur in disorder:
a.
The person experiences severe symptomps of anxiety, arousal, and distress
after traumatic event.
b.
The person relives the trauma recurrently in ―flashback‖, in dreams and
fantasy.
c.
The person becomes numb to the world and avoids stimuli that serve as
remainders of trauma.44
42
Iman Setiadi Arif. Op cit., p. 37.
David Hothersall, Psychology, (London: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company,
1987), p. 458
44
Ibid. P. 459
43
24
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH FINDING
A. Character Analysis
In this chapter, the writer would like to analyze psychological problem of
the main character in Darkly Dreaming Dexter novel. Before explaining about
psychological problem, the writer wants to analyze Dexter‘s character as the main
character in this story due to know further and deeper understanding of the main
character in this novel which can be seen from his thought, direct statement,
dialogues, and his interaction with other characters. Then, the writer uses
Sigmund Freud‘s theory to explain his personality that can be assumed as a
mental problem that leads him to become a murderer.
Dexter Morgan is identified as the protagonist because the author
describes Dexter‘s minds and actions as a central figure of a story larger than any
other characters in Darkly Dreaming Dexter novel. It makes the readers can
understand the main character clearly. He works for the Miami Metro Police
Department as a forensic blood spatter pattern analyst and described as a man that
was adopted by Miami police officer Harry Morgan and wife Doris Morgan at the
age of three due to the murder of his mother. It can be seen from the following
quotation.
― I dont have a family. I mean, as far as I know. Somewhere out there must
be people who carry similar genetic material, I‘m sure. I pity them. But
I‘ve never met them. I haven‘t tried, and they haven‘t tried to find me. I
was adopted, raised by Harry and Doris Morgan, Deborah‘s parents. And
considering what I am, they did a wonderful job of raising me, don‘t you
think? (Lindsay 2004, 15)
24
25
His foster mother died because of cancer when he was a teenager, and his
foster father died few years after. Since Harry‘s death, Dexter‘s only family is his
sister Deborah, Harry and Doris‘ biological daughter. Deborah also works for the
Miami Metro Police Department as a cop.
In the beginning of the story, Dexter introduces as the main character. He
is seen by other people as a normal person, and Dexter appearances are very
usual. He always wears a nice clothes. There is no sufficient information about his
age, but from several informations, the writer concludes that he is about 30 years
old.
― In the mirror I looked the way I was supposed to look. Carefully
composed features. Calm and mocking blue eyes, a perfect imitation of
human life. Except that my hair stuck up like Stan Laurel‘s, there was no
sign of whatever it was that had just zipped through my half-sleeping brain
and rattled me out of my slumber. (Lindsay 2004, 79)
From the quotation above, it can be seen that Dexter physical appearance
is almost perfect. He is a good – looking white man, he has blue eyes, he likes to
exercise so he has extremely fit body. “In fact, sweating was one of our favorite
activities. We had cycled through the Everglades, done 5k runs, and even pumped
iron together.” (Lindsay 2004, 54)
Behind his casual persona, Dexter hides a very dark secret. He is a serial
killer. Although everyone knows Dexter Morgan as a good-looking and has a
good personality; in the reverse of all those things, Dexter has a really dark life.
Normally, childhood is a moment when children spend their time with family and
friends everyday. 45 They get love comfort, and good treatment from people
surround them. Unfortunately, Dexter‘s hopes do not meet the reality. He gets bad
experience in his childhood that becomes traumatic memory.
45
Leland H Scott, Child Development: An Longitudinal Approach. (United Stated: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1967), p. 256
26
Actually, Dexter was adopted by Harry Morgan at the age of three due to
the murdered of his mother. He is different from any other normal person, he
describes himself as empty on the inside, he does not understand human emotions,
he always reaching a way to feel something. Although his foster parents loved
him. He did not love himself or everybody around him. He feels unlovable. He
said he has pet once, but it doesn‘t work because he cannot get along with
animals. Something in him is broken or missing. It can be seen from following
quotation.
