Category: Protagonist

The protagonist, Ivanovich Poprishchin is a titular councilor who has noted his sentiments in a diary. From the onset of the diary, it appears that the protagonist is unsatisfied with the way he is treated at his job, stating that the chief has been unpleasant to him and he has been informed he often “rush about as though he was possessed”. The protagonist believes that his colleagues are “certainly envious” of him because he is favored by the director (Gogol, 1852, p.2). From the protagonist’s diary, it seems that he is not involved in any romantic relationship although he reveals an interest in his director’s daughter, Sophie, often getting hopelessly lost” whenever he sees her (p. 2). Moreover, it appears that the patient likes things to be in order, making it clear that one of his colleagues who is an “ungainly” associate has a “shabby coat” and an “ugly mug”. But he likes the fact that everything in the office is done “proper and gentlemanly” and there is more “cleanness and elegance” (p.2). He argues this is the main reason why he had not resigned. This suggests that the protagonist could be exhibiting symptoms of OCD.

One of the unusual aspects about the protagonist is that he wrote that he heard two dogs(Meggy and Fidel) having a conversation-claiming that he ‘heard’ a voice called Meggy, and Meggy replied “No, Fidel, you are wrong”. The fact that the protagonist believes he heard the two dogs conversing is strange because one knows that dogs do not speak, so he could be hallucinating. Although he is astounded to hear the dogs “talk human language” he considers it no more a surprise because “these kinds of things have already happened”. The protagonist is also convinced that he discovered letters the dogs write to each other. He claims he heard Meggy declare that “perhaps Polkan did not bring you the letter” (p.3). according to the Protagonist, the writing of the letters looked somewhat “doggish”.Although the protagonist knows that dogs do not talk nor write, he makes it clear that these kinds of things have already happened and that he has been hearing and seeing things that no other man has heard or seen, suggesting that he may be hallucinating.

As the diary progresses, the Protagonist is convinced that the letters contain information about him, claiming that Meggy describes his hair as a “truss of hay” (p.10). He is also convinced that the chief clerk wants to harm him stating that the man “hates me implacably” and has “plotted against me”. This suggests that the protagonist could be imagining people intending to hurt him. On page 11 of the diary, it becomes apparent that the protagonist is imagining things because he believes that he is the newfound king of Spain, stating that “Spain has a king; he has been found, and I am he”. The protagonist’s thoughts also seem to be erratic because he no longer knows the months nor how long they last for. For example, he refers to his diary entries as “Marchember 86, February 30th, 34 March and February, 349” (p12, p13, p14). This is an indication of disorganized thinking because there is no month named Marchember nor is there a month that lasts for 86 days.

Moreover, he notes February 30th, claiming that he is in Spain where there are cast-iron roads and the “steamers go very fast”. This shows that the protagonist has lost rational thinking because he does not realize he is in a mental institution, thinking that he is in Spain to rule and all the blows to his head are “ceremony of old-time chivalry” (p.13). His beliefs become more bizarre when he is convinced that the “moon is repaired in Hamburg and that humans cannot see their noses because they are on the moon”. This is an indication of the protagonist’s delusional beliefs because when he is being tortured in the asylum, he thinks that these are signs of “powerful customs in Spain” (p.14.). In the last entry of his diary, it seems that the protagonist has realized he is not in Spain to rule. He describes the anguish he endures noting that they “take no notice of me” and do not “see nor hear me”. The protagonist also cries for his mother to come to his rescue because he can no longer endure the pain.

Based on the DSM-5 and the symptoms displayed by the protagonist, three possible diagnoses can be a made-schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or Schizophrenia. These are the possible diagnoses because the protagonist seems to be displaying hallucinations and delusional symptoms. For example, from the onset of the diary, the protagonist reports that he “heard a voice call” and later makes it clear that two dogs are having a conversation. This shows that the protagonist was perhaps hallucinating because one knows that dogs do not talk. For the protagonist to be diagnosed with schizophreniform, the following criteria must be met, A. Two or more of each of the following-delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or negative symptoms, exist for a significant amount of time for a duration of 1-month or less. B.an episode of the disorder lasts at least 1 month but less than 6 months. C. Schizoaffective disorder and depressive disorder have been ruled out because no major depressive or manic episodes have occurred concurrently with the active-phase symptoms. D. The disturbance is not due to the physiological effects of substance abuse. The protagonist’s symptoms meet 2 out of the 4 DSM-5 criteria (C, D). The protagonist’s symptoms lasted for more than one month, so he did not meet criterion A because one does not know how long the protagonist’s symptoms are going to last because he was taken to the mental health institution.

The second possible diagnosis for the protagonist is that he might be suffering from schizoaffective disorder. According to the DSM-5, an individual must meet four criteria to be diagnosed with this disorder. A. an uninterrupted period of illness during which there is a major mood episode. B. there must be delusions or hallucinations for 2 or more weeks in the absence of a major mood episode during the lifetime duration of the illness. C. Symptoms that meet the criteria for a major mood episode are present for most of the total duration of the active and residual portions of the illness. And D that the disturbance is not caused by the impacts of a substance or another medical condition. Based on the protagonist’s diary, he met two out of the four criteria because he displayed symptoms of delusions and hallucinations for 2 or more weeks. Secondly, the disturbance was not caused by the effects of substance or a medical condition as one is not sure of any medical conditions the protagonist may be suffering from.

