Jess Adamitis Reading 4 Response

I have never had the opportunity to really learn about Freud except in high school where I had to do self-research his Oedipus complex and compare it to Hamlet. From the little amount that understood I did not enjoy Freud’s ideas of infantile sexual desires for their parents. This book however, has provided me with more information that I better understood, although some of it was still beyond me. The presentation is unique and not what I would expect from a book about one of the world’s more known minds. In some cases the comic style of the book helped me focus on what was being said and kept me entertained, but in other instances it greatly distracted and confused me on what was trying to be said.

It is fascinating that Freud’s entire conclusion and research for what motivates and represses us derived by studying what dreams meant. Out of the entire book the piece of information that made the most sense to me and helped me understand the rest of the book was Freud’s earlier division of the mind; the preconscious and the unconscious or the pleasure principle. Then Freud modifies this to the ID, Ego, and Super Ego. From what I understand the ID is almost the same as the unconscious except the ID will alter slightly based on interactions with the world. These changes will develop together with self-awareness and become the Ego. The Ego acts as both our preconscious and represses unconsciously. When the repressed impulses disappear their result is our Super-Ego.

The whole idea of Freud’s ideas of primal instincts has become fascinating to me. Although I may not agree with some of it the ideas and conclusions he has made are extraordinary and I respect the devotion he was made to seek answers. Being that I am more-or-less a purely representational artist I cannot wrap my head around how I could utilize this for me art. However, for those with a more open or abstract mind, I can only wonder how it could be utilized.