― I can‘t even keep pets. Animal hates me. I bought dog once; it barked
and howled – at me – in a nonstop no-mind fury for two days before I had
to get rid of it. I tried a turtle. I touched it once and it wouldn‘t come out of
its shell again, and after few days of that it died. Rather than see me or
have me touch it again, it died. Nothing else loves me, or even will. Not
even – especially – me. (Lindsay 2004, 47)
The darkness of his life begins when he was three years old. He and his
brother Brian witnessed their mother murdered in front of them. They sit locked in
the dark amongst puddles of their mother‘s blood for two and a half days. The
story told that his mother is a drug dealer, she and her friends try a little
independent project with the drugs that not actually belong to them, and their
business partner are unhappy and decided to discourage her. It shows by the
following quotation.
― Brian waved a hand around at the interior of the little box. ‗ this
happened, little brother. The chain saw, the flying body parts, the . . .
blood---‗ With that same fearful emphasis again. ‗ Two and a half days of
sitting in the stuff. A wonder we survived at all, isn‘t it? Almost enough
to make you believe in God.‘ (Lindsay 2004, 263)
Basically, he does not remember anything about his past. This insident
was so traumatic that Dexter blocked it from his memory for years. Dexter did not
27
even know he had a brother until Brian brought the memories back by re-creating
them.
Dexter‘s childhood does not lead serious effect in his life up to the
appearance of the disorder in his personality. The disorder begins to be identified
when he was a teenager, in the age of fourteen. Unconsciously he has an urge to
kill. Killing makes him feel good and makes the voice in his head calm, he named
his inner voice as The Dark Passenger. If he did not kill for a duration of time, his
life became unstable.
― You‘re different, Dexter,‘ he says. I look away from the brightness of the
stars. Around the small and sandy clearing the last glow of the fire is
making shadows. Some of them trickle across Harry‘s face. He looks
strange to me, like I‘ve never seen him before. Determined, unhappy, a
little dazed. ‗What do you mean, Dad?‘ He won‘t look at me. ‗The Billups
say Buddy has disappeared,‘ he says. ‗Noisy little creep. He was barking
all night. Mom couldn‘t sleep.‘ Mom needed her sleep, of course. Dying of
cancer requires plenty of rest, and she wasn‘t getting it with that awful
little dog across the street yapping at every leaf the blew down the
sidewalk.‗ I found the grave.‘ Harry says. ‗ There were a lot of bones in
there, Dexter. Not just Buddy‘s.‘ (Lindsay 2004, 37)
The quotation above explains about when Dexter was teenager he enjoyed
killing in his free time and his foster father reveals the truth about his mental state.
After Harry finds out who Dexter is, Harry decided to protect Dexter by teaching
him a set of rules to live by. To channel his urge to only kill people who deserves
to die, choose carefully among those who deserves it, tidy up, leave no traces.
Harry also told Dexter to be careful, being careful meant building a careful life,
imitate life, sosialize, blend in with normal society. Dexter called these rules as
Codes of Harry. Even after Harry has long gone, his lessons had lived on.
― It has to be done the right way, at the right time, with the right partner –
very complicated, but very necessary. And always somewhat draining. So
28
I was tired, but the tension of the last week was gone, the cold voice of
The Dark Passenger was quiet, and I could be me again. Quirky, funny,
happy-go-lucky, dead-inside Dexter. No longer Dexter with the knife,
Dexter the Avenger. Not until next time. (Lindsay 2004, 13)
The quotation above explains about the situation after he kills his victim.
Before killing his target, he usually prepares everything. His victim must be the
right person, he only kills murderers that he believes have escaped justice. He
does not feel a guilt after a kill, in the reverse, it makes him feel better. Then he
lives his normal life as blood spatter in Miami Metro Police.
Dexter manages his double life well for years and has never been caught.
Good during the days, and bad at nights. He maintains emotionless relationships
in order to hide his real personality. It can be seen from the following quotation.
― All of which I had done, so very carefully. I was a near perfect hologram.
Above suspicion, beyond reproach, and beneath contempt. A neat and
polite monster, the boy next door. Even Deborah was at least half fooled,
half the time. (Lindsay 2004, 42)
The quotation below shows that Dexter is good at imitate his social life.
He is known as friendly and cheerful. It happens when he took the boat out after
works, he passes the houses of his neighbors and greet them.