The third possible diagnosis for the protagonist is schizophrenia. Based on the DSM-5, the protagonist must exhibit the following symptoms in order to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. A. two or more of the following-delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and grossly speech. B. For a substantial amount of the time since the start of the disorder, level of functioning in areas such as work have declined. C. Constant signs of the symptoms endure for at least 6 months. This 6-month period must include at least 1 month of hallucinations and delusions and may include periods of prodromal or residual symptoms. D. Schizoaffective disorder and depressive disorder have been ruled out because no major depressive symptoms have occurred alongside the active-phase symptoms. E. The disturbance is not due to the physiological effects of a substance. F. If there is a history of autism spectrum or a communication disorder of childhood onset, the additional diagnosis of schizophrenia is made only if delusions and hallucinations are prominent. Symptoms of the protagonist meet 5 out of the 6 criteria for schizophrenia. Although the protagonist does not meet criterion C, as one does not know how long the protagonist’s symptoms endured for, the fact that he was talking to an asylum indicates that his symptoms may persist for longer periods.

Based on the DSM-5 criteria, one has established that the protagonist is suffering from schizophrenia because he met most of the criteria for schizophrenia. For example, the protagonist displayed grandiose delusions where he imagines he is the new king of Spain. His delusions persist to a point where he believes Spain and China are the same country and that a barber wants to spread Mohammedanism all over the world. Although his symptoms meet most of the criteria for schizophreniform, his hallucinations and delusions persisted for more than one month-worsening to the point where he is taken to an asylum so one has come to the conclusion that schizophrenia is an appropriate diagnosis for the protagonist. However, one would like to further investigate delusional disorder and OCD as the protagonist displayed symptoms of these conditions. Further investigation allows one investigate the reasons for these symptoms and rule them out if not applicable to the protagonist.

“Revolution always requires that people shed blood” (Kim Chew Ng 123). This is the grim fact that the protagonist and his comrades had agreed upon prior to following a path of revolution. And after him and his comrades are convicted of conspiracy and treason, plenty of blood was shed, as his comrades were shot to death by a firing squad (Chew Ng 125). A childhood promise between the protagonist and his royal, cherished friend, allowed for the protagonist to evade his execution, and become the leader of a nearby island (Chew Ng 128). Upon his arrival, Tuan schedules a circumcision ceremony for the protagonist. With a crowd of laughing women, the village chief performs a circumcision on him (Chew Ng 130). This circumcision represents the beginning of a new life for the protagonist, and the villagers watching.

Most babies are circumcised within the first two days of their life (Hirsch). And within two days of arriving on the island, the protagonist receives his circumcision. The parallels of how a normal circumcision occurs, to how the protagonist is circumcised, is meant to show that the protagonist is beginning a new life in a new world as if he was a baby. Just like a baby, which has lived in their mother’s uterus is delivered into the world to start their life, the protagonist who has lived in Malaysia is being delivered to this remote island to start his new life.

One of the conditions in the agreement is that the protagonist must convert to Islam. In Islam, circumcision is viewed as a declaration to your faith in Allah, and a sign of belonging (BBC). Due to his circumcision, throughout his new life, he is now under Allah’s will and must abide by what he says. And in a way, the protagonist’s friend acts as Allah, as he has total control over the protagonist’s life. This is seen when the protagonist recalls his friend’s promise “In the event of the slightest transgression, we will instantly revoke your pardon” (Chew Ng 137). It’s clear that his friend has all the power over the protagonist’s life, as he can instantly decide to bring him back to Malaysia to be executed. The protagonist’s friend uses his faith against him throughout his time on the island. After submitting a request for a Chinese-language Buddhist sutra, his friend sends back a Qur’an with a note to “Never forget Allah’s will” (Chew Ng 137). It’s revealed that Tuan has told the villagers to not allow the protagonist to go out to sea, as the elders say “Whatever you do, you mustn’t let Tuan know we let you go out to see. He has repeatedly stressed that, in accordance with Allah’s will, we mustn’t permit you to leave the island” (Chew Ng 142). After the birth of numerous children, the protagonist asks for birth control. The response to his request is comical, saying “The number of children you have will be determined by Allah’s will” (Chew Ng 145). Clearly, any request for freedom or luxury is met with a harsh remark to remember that he must serve his friend’s/Allah’s demands. By being forced to have a circumcision, the protagonist must now be a loyal servant to his friend/Allah.

Following the protagonist’s circumcision, his way of life is totally different from his past life. In order to avoid execution, the protagonist must follow a strict set of conditions. He must assume a new identity. Cut off all communication with his friends and family. Never tell his future family his true identity. Never use, teach, or speak Chinese again. Convert to Islam, and help reclaim land for cultivation. And lastly, he must never leave the island. The status of his former life is best described by “Your former identity will be permanently discarded, and you must treat your former self as though he were already dead” (Chew Ng 126). The protagonist must commit to memory his new fake past, and act as if his real past never happened.

