Essay Questions

Outline a psychoanalytic explanation of Jonathan’s motivation for publishing.

Jonathan concedes, “I can’t deny that with each book’s publication I hoped that hype about them would attract Sid’s attention. If Sid were to read any of my works, thoughts went, she would surely find them reflections of our past life together and my present longing, and would contact me and our reconciliation would happen…I tried for years, in vain, to come up with stories and themes that veered away from my personal experiences. When I realized I couldn’t write anymore, or so it appeared, I sank into a long depression during which there were periods when I pointed squarely at Sid’s cold-hearted departure for what I saw as my failures.” First, Jonathan motivation for writing stems from the craving to reunite with Sid. Consequently, when they do not reconcile after the reconciliation his motivation diminishes. Second, Jonathan's act of blaming Sid for his failures is a form of Projection which he employs to mollify his unconscious wound of being abandoned. Third, the inclusion of childhood memoirs in the writing is equivalent to a regression which permits Jonathan to relive his childhood with Jonathan. Finally, the implications of the desertion, which transpires when Jonathan is a youngster, dog him all his life and thus imperil his psychological wellbeing.

Apply the Queer theory in elucidating the nature of the bond between Sydney and Zane.

Sydney expounds, “Zain and I were living our adult lives far from each other, but whenever I came home to Trinidad for a visit we would get together and, invariably, she would ask me to tell her what “made me so.” She would hold my face in her hands and search me with eyes that were like fingers, like lips. She knew that to do this to me was a cruel luxury, but it didn’t stop her…in all my years away, no one ever touched me or treated me like Zain did.” Manifestly, Sydney espouses romantic feelings towards Zane although she is married. Sydney is a homosexual; as a result, Zane’s touches are able to awaken his Eros. Had they explored romance, they would be in a lesbian relationship especially before Sydney's gender swap.