― I threw an automatic big wave and bright smile to all the neighbors out in
their yards that grew neatly up to the canal‘s seawall. I waved to
everybody. Some of them even waved back. They knew me, had seen me
go by before, always cheerful, a big hello for everybody. (Lindsay 2004,
33)
He is also known as charming and attractive. He is good at being
charming. Generally, every woman is happy to get the flattery from men. As a
charming person, Dexter knew how to treat every woman as well. He has studied
hard and practiced long, and when he applied it, no one could tell that he was
faking it. It can be seen from the quotation below.
29
―Hello Dexter,‘ she said in her too-quiet way. For her, two words were a
long conversation. ‗Good evening, beautiful young lady,‘ I said in my best
Lord Mountbatten voice. ‗May I observe that you are looking very lovely
this evening. (Lindsay 2004, 55)
Based on explanation above the writer concludes that Dexter Morgan is
different from any other normal person, he has witnessed his mother get murdered
in front of his eyes, although he does not remember the event, but since that his
life changed. Therefore, in the next discussion, the writer would like to discuss
about Dexter and his psychological problem.
B. Dexter and his Psychological Problem
Darkly Dreaming Dexter novel described that Dexter suffers post
traumatic syndrom that turn him into murderer. Dexter Morgan is identified as the
major character because of involvement in each event that happened in the novel.
In the age of 30‘s years old, Dexter seems that he has a perfect life. He has a girl
friend, he has a job in Miami metro police, he has a sister who also works in
Miami Metro Police, he is also a good-looking man and has extremely fit body.
But nobody knows, even his sister, that Dexter actually has a serious problem in
his personality. His big trouble is coming from ―The Dark Passenger‖, the
visualization of his Id.
From the very beginning of the story, he said that he doesn‘t have feelings
about anything and he studied about human interactions, and good at faking it all.
He doesn‘t understand or experience expression of love, sexuality, comfort,
humor, or remorse. He is reaching for human feeling and by killing, he feels
something, Dexter murder‘s are directed by an inner voice he refers to as The
30
Dark Passenger who keeps prodding him to kill. His life changed to be balance
since he satisfy The Dark Passenger, it comes to his life unconsciously. 46 His
foster father Harry has find out who he is and teach him a set of rules, to kill
without getting caught and only kill the people who deserve to die. These rules
give Dexter guidance how to blend in society and avoid attention.
― Whatever made me the way I am, made me hollow, empty inside, unable
to feel. It does not seem like a big deal. I am quite sure most people fake
an awful lot of everyday human contact. I just fake all of it. I fake it very
well, and the feelings are never there. (Lindsay 2004, 16)
As the explanation in chapter II, according to Freud‘s sexual stage
development, Sigmund Freud proposed that if the child experienced sexual
frustation in relation to any psychosexual development stage, he or she would
experience anxiety that would persist into adulthood as a neurosis, a functional
mental disorder.47
In oral stage (birth-1) is the first phase of this development where libido is
only focus on mouth. Oral phase also a primary stage that give influence to next
level of psychosexual development. In this development, mother is first
relationship with the infant. That is why mother is the important part in oral phase.
A mother also created a good personality of child and if a character of mother is
missing, the child will has the indication of depression. Dexter was never breast
fed because his mother was somewhat careless, and he did not live with his
mother. He probably weaned quite a lot since he had no woman to breast feed
him. He may have had an oral fixation but it has not permanently effected his
personality since this fixation often results in immaturity.
46
Unconscious is the vast area of the pscye holding desires memories, an emotion of
which we are not aware. In Susan Nolen-Hoeksema
47
A. Bullock., S. Trombley. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (London:
Harper Collins 1999) pp. 643, 705
31
When Dexter losing his mother, he is in Phallic stage (3-6). In this stage, a
boy recognizes the first love object to anyone as the closest person to him;
commonly is the mother. The story told that he witnessed his mother get murdered
when he was only three years old, so he cannot share his love to anyone since he
has no figure of a mother and his psychosexual development was disrupted. This
traumatic event put Dexter‘s normal mental development on hold. Although he
has Doris as his foster mother, the figure of Dexter‘s mother cannot be changed,
this woman never plugs his emptiness. Fixation in this stage often results in
vanity, self-obsession, sexual anxiety, and etc.