This contract affects his new life greatly. Despite his strongest urges to use his children to make contact with his family, he decides not to and succeeds in never contacting his former friends and family again. This is seen when he writes “When my eldest son was about to leave the island, I had a sudden urge to encourage him to find an opportunity to go visit my hometown and see how my parents were doing” (Chew Ng 136). He then later dismisses this thought when he says “In the end, though, I couldn’t bring myself to utter a word” (Chew Ng 136). Clearly, the isolation from his family is eating away at him, but he realizes that in his new life, he must never talk to them again, or else him and his family will face severe consequences.

The inability to tell his family about his true former self also causes problems for the protagonist. While his family realizes that he grew up in a Chinese household (Chew Ng 144), they don’t understand why he never leaves the island. The protagonist shares his disappointment in the fact that he’s never attended his children’s graduations when he states “I couldn’t even attend my own children’s graduations. Instead, my “guardian” also served as their collective guardian, and in this way, he represented me” (Chew Ng 137). Despite sending numerous requests to attend his children’s weddings, his requests were always shut down. By then, the fact that he would never attend his children’s notable events, caused many to question the protagonist’s character. His wife exhibits her confusion towards the protagonist when she says “What’s wrong with leaving the island for a few days? It’s not like you were born here. Didn’t you originally come here from elsewhere?” (Chew Ng 137). These remarks leave the protagonist feeling heartbroken. This is because he can never tell his family about his past, and why he cannot leave the island. Thus, this just leaves the protagonist looking like he’s a lackadaisical father. His children even begin questioning whether their father loves them when he states “I recognized quite clearly that my children felt alienated as a result of their inability to forgive me, to the point that they might begin doubting their father’s love” (Chew Ng 138). This question of his character even spreads to the villagers, as they begin to look for why he is so isolated and cold towards his family. They theorize that he is so isolated and cold due to him being Chinese (Chew Ng 138). Thus, his inability to explain his isolation due to his past leaves many to wonder about the protagonist’s character in his new life.

Another way his life has changed following his circumcision, and newly devoted faith towards his friend/Allah, is that he’s now forced to only speak in Malay. We see the effects of this in his new life, as he begins to forget a lot of Chinses characters. He explains his forgetfulness as he says “I often either add or leave out strokes, mistake one character for another, remember the character only vaguely, or only know its pronunciation” (Chew Ng 121). What was once a language he was most likely proficient in, he now yearns to be allowed to write in Chinese. He explains this when he says “For many years now, there hasn’t been a single moment when I didn’t yearn to write something in Chinese” (Chew Ng 122). It’s clear that in his new life, he now wishes he still has the simple privilege he once had in being able to use Chinese whenever he pleased.

His new life also sees the protagonist performing tasks totally different from his old life. In his past life, the protagonist would spend his days studying, singing rebellious songs, and performing secret disobedient operations (Chew Ng 133). While in his new life, he’s now tasked with growing rice, vegetable, fruits, and livestock (Chew Ng 130). He becomes extremely successful in his life as a farmer. He successfully clears the existing land, develops a drainage and irrigation system, and adopts the practice of recycling night soil (Chew Ng 132). His model garden takes off, and he quickly raises chicks, lambs, and a fruit orchard, among other things. He grows so much that he’s later able to distribute his provisions to the villagers (Chew Ng 134). He’s even able to establish a local bartering system with the villagers (Chew Ng 135). While once a rebellious student, the protagonist now acts as a mature, seasoned farmer. The stark contrast between his past hobbies and current job shows how much his devotion towards Allah, due to his circumcision, has affected his life.

The protagonist’s circumcision also has a profound effect on the lives of the villagers. When the villagers are first introduced, they’re portrayed as primitive people. The protagonist details their livelihood as he says “these people had long lived off the sea, continually moving from one island to another.

People will have a lot of identities in their life. Those identities may relate to their power in many aspects. In “Jump”, Nadine Gordimer describes a conflicted experience of a white person but lives with black people for a long time. In “Homage”, which is also created by Gordimer, she describes the struggling life of a murderer who kills the president. In “Jump” and “Homage”, Nadine Gordimer talks about how changes of government influence people in different aspects. In her essays, Gordimer illuminates about power and identity with changes of government. By describing these affects, Gordimer writes about personal power and the connection between identity.

In “Jump” and “Homage”, Gordimer describes that changes of government power cause changes of protagonists’ identities. Two protagonists lose the power that they used to have as civilians in their own country because of the collapse their government. In “Jump”, Gordimer mentions changes the protagonist’s life by his experience, which he is caught by the police because he takes a photograph of a sea-bird. When describing his experience, the author states that, “He was detained for five weeks in a dirty cell the colonial regime had used for blacks” (Jump, Gordimer 3). Changes of government make the social identity of people also change. The protagonist in “Jump” is a white who used to live under the control of white people in his childhood. The protagonist does not need to worry about his race. However, when black people come to power, they treat white people like what white people have done to black people. The protagonist is caught because the special identity that he is a white boy. Gordimer describes the cell “had used for blacks” to show that white people used to catch black people without any reason in the past. Now, black people and white people switch their identities. In “Homage”, Gordimer mentions the protagonist’s conditions after exchanging identities, “We leave home because of government overthrew, a conscript on the wrong side; no work, no bread or oil in the shops, and then we cross a border we’re put over other borders, and another” (Homage, Gordimer 1). The protagonist loses his government and loses his identity as a civilian in his country, which is caused by government changes. At the same time, being trapped, the protagonist and his partners cannot go to another country to start a new life. The government power changes influence the protagonists in “Jump” and “Homage”. Gordimer writes their identity and shows what their identity changes with the power change in her essay. They have similar experiences. They lose their peaceful life, former identity, and the power they used to have.

