Why I chose this lens:

I would really enjoy reading this book through a psychoanalytic lens because I am fascinated by interpreting humans actions and behaviors, looking at internal conflict, as well as the subconscious mind. Last year for my expedition class I was in Psychology and really enjoyed it. We learned a lot about the id, ego, and superego, and explored many of Freud’s theories and ideas. In class we did a project where we took a character from a popular book or movie (I chose Harry Potter) and did an analysis on them involving the id, ego, and superego as well as analysis on other aspects of the character. This project seems like it ties in pretty closely to analyzing beloved from a psychoanalytical point of view.  I would like to look at the hidden desires or fears of the subconscious and the irrational desires of the id. Other things that I might look at through a psychoanalytical lens would be dreams and their interpretations as well as the characters’ internal monologues. All of these things can provide a huge insight on the character’s motivations and can propel the story towards a deeper meaning.