Dexter‘s urge to kill appears in Latency stage (6-puberity). When Dexter
was fourteen years old, he is on puberity time, because in this age Dexter‘s sexual
feeling exists. Because of he fixated in phallic stage, he has no interest in sex,
Dexter‘s mind was negatively distorted at a young age so his Id has not been
pushed to the back of his mind. His neurosis that established in phallic stage
caused him failure to direct his energy towards following socially acceptable
activities. Killing makes him feel good and makes the voice in his head calm, he
named his inner voice as The Dark Passenger. If he did not kill for a duration of
time, his life became unstable.
From the analysis above, the main character suffered post traumatic
syndrom that turn him into murderer its caused of his structure personality id, ego,
and superego works unbalanced, he has bad past experiences, then his personality
is disturbed. According to Freud personality as having three aspects, which work
together to produce all of our complex behaviors: the Id, ego, and the Superego. 48
All three components need to be well-balanced in order to have good amount of
psychological energy available and to have reasonable mental health.
48
http://wilderdom.com/personality/L8-4stuctureMindIdEgoSuperego.html. Accesed on
April, 2015.
32
Dexter has unconsciously hung on to his early childhood trauma and
gained an urge to kill. Clearly his mother‘s death was a major influence on him
since it disturbed his mental. Defense mechanism refers to unconscious processes
of the ego which keep disturbing and unacceptable impulses from being expressed
directly. Dexter has been using defense mechanism since he was three years old.
When Dexter was three, he and his brother Brian witnessed their mother
murdered in front of them, saw her chopped into pieces with a chainsaw, and then
were left in the dark amongst puddles of their mother‘s blood for two and a half
days. Dexter‘s ego unconsciously makes usage of defence mechanism namely
repression. Freud believed that when we witnessed something so traumatic that it
will break us, our memories are pushed so far into our unconscious mind that we
don‘t even realize they exist. Instead, we simply have blankspot in our personal
biographies. This insident is so traumatic that Dexter blocked it from his memory
for years. It can be seen from the following quotation.
― What do you remember from before?‘ he asked. ‗ You know. Before we
took you in.‘ That still hurts, but I really don‘t know why. I was only three.
‗Nothing.‘ ‗Good,‘ he says. ‗Nobody should remember that.‘ (Lindsay
2004, 40)
Dexter never experienced motherly love in his life. The love of mother is
believed to be the most sacred of emotional bonds. Instead he had to watch the
murder of his mother before his eyes. He sit amongst puddles of bloods for two
and a half days without given enough food and drink. He can not get the images
of the murder of his mother out of his head. Unconsciously, Dexter hates all of the
form of the restrains and eager to fight it. He wants to save his mother, but that
time he was child, he has no trength to oppose or compete with unknown men
33
who killed his mother. He just feel weak and fear without can do anything. Then
Dexter‘s ego made use of defense mechanism namely Displacement. This defense
mechanism tries to change the object of unacceptable feelings against someone or
something, so he enjoyed killing people in order to defend himself from anxiety.
This defense mechanism of displacement develops on Dexter‘s personality caused
by his lack of strength to oppose the murderer who killed his mother in the past.
Dexter simply loves blood. Blood is beautiful to him, fascinating. He
never knew about the certain memorable things which explains Dexter‘s parent.
His obsession of blood clearly stems from his childhood trauma when he sat
amongst his mother‘s blood. Therefore, if he comforts seeing blood, it means that
he unconsciously associates the blood as the mother because the blood is first
object that Dexter learns to identify. But Dexter knows that his fondness for blood
is not socially acceptable. Dexter‘s ego unconsciously makes usage of defense
mechanism namely Sublimation. Sublimation is the process to transform the
sexual pressure to become the pressure which is suitable to the norms and the
cultures which exist in the society.49 His unconscious mind steering him toward a
career where he could sit in blood. He works as blood spatter analyst for the
Miami Metro Police.
When reality is simply too emotionally terrible to handle, one way to deal
with it is to use intellectuallization. Intellectualization is the defense mechanism
which tries to show cognitive aspect excessively. People use this defense
mechanism to cover their weakness.50 Dexter often intellectualizes his own life,
telling himself that he has no emotions. Although is not true, he feels human
distress when facing his biological brother.
49
50
Ibid.
Ibid.