In “Jump”, Gordimer also describes the gain and loss of power that is related to the value of the identity by taking account of the experience of the narrative. At the beginning of the essay, when Gordimer describes the protagonist’s life in the hotel, she states, “He was offered whisky, anything he liked, at the beginning, and he ordered it although he had never been one to drink spirits” (Gordimer Jump 2). In these sentences, she shows that the protagonist has the power, so he has the right to have anything he wants. The power comes from his identity— the white boy as the victim of the black regime. That identity has value to those white because they need people to prove it is a mistake to return the country back to black. The protagonist can help white people get a proper reason to fight against the black government. Those people give “him” everything that he desires to make him loyal to help them. Then, he has power because of his identity. However, when he finishes his work to tell his story in some television shows, he does not have value anymore. Those white people would not provide any service to satisfy him. When describing his unlucky condition, the author states “The whisky has stopped coming; when he orders a bottle nothing is said but it is not delivered” (Jump, Gordimer 2). Gordimer makes the whisky and service as the power of the protagonist. Making demands means that he has the power to satisfy his requirements. Having no value of his identity to take advantage of, he loses his power. His power of him is closely related to the value of his identity. In fact, the protagonist does not really have power. After all, the power is under the control of white army. They give him power because he is useful to them, but the controller can take the power away whenever the controller wants. By using changes of the power from the protagonist in “Jump”, Gordimer shows that power sometimes appears because of the value of the identity, and power would disappear if identity loses its value.

In “Homage”, Gordimer also interprets that the protagonist’s personal power can be taken because of his own identity. The protagonist loses his own identity because his government is overthrown. Later, he is found by an organization. The organization can give him a fake identity and provides the protagonist with money if he helps them to kill the president. Securing a fake and new identity, he could eat and doing things he cannot do before. The protagonist has the power that he does not have before because of the new identity. However, the protagonist actually is powerless according to Gordimer. When describing his new condition, she states “Worked at the racecourse, and once or twice in nightclubs. Places where they don’t register you with any labour office.” (Homage, Gordimer 2). The protagonist’s identity is still a man without his government. That “no identity” could be regarded as an identity makes him afraid to talk because he does not belong to this country and cannot read the language well. Not only does he have no power to talk, but also does the protagonist’s have no identity to take his power to work because he needs to work in those places which would not register him in the labor office. The identity of “no identity” actually strips off his power to live as an ordinary person, even the fake name does not change it. Moreover, the protagonist has another new identity— a killer, which should be very powerful because he has the right deciding others’ death. Nevertheless, according to Gordimer’s narrative, the protagonist does not have actual power as a killer because the organization disappears. When describing the organization, the author states “I don’t they are here, anymore, they’re in some other country, they move all the time and that’s how they find men like me” (Homage, Gordimer 1). As a killer, he cannot ask others about those people who do not pay him, and he cannot call the police to get the money back either. The killer seems like a powerful identity for the protagonist but actually makes him in trouble and makes him a victim. Gordimer mentions the life condition of the protagonist and things he does to show that power can be deprived by identity.

Power and the government are tied together because they influence people a lot. Government has the power to provide people with the identity as a citizen in their country. When the government changes, the identities of people also change. Unluckily, a lot negative influences are brought to people’s daily life. Meanwhile, when power is related to a person’s identity, the identity can either gives him power or takes his power away. Power, identity, and value are also tied together. They affect mutually. Perhaps, in order to have a balance, before taking an identity, it is important to think about what relationship will be built between power and value.

Discuss how both the nature of desire and of guilt are intertwined with memory in Winterson’s Written on the Body and in Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending. In your discussion make close reference to the texts.

This essay deals with the work of the British postmodernist authors Jeanette Winterson and Julian Barnes and discusses how both the nature of desire and of guilt are intertwined with memory in Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body (1992) and Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending (2011). Both novels are pieces of British contemporary prose in English that belong to different authors and social and literary contexts but which can be stated to share a distinct treatment of the nature of both desire and guilt – desire and guilt are intertwined with memory in both novels, as we will see below. Also, both novels belong to the literary tradition of postmodernism, which implies a pessimistic view attitude toward life, given by the fact that in both novels the narrator/protagonist experiences a sense of loss.

