Sigmund Freud And Barber's Defending Jacob By William Landay

Sigmund Freud introduced a psychoanalytical theory that states that adults who did not go through certain stages of development in their childhood, would have issues during adulthood. In this theory, Freud also states that the mind has three parts, an Id, the unconscious part of the psyche that stores desires, wishes, and fears, the Superego, the moral centre of the mind, and lastly the Ego, the rational part of the mind that chooses the most realistic action. In the novel Defending Jacob by William Landay the protagonist Jacob Barber develops some psychological problems while inheriting a killer gene called MAOA knockout. Although Jacob tries to use this to help defend himself in trial, he is still charged with first degree murder. It …show more content…
In school Jacob was not one of the “cool kids”, as a result he would get bullied and this would make his social independency even worse. “Ben would call him the usual stuff: he’s gay, he’s a geek, he’s a loser” (170). In Freud’s theory it is said that he would perform psychoanalysis to his stressful patients to relieve their inner thoughts from their superego. Since Jacob does not have anyone to speak to, he is forced to keep the stress to himself and as a result builds hate for the society as a whole. Freud also said that kids that have a traumatic childhood like Jacob, it can lead to more psychological issues. This came true when Dr. Vogel’s tests concluded that Jacob has two mental disorders, “there are two disorders that Jacob exhibits pretty clearly, narcissistic personality disorder and reactive personality disorder” (291). This is significant because both these disorders have to do with the public and how Jacob perceives other humans. Due to all the stress and hate from fellow students, Jacob develops narcissistic personality disorder, because he thinks he is his own best friend. The reactive attachment disorder gets developed from failing to establishing healthy relationships, and not having …show more content…
He inherited this gene from his dad’s side as his grandfather and great grandfather were all serial killers. By now, there may be 40% of the population that has this gene. Anyone can have it, and it is not dangerous as long as the person is tamed when angry. Freud has said that you are born with certain characteristics and you can only grow from what you have. In Jacob’s case he was born with the MAOA gene, but because of his psychological issues, he was able to make quick use of its ability by murdering Ben Riftkin and Hope Conners. “Why didn’t you tell me, I belong to a family filled with murderers…Why didn’t you tell me? It’s who I am” (229). Jacob has the murderer gene plus the psychological disorders, which makes for a lethal combination by itself and also the reason why his mom ends up killing