34
Killing is his job and ties him to life, always keeping him alive and
making him feel good. Dexter envisions himself as a superhero, who kills the
murders who escaped from justice. Dexter‘s ego unconsciously makes usage of
defense mechanism namely Rationalization. Rationalization is to invent an
acceptable motive or reason to explain unacceptably motive behavior, for example
a soldier who killed civilians tries to rationalize their action by thinking that they
only follow the order, so it can reduce the anxiety. 51 The following quotation
explains about when he just killed his victim and he said that he just removed one
more heap of mess from the world. He works for good : he uses the power to keep
the social order by tring to clean the community that he lives in from criminals.
― Neatness takes time of course, but it‘s worth it. Worth it to make the The
Dark Passenger happy, keep him quiet for another long while. Worth it just
to do it right and tidy. Remove one more heap of mess from the world. A
few more neatly wrapped bags of garbage and my one small corner of the
world is a neater, happier place. A better place. (Lindsay 2004, 11)
The Dark Passenger is a part of his personality that is dominated by his Id,
which is operates by pleasure principle. Dexter‘s conflict is about to control
system in his personality between id, ego, and superego. Dexter‘s ego
unconsciously tries to thinks by reality and morality principle to manage the
impulse from id. In this case, when he was teenager Dexter‘s superego does not
work properly, which is should provides contribute in the form of guidance on the
values that should not be violated, thus avoiding the conflict between the
individual and the external reality.
Meanwhile, Dexter‘s superego is shaped when his foster father Harry finds
out the truth about his mental state. Dexter gets moral education and knowledge
about channeling his urge to kill into positive direction, Harry teach him a set of
rules to live by, to kill without getting caught and only kill people who deserves
51
Ibid
35
to die. Furthermore, the relationship between him and his foster father is closer.
Harry loves Dexter like his biological son and Dexter respects him such as his
parents because he is never taken care before.
‖. . . and it‘s going to stay there. It‘s going to make you want to kill. And
you can‘t help that. You can‘t change that. But,‘ he says, and he looks
away again, to see what I can‘t tell. ―But you can channel it. Control it.
Choose—‗ His words come so carefully now, more careful that I‘ve ever
heard him talk‘ –choose what . . . or who. . . you kill . . .‘ And he gave me
a smile unlike any I had ever seen before, a smile as bleak and dry as the
ashes of our drying fire. ‗There are plenty of people who deserve it, Dex . .
.‘ and with those few little words he gave a shape to my whole life, my
everything, my who and what I am. The wonderful, all-seeing, allknowing man. Harry my dad. If only I was capable of love, how I would
have loved Harry. (Lindsay 2004, 41)
Dexter witnesses, a painful tragedy which his mother murdered with a
chain saw in front of him, and sit amongst puddles of blood for two and a half
days is unpleasant condition for him. Dexter‘s ego unconsciously makes usage the
extreme way in his life to reduce his problems by killing with the right direction.
Dexter‘s hope his mechanism can be maintained to defeat unpleasant feeling
because of his past experience. The quotation below shows dexter feeling after he
kills his victim.
― By four-thirty in the morning the priest was all cleaned up. I felt a lot
better. I always did, after. Killings makes me feel good. It works the knots
out of darling Dexter‘s dark schemata. It‘s a sweet release, a necessary
letting go of all the little hydraulic valves inside. I enjoy my work; sorry if
that bothers you. Oh, very sorry, really. But there it is. And it‘s not just any
killing, of course. It has to be done the right way, at the right time, with the
right partner – very complicated, but very necessary. (Lindsay 2004, 13)
The dark passanger is what keeps Dexter in balance. It does not let Dexter
jeopardize his existance in his society. Dexter‘s Dark Passenger does not have
feelings or guilt, regret or doubts. But he does not kill innocent people. The Dark
Passenger is like a dark identity of justice in his society.
36
In the beginning of the story Dexter manages his double life well for years
and has never been caught. Until one day, through his sister, Dexter gets involved
in the case of a new serial killer who kills with an absence of blood evidence.
Dexter impressed by his works, this serial killer terrorizing Miami‘s prostitutes,
the serial killer then known as Tamiami Trail Killer.
He get emotionally involved because this killer has sending him personal
message. Since he gets involve in this case, he starts feeling human distress, he
always prepares for everything except this one, he does not what to do and since
Harry has died, he cant discuss his problem with anyone. He shares his secret and
his Dark Passenger with nobody. He always keeps the darkness under the surface
of his first identity.