Jeanette Winterson is a British author, whose literary work is considered to belong to the literary stream of postmodernism. Her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985), is an autobiographical novel, whose title makes reference to the sexual orientation of the author, who is a lesbian. Her following books, including novels such as Written on the Body (1992) or her books for children, such as The Lion, Unicorn and Me (2009) and the collection of short stories The World and Other Places (1999), are also considered to have autobiographical echoes – Sexing the Cherry (1990), Written on the Body (1992), Art Objects (1996), The Powerbook (2001), Tanglewreck (2006) and The Gap of Time (2015). Winterson’s fourth novel, Written on the Body (1992), deals with the loss of love and the pain which that loss of love causes, as the author/narrator/protagonist explains in the introduction. In spite of being an autobiographical novel, the author tries to avoid the characterization of the narrator or protagonist as male or female or even as heterosexual or homosexual – the narrator/protagonist has indeed sexual intercourse with characters of both sexes until Louise, a woman of a Pre-Raphaelite beauty, makes her appearance in the novel. Louise is married to a man, so here is the ambiguity again, since we do not know whether Louise is a lesbian or not – she can be a lesbian who is married to a man, a heterosexual woman who lives a forbidden relationship with another woman, a bisexual woman… Actually, ambiguity can be said to be one of the characteristics of this autobiographical novel.

Finally, the relationship between both women comes to an end for external reasons – Louise suffers from cancer and when her husband makes her lover choose between going on with the relationship or letting Louise go abroad to follow treatment for her illness, the protagonist chooses to let her go, that is to say, he or she chooses to sacrifice. Thus, the novel’s narrator becomes the hero/heroine of the story. Experimental as it is, in the sense that the novel plays with form and refuses a traditional narrative line, Written On The Body (1992) includes the reader as a player, as the author herself explains, since the reader has to work with the novel – the narrator has no name, is assigned no gender, is age unspecified, and highly unreliable until the moment when she or he chooses to sacrifice for love.

Julian Barnes is a British author whose work, as Winterson’s, is considered to belong to the literary movement of postmodernism. His first novel, Metroland (1980), which deals with the life of a young man who becomes an adult in the suburbs of London, that is, Metroland, can be considered to be a Bildungsroman. His following novels, including The Sense of an Ending (2011), also deal with personal accounts of knowledge through the experience of life – Before She Met Me (1982), Talking It Over (1991), Love, etc. (2000), The Sense of an Ending (2011) and The Only Story (2018).

Barnes’ eleventh novel, The Sense of an Ending (2011) -whose title is borrowed from a homonymous book of literary criticism by Frank Kermode and published in 1967- is narrated by a divorced and retired man named Tony Webster, the narrator, and protagonist, who recalls how he and his friends from school vowed to remain friends for life and also reflects on the paths that he and his friends have taken since then. This novel includes the suicide of two of the characters, which connects it with the pessimistic view of postmodernism. Also, the novel includes forbidden love (sex before marriage, adultery), which would also connect it with forbidden love (non-straight sex, adultery) in the novel by Winterson, Written On the Body (1992).

In the novels Written On The Body (1992), by Jeanette Winterson, and The Sense of an Ending (2011) by Julian Barnes, the nature of desire and guilt is forbidden love, which is the backbone of both stories – forbidden love (homosexuality, adultery, sex before marriage) is not only one of the themes of both novels but the origin of desire and guilt in the main characters of both stories. Thus, the nature of desire and of guilt are intertwined with memory in both novels, whose respective stories are supported by the memories and reflections of their main characters. Of course, memory betrays, and reflections are subjective. Consequently, we cannot trust these characters when they recall or make statements about how they feel about for instance guilt (for example, when Tony states that he does not feel guilty about his past). In these novels, the narration is characterized by the use of literary techniques such as ellipsis and flashbacks/flashforwards, which play an important role in both novels, since memory does not move in only one direction. As Gustar says in her article, in Written on the Body, the narrator uses the flashback to make us begin the story again “The end of the novel directs us back to the beginning, as the end is “where the story starts” (190). Thus, we are sent back to the opening sentence of the novel, which directly confronts us with the question: “Why is the measure of love loss?” The next few paragraphs, however, locate and contest both loss and love as constituted in and effects of Language” (2005). Not only this, memory in the bodies also play an important role, for instance, as Lindenmeyer says in her article “Both protagonists in Written on the Body have “Foucauldian” bodies inscribed by history. Louise’s body is marked by telltale scars […]”, here she is showing how bodies reflect the memories of life of the characters, in the case of Louise they can resemble bad experiences of life, but they can also show good things that happened to her.

Regarding how both desire and guilt are intertwined with memory, it is also remarkable the use of the narrative device of stream of consciousness (for instance, at the beginning of the novel by Winterson). This, related to memory “results in a language that collapses the distinction between past and present in favour of a constantly revised, idiosyncratic relationship with discourses” (Coghlan, 73). We are not told the name or gender of the narrator of the novel Written on the Body (1992). This narrator, who is unnamed and whose gender we do not know, lives several sex relationships, with both men and women, which always have an unhappy ending partly because the narrator feels attracted by married women (the theme of adultery). But one fine day, the narrator/protagonist character meets Louise. Nevertheless, at the end of the novel, the narrator/protagonist must choose between love and duty. As it has already been said, the narrator/protagonist has at the beginning of the novel, different love affairs, with people of both genders, although he/she prefers married women (the theme of forbidden love). Thus, this narrator/protagonist with an inclination for married women finally leaves a woman she is dating, Jacqueline, when she meets Louise, who is again a married woman but whom the narrator/protagonist considers to be his/her soulmate.

