Putri, Lahtiva Rahmadaniah
(2023)
Defense Mechanisms to Cope with
Adverse Childhood Experiences in Novel God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
(2015).
Skripsi thesis, Universitas Negeri Padang.
Abstract
This thesis reveals the form of adverse childhood experienced by the main character
in Toni Morrison's novel God Help the Child, Lula who changed her name to Bride
when she was an adult as a form of defense mechanism for herself. The main focus
of this thesis is how an adverse childhood plays a role in the formation of defense
mechanisms used by the main character in dealing with the realities she faces in her
life. This thesis uses the psychoanalytic theory of self-defense mechanisms by
Sigmund Freud and the theory by Felitti regarding adverse childhood experiences
in analyzing the defense mechanisms used by the main character with an adverse
childhood background. Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are a theory
propounded by Felitti which defines it as a bad experience in childhood before the
age of 18 that left such an impression that it caused childhood trauma. In this study,
the researcher finds that from various forms of ACE that Felitti revealed in his
research, the main character experiences adverse childhood forms such as verbal
abuse and physical violence. Verbal violence and physical violence are received
include bullying, abandonment by parents, neglect and others. The second theory is
the theory of defense mechanisms by Sigmund Freud. Freud reveals that the defense
mechanism is a form of self-defense by individuals to reduce feelings of pressure,
anxiety, stress, or conflict that is carried out consciously or not. In this research, the
researcher finds that from the eight types of defense mechanisms propounded by
Freud, the researchers found that only some of these defense mechanisms were used
by the main character. These defense mechanisms are Repression (block unpleasant
things), denial (avoid reality), rationalization (justify everything), and sublimation
(do positive things). Among the four types of defense mechanisms used by the main
character as a form of self-defense, sublimation is the most prominent self-defense
mechanism. The main character changes her name to Bride as a form of defense
against her bad past. The main character changes her name which is considered to
be the source of her past misery with the aim that her new name will bring goodness
and change her current life.
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