The Tamiami Trail Killer kidnaps Deboral and traces Dexter clues to find.
Dexter goes in search of Deborah followed by LaGuerta, by following his clues,
remembering his dark dream, and following his inner voice, he finally finds the
crime scene where Deborah is kidnapped. He finds Deborah wrapped by duck
tape around her arms and legs, and her mouth is held closed by a strip of
ducktape. The crime scene, and see the killer who turns out to be his brother, all
memories that Dexter has blocked for years has come into surface. He has
flashback of his dark experience when he was three years old. The killer wants
Dexter to help him kill Deborah. And before Dexter can refuse, LaGuerta comes
to the crime scene.
― I closed my eyes. The room dove around me, got darker, and I could not
move. There was Mommy watching me, unblinking. I opened my eyes.
My brother stood so close behind me I could feel his breath on my neck.
My sister looked up at me, her eyes as wide as unblinking as Mommy‘s.
37
And look she gave me held me, as Mommy‘s had held me. I close my
eyes; Mommy. I opened my eyes: Deborah. (Lindsay 2004, 267)
The quotation above explains the situation when Dexter confuse, he does
not know what to do, for the first time he knows that he has family, biological
brother. And before Dexter can decide, LaGuerta comes into container. Brian
stabs LaGuerta and continou to insist Dexter to kill Deborah.
― Mommy?‘ someone said.‗ Dexter, come on,‘ said Mommy, I mean
Deborah, but I could not stop the knife. ‗ Dexter, for Christ sake, cut the
shit! It‘s me! Debbie!‘ I shook my head and of course it was Deborah, but
I could stop the knife.‗ I know, Deb. I‘m really very sorry.‘ (Lindsay 2004,
269)
Dexter has flashback of her mother, she looks Deborah like she looks to
his mother when he was three. and he hears a voice of his foster father that tells
him to choose for who to kill, there is plenty people that deserve to die. And
finally he choose to help Deborah, he thinks it will pay her mother back, because
his mother has saved him, and this time would different, he saves Deborah to pay
his mother in order he couldn‘t help his mother in the past. And decided to kill
LaGuerta. His biological brother, Brian runs away from the crime scene. Not
killing an innocent people is not something Brian is able to understand. And in the
end of the story, Dexter decided to keeps his life as before. He was very aware of
all three parts of his mind. He understand that his superego is disturbed and that
he has a lack of morals. He knows that his id is very strong. His ego is not used to
balance out his id and superego but to hide them from the world and to seem
normal.
The following quotation is an epilogue, happens when he is attending
LaGuerta funerals.Deborah become a sergeant at last, and she really wanted to
forgive Dexter for what he is, and try to understand a set of rules that he lives by.
38
― What can any of us do? Helpless as we all are, in the grip of our own
little voices, what indeed can we do? I really wished I could shed a tear. It
was all beautiful. As beautiful as the next full moon would be, when I
could call on Sergeant Doakes. And things would go on as they were, as
they had always been, beneath that lovely bright moon. The wonderful, fat,
musical red moon. (Lindsay 2004, 275)
From the description above, the writer concludes that Dexter has
complicated psychological problems. The casual factors are the traumatic
experience and the pain in his childhood. His psychosexual development is
disrupted in his early age. Sigmund Freud proposed that if the child experienced
sexual frustation in relation to any psychosexual development stage, he or she
would experience anxiety that would persist into adulthood as a neurosis, a
functional mental disorder.52 He suffers post traumatic syndrome that leads him to
be murderer and the processes defense mechanism of Dexter Morgan are variety
ways and it has different impacts both positively and negatively. Dexter tries to
solve his problems to make his life balance by doing his self –defense mechanism
with his self by killing. Since he witness the murders of his mother, his
unconsciousness takes control of his personality and makes his pscyhe disturbed.
He has two side of personality, when he is being Dexter and when he is being The
Dark Passenger. The Dark Passenger is his real personality who drives by the id
that operates by pleasure principle, this personality is not accepted by society. But
his superego (his father) leads him to kill by manner, he only kills people who
deserve to die. And the other personality is the personality that he makes in order
to survive and accepted by society, he seems like normal person who has a job
and has a good relationship with people.
52
Ibid.