The character of Jacqueline is that of a kind woman and partner, with whom the narrator/protagonist has a smooth relationship after a difficult break-up (because his/her former then partner did not accept the break-up). Nevertheless, this woman named Jacqueline is not an interesting woman or at least the protagonist/narrator does not find her particularly interesting. Thus, when the narrator/protagonist meets Louise, he or she feels that Louise has every single quality that poor Jacqueline lacks. As it has already been mentioned above, Louise is a married woman, the kind of sex partner that the protagonist/narrator feels attracted to.

Notwithstanding, at first the narrator/protagonist is not sure whether to get involved again in a sex relationship with another married woman but finally cannot resist because, as we saw above, he or she feels that Louise is his/her soulmate and there is something very special about this woman, Louise. When the narrator/protagonist and Louise finally get sexually involved with each other, the narrator tries to be honest with Jacqueline, so he tells her about Louise. Surprisingly, Jacqueline, who used to be so kind, destroys the apartment they both share. Ignoring her anger, the narrator/protagonist can think only of Louise, who tries also to be honest with Elgin, her husband and so she tells him about the sex relationship she is having with another person. This character, Elgin, Louise’s husband, is a doctor – he is a cancer researcher indeed, which is important for the development of the story, as we will see. First, he is a cancer researcher who works a lot and who is often away from home, which favors his wife’s sexual unfaithfulness. Actually, the narrator/protagonist and Louise have their sex relationship inside the home that Louise and her husband share as a married couple until Louise decides that she wants a divorce. At this point, the narrator/protagonist and Louise live a period of joy which nevertheless will not last because Louise has leukemia, that is, cancer, as Elgin tells the narrator/protagonist, who had not been told about the sickness by Louise, who finally has to admit she is badly sick although she also pretends that has not any symptoms. We are told that Louise is not undergoing any treatment. When the narrator/protagonist asks Louise’s husband, Elgin, for advice, Elgin suggests that his wife Louise must be treated abroad. The protagonist/narrator has thus to make a choice between love and duty, as it has been pointed out above. He chooses to leave Louise without giving any explanation to her. Then, both lovers stay apart from one another over twelve months.

During that year, the protagonist/narrator moves to the countryside, where he/she will find a job in a pub. Whenever the protagonist/narrator has a spare moment, he or she reads scientific texts in an obsessive way, which is important also for the development of the novel, since the protagonist/narrator tries to find a way to understand better the body of his/her former lover. At this point of the novel, descriptions of Louise’s body are also coupled with, imagined, images of her body wasting away from the disease she suffers. Thus, the anatomy books that the narrator/protagonist reads, become also a way for the narrator/protagonist to make friends with the past as well as a way to understand what Louise is and what she means to him/her. After more than twelve months away from Louise, the narrator’s boss, Gail, tries to have a relationship with the protagonist/narrator. They both will share a bed at Gail’s home, but without having sex since Gail is too drunk for having sexual intercourse with the protagonist/narrator. After this failed sex affair, the protagonist/narrator tries to get in touch with Elgin, Louise’s husband, just to ask him how Louise is doing. Nevertheless, the narrator/protagonist cannot obtain much information. Thus, the narrator/protagonist tells Gail about Louise and about their failed love relationship. In explaining this, the narrator/protagonist becomes aware of the consequences of having left Louise without an explanation. One of the consequences had been that Louise could not decide for herself whether she wanted to put an end to the relationship or not. So, Gail suggests that the narrator/protagonist contact Louise in order to go back to her. Thus, the narrator/protagonist returns to London. Nevertheless, Louise cannot be found. The narrator/protagonist learns that Louise never went back to her husband, Elgin. Instead, she went through with the divorce. For several weeks, the narrator/protagonist lives in the London apartment that they used to share. There, the narrator/protagonist waits for Louise. Since she does not return, the protagonist/narrator comes back to the countryside. There, the protagonist/narrator finds Louise, waiting for him/her.

The novel The Sense of an Ending (2011), which is divided into two parts, is also narrated by the protagonist, Tony Webster, a retired man who lives on his own since he is a divorced man. Memory plays an important role on the writing, as Oró Piqueras says “By getting into the life narrative of Tony Webster who addresses us as if we were listening to him in the fact that memory is a double-edged weapon. It is the door towards our past and the construction of a logical life narrative but it is also the reminder that everything we did in the past and will do in the future is seasoned by feelings and emotions which give subjectivity to our memories and which require constant reconsideration and rewriting of who we are, whatever the age.” (94). The first part of the novel deals with the childhood of the protagonist/narrator, back in the 1960s. The narrator/protagonist, Tony, recalls his school years and his friends from school. One of them, Adrian, was the most intelligent of the four friends. An important memory from school years is that of another schoolmate, a boy, who committed suicide by hanging himself apparently after getting a girl pregnant. After the school years, Adrian goes to the University of Cambridge whereas Tony goes to the University of Bristol. At university, Tony dates Veronica and spends a weekend at her family home. Then, Tony breaks up with Veronica but they have sex with one another after breaking up. In his final year at university, Tony receives a letter from Adrian informing him that he and Veronica are going out. Tony writes a letter for him, telling Adrian that from his point of view his girlfriend had mental problems of some kind and that he must speak about it with Veronica’s mother. Afterward, Tony is told that Adrian has committed suicide.

