A Quest of Her Own in Nature: A Psychoanalytical Study of Atwood’s Surfacing

Surfacing is one of Margaret Atwood’s most successful works. Accordingly, the novel has been studied from diverse points of view. This paper intends to present a psychoanalytical study of the protagonist of the novel according to theories of Kristeva and Jung. Surfacing is the story of a woman who uses the quest form in order to find her lost father, her identity, and her past ties. This unnamed protagonist is one who feels a sense of loss and melancholia; she exhibits strange behavior, loses her language and isolates herself. The protagonist suffers from an internal division that needs to be fixed; the whole novel deals with her journey to wholeness. The story may be interpreted as a process of individuation. Through the struggle to reclaim her identity and roots, the protagonist begins psychological journey that leads her directly in to the natural world. The nature acts as a tool of self-exploration, helping the protagonist to advance in her healing process. It is the aim of this paper to discuss how Margaret Atwood’s melancholic female protagonist in Surfacing goes on a quest- journey in the wildness to deal with her sense of loss and regain a new life.

کلیدواژه ها:

Jung ، Kristeva ، nature ، psychological quest ، self-exploration