39
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is a novel that is written by Jeff Lindsay which
provides a complicated problem on the main character. The writer analyzes the
main character of the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter to understand what neurosis
he suffers and how he is described on the novel.
After analyzing the main character of the novel viewed from Sigmund
Freud‘s psychoanalysis theory, the writer gets the conclusion that there is
connection between psychosexual stage and defense mechanism. Each
psychosexual stage results in the different defense mechanism. Dexter Morgan as
the main character of Darkly Dreaming Dexter novel suffers from neurosis
disorder, namely Post-traumatic Syndrome that turn him into murderer which are
caused by his traumatic experience and the pain in his childhood. His
psychosexual development is disrupted in his early age. Dexter Morgan has
witnessed his mother get murdered in front of his eyes, he sit locked amongst
puddles of bloods for two and a half days without given enough food and drink.
Although he does not remember the event, but since that his life changed.
He has personality problem. He feels empty, emotionally flat, lack of
conscience and human feelings, he does not feel guilty or rumorse after killing
animals and people, he uses his charm and manipulation to satisfy his own selfish
needs. He is reaching for human feeling and by killing, he feels something, Dexter
39
40
murder‘s are directed by an inner voice he refers to as The Dark Passenger who
keeps prodding him to kill. His life changed to be balance since he satisfy The
Dark Passenger. His foster father Harry has find out who he is and teach him a set
of rules, to kill without getting caught and only kill the people who deserve to die.
These rules give Dexter guidance how to blend in society and avoid attention.
The processes defense mechanism of Dexter Morgan are variety ways and
it has different impacts both positively and negatively. Dexter tries to solve his
problems to make his life balance by doing his self –defense mechanism with his
self by killing. Since he witness the murders of his mother, his unconsciousness
takes control of his personality and makes his pscyhe disturbed. He has two side
of personality, when he is being Dexter and when he is being The Dark Passenger.
B. Suggestion
Novel is interesting for the writer to analyze because we can picture the
characters the way we imagine, and also its stories. Novel is not only for
entertainment, but it also can teach us about life. The novel that the writer chose is
psychological novel that is related with human daily life and human problems.
In analyzing novel, the writer or the researcher should use the appropriate
theory or approach in order to have the maximal comprehension of the novel
itself. In this research, the writer uses the Psychoanalysis‘s theory of Sigmund
Freud to reveal the main character‘s neurosis in Darkly Dreaming Dexter novel.
However, it is possible for the other researchers who want to analyze this film by
using another approach or theory in analyzing it, and they can focus on the some
aspects in the novel that the writer does not analyze yet to get broader
41
comprehension of the novel. Finally, the writer hopes this research gives
contribution to the students of English Literature who want to analyze characters
in the novel through Sigmund Freud‘s psychoanalysis theory.
42
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Accesed 07.50 pm on April 19th, 2015.
44
APPENDIX
Summary of Darkly Dreaming Dexter Novel
"Darkly Dreaming Dexter" is a novel by Jeff Lindsay. Dexter Morgan is a
blood analysis expert, who also happens to be a serial killer. Dexter's foster father,
a police officer named Harry Morgan, taught Dexter how to kill in a way that will
keep him from getting caught. Harry also taught Dexter to only kill people who
deserve to die. As a result, Dexter only targets serial killers and child molesters.
When, through his sister, Dexter gets involved in the case of a new serial killer
who kills with an absence of blood evidence, Dexter finds his serial-killing soul
mate. The only question is, will Dexter help his sister bring the killer to justice, or
will he save this killer for his own brand of justice. Darkly Dreaming Dexter is an
amusing twist on an old formula that will leave readers rethinking their own
definition of justice.
Dexter works for the Metro-Dade Police Department. He is called to the
scene of a murder by his sister, a police officer with vice. A prostitute has been
murdered and Deborah wants to work the case so she can put herself in a position
for a promotion to detective. When Dexter arrives on the scene, he discovers a
murder that fascinates the killer inside of him. The victim is completely devoid of
blood.
Deborah begs Dexter to help her solve this murder. Dexter is reluctant
because he wants to find the killer and learn how he kills his victims, after which
45
Dexter will then kill him. However, Dexter is aware that Harry, his foster father,
would want him to help Deborah. Dexter agrees. While Deborah and Dexter begin
their investigation, Detective LaGuerta, who is officially in charge of the case,
begins her own. LaGuerta starts off on the wrong foot when she misinterprets
some evidence and assumes the killer was interrupted during his latest kill.
