Psychosexual and Psychosocial Development of Male Protagonist: A Bildungsroman Analysis of “Born On a Tuesday†By Elnathan John

Abstract

This study has examined the psychological, sexual as well as the social growth of male protagonist in Elnathan John’s Born on a Tuesday. The study employed Psychoanalysis (Freud’s Personality Development theory of psychosexual development) and Eric Erickson’s Psychosocial Development Theory in order to examine dimensions of defence mechanisms adopted by each protagonist in combating life crises within the African cultural contexts. The study has analyzed social, cultural, familial, sexual and academic growth of the male protagonist revealing various psychological consequences that resulted to repression, sublimation, displacement, depression, anxiety and disillusionment. The study discovered that the male protagonist in the selected novel adopted different defence mechanisms in combating oppressive or violent conditions. Dantala in John’s Born on a Tuesday used ‘repression and sublimation’ as unconscious defence mechanisms, strategies that push disturbing feelings out of consciousness. The study investigates different perspectives of growth such as social, cultural, familial, sexual and academic in the selected novels. The study also examined the different techniques employed by the novelist in depicting the experiences of the male protagonist in Nigerian or African context as explored in the selected novel revealing the journey of growth of male protagonist from childhood to adulthood.