The second part of the novel, at present, begins with the arrival of a lawyer’s letter informing Tony that Veronica’s mother has bequeathed him five hundred quit and two documents. Tony, thus, contacts Veronica. When he contacts her, he learns that Veronica has Adrian’s diary. Veronica will send Tony one page of the diary, the page that contains some revelations by Adrian. After this, Veronica meets Tony in London and gives him the letter he sent to Adrian when they were young. Next, Veronica and Tony go to see a group of mentally handicapped men. When Veronica points one of them to him, Tony just does not understand. Several weeks later, Tony comes back to this place and greets the man, whom he introduces himself by saying that he is a friend of Veronica’s, which leads to an upset response from the man. Then, Tony thinks that that man can be the son that Adrian and Veronica had together, but his care worker will reveal him that the man is actually the son of Veronica’s mother, Sarah, which makes him Veronica’s half-brother. The reader is left to presume that Adrian is the father and that the birth of this damaged son may be the reason for the suicide of his friend.

Both novels, Written on the Body (1992) and The Sense of an Ending (2011), deal with the sense of loss when life shows that nothing, including love or friendship, lasts forever and also imply criticism of society. Besides, both novels, although belonging to different social and literary contexts (gay fiction and straight fiction, respectively), are nevertheless literary works that share the literary tradition of postmodernism, which implies a shared pessimistic postmodernism vision of the world, that is, both novels can be stated to share a view characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism, or relativism and also a general suspicion of reason. Another characteristic that both novels share is the existence of a narrator/protagonist that experiences forbidden love (sex before marriage, homosexual sex, adultery). Both novels also share the themes of sex and responsibility and also of forbidden love as the nature of desire and guilt. To conclude, it can be stated that the ambiguity of both novels shows the ambiguity of human relationships in our present-day world and also explores the human condition when it is brought face to face with the ultimate meaning of love and life.

Bibliography

1. Barnes, J. (2011). The Sense of an Ending. London/New York: Jonathan Cape/Knopf.
2. Coghlan, M. (2016). Reference and Repetition in Jeanette Winterson’s Novels. Ontario: Lakehead University.
3. Gustar, J. (2005). The Body of Romance: Citation and Mourning in Written on the Body. Espacios del Cuerpo. 2, 25-41.
4. Lindenmeyer, A. (1999). Postmodern Concepts of the Body in Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body. Feminist Review, 63, 48-63.
5. Oró Piqueras, M. (2014) “Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending”. Coolabah, 13, 87-95
6. Winterson, J. (1992). Written on the Body. London: Vintage Books.

The most important and unique subgenre of dramatic literature is a tragedy. The term tragedy is greatly utilized for literary, and mainly for the dramatist, illustration of serious movements which eventuate in a disastrous conclusion for the protagonist.

A tragedy is it genre of a drama focusing on tales of human suffering. The drama normally consists of a human flaw or weak factor in one of the work’s central characters, which then triggers a devastating match or sequence of activities for these in the character’s orbit. The elements of tragedy are plot, persona, spectacle, thought, diction, and harmony, i.e., the profitable fusion of its parts.

According to Aristotle A tragedy, then, is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in separately in the parts of the work; in a dramatic, not in a narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions. (The Poetics, Oxford, 1909, translated by Ingram Bywater, Chapter VI)

Aristotle based totally his idea by means of reference on the only examples available to him, the tragedies of Greek dramatists such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. In the subsequent two thousand years and more, a number of new kinds of serious plots ending in a disaster have been developed-types that Aristotle had no way of foreseeing. According to Aristotle, It has ‘magnitude’ and is written in accelerated language that entertains, on the other hand, it is now not supposed to be read, for it has to be enacted upon the stage. It is a verse drama that has as its protagonist (generally not always male) the tragic hero or heroine who has stature but does no longer excel in advantage or justice; nor is he or she introduced low via such persona flaws as vice or depravity, then again by using some error of judgment or circumstance, at which point a sudden reversal, a peripety occurs. The heroic protagonist struggles to hold away from inevitable defeat ( his fate), and all through the struggle, sympathy, and terror are held in equilibrium as he (or at times she) courageously faces the human predicament. Tragedy reveals the paradox of the Aristocracy of persona mixed with human fallibility, in particular hubris excessive pleasure, or self-confidence, a tragic flaw.

The antagonist is destiny. This destiny is frequently certain up with past movements on the side of the protagonist, as in Sophocles Oedipus Rex, in which case the battle of the play becomes an internal struggle, so the overt battle is interior: Oedipus is locked in mortal combat with himself, with his past, and with the past actions of his ancestors, which he has inherited. Although the protagonist is heroic, and as such is in a way godlike, he or she is in addition human, and human beings are fallible. The tragic flaw is commonly now no longer physical, however; it can in addition, in addition, be pride, a lapse in judgment, arrogance, or some more moral flaw, and the protagonist can in addition no longer even be aware it exists.