LaGuerta has her people concentrate on finding a witness, while Dexter has
Deborah looking for a refrigerated truck. Dexter believes that rather than having
been interrupted, the killer has grown bored with his routine. Dexter suggests the
killer will kill again, quickly and bigger than before.
While Deborah looks for the refrigerator truck, Dexter goes on a date with
his girlfriend. When Dexter was a child, his foster father discovered Dexter was
unable to feel human emotions and had homicidal tendencies. Rather than seek
counseling, Harry teaches Dexter how to indulge his needs without getting caught.
Harry teaches Dexter about forensics as well as schooling him to only target
people who deserve to be killed. Harry also teaches Dexter how to get along in
society despite his inability to feel. Part of these lessons is the need for Dexter to
seek female companionship. This is why Dexter has a girlfriend. Rita, his
girlfriend, is a survivor of domestic violence and is not interested in sex. This
makes Rita the perfect woman for Dexter, since he would never engage in sex.
At the end of Dexter's date, he sees a crime scene in the same area where
the other victims were found. Dexter knows this must be another one of the
Tamiami Trail killer's victims. Dexter stops to check it out and once again is
46
fascinated by the completely bloodless way in which the killer kills. Rita is put off
by Dexter's fascination with the killings; however, Dexter is so excited, he does
not notice her distaste. Dexter drops Rita off at her house and in his excitement,
he kisses her, which causes Rita to become agitated. Dexter watches her run into
the house and is convinced that she will never want to see him again.
Over the next few days, Dexter begins to have dreams about the Tamiami
Trail killer. It seems that Dexter dreams the details of the killer's future kills.
These dreams cause the desire to kill in Dexter to come to life. Dexter takes a
chance and kills a man he has been watching for a while. This kill is not as well
organized as Dexter's crimes normally are, and he is nearly caught. The thrill
leads Dexter to do something he would not usually do. Dexter has intimate
relations with Rita. A few days later, Dexter goes for a drive in the middle of the
night to clear his head, and he finds himself chasing a refrigerator truck like the
one he imagines the killer would use. When Dexter loses the truck, he pulls to the
side of the road only to have the truck reappear. The driver maneuvers the truck
past Dexter and throws something out the window. It turns out to be a woman's
head.
While Dexter submits to LaGuerta's questioning about the woman's head,
they receive word that another body had been found. The body is at the ice rink of
the local professional hockey team. Dexter once again sees the beauty in this kill,
and he is more anxious than ever to find this killer. Later, Dexter discovers the
killer has been in his house and left a message. Dexter believes the killer is talking
47
directly to him through his victims. Understandably, Dexter is disappointed when
it seems that LaGuerta has caught the killer. However, Dexter soon realizes that
LaGuerta's prisoner is not the real killer.
Dexter warns Deborah that the killer will strike again. When the killer
does kill again, the police find only three heads, each with an object that seems to
be a message just for Dexter. Dexter tells Deborah that not only are these by the
same killer, but suggests that the rest of the bodies are more than likely going to
be found at the ice rink. Deborah and Dexter go to the ice rink and find the bodies
arranged in a closet to spell out a message. While investigating this display,
Deborah stumbles on an employee of the ice rink, who takes videos of the parking
lot every night in order to post images of the hockey players on a fan website.
This camera picks up an image of the killer, a killer who looks just like Dexter.
Deborah gives Dexter a few hours to figure out what is going on before
she turns in the evidence. However, before Deborah can retrieve the images, she is
kidnapped. Dexter goes in search of Deborah and is followed by Detective
LaGuerta. LaGuerta has come to believe that Dexter has something to do with the
murders. However, LaGuerta trusts Dexter enough to separate while they search
the docks for a shipping container in which Dexter believes the killer is waiting.
Dexter finds the killer first. The killer looks just like Dexter and turns out to be his
brother. The killer wants Dexter to help him kill Deborah. Before Dexter can
refuse, LaGuerta comes into the container. The killer stabs LaGuerta and
48
continues to insist Dexter help kill Deborah. Dexter refuses, so he and his brother
kill LaGuerta instead.