Critics agree that military stories are wrought with psychological concepts and applications. With the forefather of psychiatry, Sigmund Freud, offering the theories of one’s unconscious and its roles critics are able to analyze stories in a deeper, more psychosomatic manner. Phil Klay’s short story “Frago” is one in which that offers an intense opportunity to analyze characters in profound psychological turmoil and distress. Freud’s theories presented the key ideas of the unconscious mind and its control as well as what happens when a person loses that control or, perhaps, even succumbs too severely to it. “Frago” demonstrates not just the extreme power and necessary evil of the unconscious but sheds light on the aftermath of its control.
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The need for this action, as absurd as it may seem in a civilian world, stems directly from the need to survive. In Phil Klay’s story “Frago” the unnamed main character gives a graphic detailed first person point of view of themselves and a team “dropping” a house in efforts to clear it of any al-Qaeda. In this mission it depicts quite clearly how a Marine functions solely on instincts as they move through the house: “We keep moving. Bedroom, clear. Head, clear. Pantry, clear. Whatever the fuck this rooms is, clear. First deck, clear” (Klay 18). This operation on instincts shows the beginning of the id getting to take full control for survival …show more content…
Back on base and in a “safe” environment the Marines show repression by making jokes with one another and focusing on food. There is no more talk of the hajjis, guns, or death—only cobbler. At this point the ego has finally found a balance between the superego and id by repressing the travesties and allowing only the most basic, nonviolent instincts to take priority i.e. they choose to just go eat. The only Marine who’s distressed unconscious is still upsetting his conscious is Dyer as the narrator has to “put a spoon in his hand” just to get him to eat (Klay 27). Not every mind works the same and some people’s unconscious are better at protecting the conscious than others. Freud’s theories are the backbone of psychological criticism. When analyzing “Frago” Freud’s ideas of the unconscious are apparent at every turn. From the sweep of the house to the eating of cobbler the id, ego, and superego are at work, battling and balancing. For these Marines the power of the id is very much a necessary evil in order to help them survive. The true dilemma lays in the how the Marine must cope with the aftermath which is proven to be the most difficult part for the mind and varies from person to
The need for this action, as absurd as it may seem in a civilian world, stems directly from the need to survive. In Phil Klay’s story “Frago” the unnamed main character gives a graphic detailed first person point of view of themselves and a team “dropping” a house in efforts to clear it of any al-Qaeda. In this mission it depicts quite clearly how a Marine functions solely on instincts as they move through the house: “We keep moving. Bedroom, clear. Head, clear. Pantry, clear. Whatever the fuck this rooms is, clear. First deck, clear” (Klay 18). This operation on instincts shows the beginning of the id getting to take full control for survival …show more content…
Back on base and in a “safe” environment the Marines show repression by making jokes with one another and focusing on food. There is no more talk of the hajjis, guns, or death—only cobbler. At this point the ego has finally found a balance between the superego and id by repressing the travesties and allowing only the most basic, nonviolent instincts to take priority i.e. they choose to just go eat. The only Marine who’s distressed unconscious is still upsetting his conscious is Dyer as the narrator has to “put a spoon in his hand” just to get him to eat (Klay 27). Not every mind works the same and some people’s unconscious are better at protecting the conscious than others. Freud’s theories are the backbone of psychological criticism. When analyzing “Frago” Freud’s ideas of the unconscious are apparent at every turn. From the sweep of the house to the eating of cobbler the id, ego, and superego are at work, battling and balancing. For these Marines the power of the id is very much a necessary evil in order to help them survive. The true dilemma lays in the how the Marine must cope with the aftermath which is proven to be the most difficult part for the mind and varies from person to