Since the heroic protagonist of a tragedy is in actuality good, but in addition the bearer of evil, he or she ought to be punished; it is this paradox that affords tragedy its dramatic anxiousness. The whole audience will see the fall from the grace of a tremendous figure, and the fall will be mighty. It will be an anguished fall; the intention is to make the audience sense the irony of the situation and the passion of such an ethical spectacle. The hero or heroine acknowledges the fact of impending doom, in many instances in the form of a persona who bears the message of the protagonist`s fate. Perhaps the protagonist will attempt to rectify what is barring a doubt coming, on the outstanding hand that strives produces the opposite effect, hastening doom instead; this is referred to as peripeteia. Once the climax of the drama has occurred that is, the final rising action in a sequence of rising actions and the fall has taken place, the universe will have again been set right, and the essential rightness of the protagonist’s destruction should be sensed by the audience. Despite the feeling that a mortal injustice has taken place, an extended or poetic justice has been served, and this comic justice leads to a purging of the ideas of worry and pity that have been considered in the play by the actions of the drama and the character of the protagonist. In the denouement of the play, the free ends of the plot will be drawn together and the tragedy bought to a close.

Literature is a term to describe mainly written works and sometimes spoken or voiced materials. It was derived from the Latin word litaritura/litteratura which means “writing formed with letters”. Literature mostly refers to creative literary works, for example, poetry, drama, novel, short story, and songs. As our cultures and societies developed, there was a massive development in the forms of literature. It is formed by diversity, including feelings, expressions, emotions, and languages which are reflected in daily or social life.

In literature, two main categories differ in the genres of literary works. Those categories are fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is a written literary work that was created from the writer’s imagination in which the events, characters, and facts are not based on the reality. Nonfiction on other hand is a written literary work that is based on real events or people. Literary works including the novel, fairy tale, and short stories are categorized as fiction, while history, biography, and essay are categorized as nonfiction.

Film or movie is one of the well-known literary works. It is a recording of moving images or video which can be watched on screen or television that tells a story. As technology gets advanced and developing rapidly; an innovation was

invented known as an interactive film. An interactive film, also known as a movie game, falls into a video game category or genre which has the main storyline and the gameplay is displayed cinematically. Moreover, it also has choices or options in which the player has to choose that will trigger the alternative scenes or actions which determine the storyline and the actions of the character.

A character is part of a fundamental element in the literary works because it takes an essential role to display any behavior of each character in it. In a game, a character is a person who can be controlled by the player. Therefore, a character in a game is referred to as a player character. There are three dimensions of character according to Egri. The dimensions are physiology, sociology, and psychology (Egri, 1960). The physiology dimension is the physical description of the character such as sex, skin color, hair color, weight, height, and other physical characteristics. Sociology is the social life of the character or the person itself, for example, social background, educational background, occupation, and others. The last dimension is the psychology dimension which involves psychological background including attitude, ethics, manner, abilities, and others. These dimensions are applied in literary works including interactive fiction.

The study of psychology that analyzes the psychological condition of the human being is Psychoanalysis. The theory of Psychoanalysis was proposed by Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939). This theory focused on personality, especially personality formation/structure and personality development. Freud believed that the whole personality of a person is consisting of 3 major systems; which are known by Id, Ego, and Superego. Those systems are the Personality Structure of a person and it formed the personality of a person. Ego Defense Mechanisms are part of personality development. Its job is to protect a person from anxiety that arises from something unacceptable and shocking, for example, scary things or life-threatening events. It unconsciously arises to protect a person from feeling anxious or guilty when they feel threatened. Ego Defense Mechanisms are not within our conscious control, but it is a normal thing. But, when it arises frequently without any triggers, the neuroses will develop, such as phobias, obsessions, or hysteria, which will obstruct one’s personality development.

The Walking Dead: Michonne is an interactive film or episodic adventure game based on The Walking Dead comic book. The game was announced by Telltale Games on June 15, 2015, at E3 2015. The game itself consists of three episodes and was released on February 23, 2016. The game took place between issues 126 and 139 of the comic series. It shows the events of what Michonne was doing and her journey during her temporary departure from the group of survivors led by Rick Grimes. Through the games, the player will help Michonne during her journey by controlling her and making the decisions that determine Michonne’s actions and tailors the plot and possible ending. The choice made by the player will also help Michonne to survive during the zombie outbreak. Every choice will show how can Michonne survive and regroup with her team once more. The Walking Dead: Michonne game received mixed reviews from critics. The atmosphere, action sequences, and the character development of Michonne were praised by the critics, but it was criticized for its story, side characters, short episode lengths, and graphical glitches. Although the game received mixed reviews from critics, the writer believes that it is worth analyzing the psychological aspect of the protagonist as the character development was praised by the critic. Moreover, no one has ever analyzed the psychological aspects of this game. The writer is interested in analyzing the kinds of Ego Defense Mechanisms and also the role of the Personality Structure of the protagonist, Michonne and how can those mechanisms help the protagonist to survive, because by analyzing the psychological aspects of the protagonist in this game, it will help both the writer and the readers to understand how and why we feel as we do. Moreover, understanding the psychological aspects and principles, specifically, the Ego Defense Mechanisms can help us to determine what we can do in order to respond to unwanted emotions.