Here is my interpretation of the short story Leaving by M.G. Vassanji from a psychoanalytic perspective.

1. Nur Hasmirah Hassan A151385
Siti Aishah Ismail A151386
Psychoanalytic view of
Leaving
by M.G. Vassanji

2. Psychoanalytic Criticism
▪ An approach of reading to understand by
focusing on human behaviour, mostly
personalities of the characters developed
by writer.
▪ Emphasize on psychological motivation
based on Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of
conscious and unconscious mind.

4. Psychoanalytic view on
Characters

5. ID
Aloo :
He is stubborn of wanting to go study abroad and
change their future
Mother :
She was afraid of living alone so she didn’t want to
let Aloo go study abroad

6. SUPEREGO
Mother:
She sold her store and move to Upanga so that Aloo
and her sister could focus on their studies.
Aloo:
He studied hard and positive about applying universities
abroad because he wanted to better their live.

7. EGO
Mr Velji:
Mr. Velji explained to Aloo’s mother the
advantages and disadvantages of letting Aloo go
Mother :
She finally letting Aloo go abroad and study
medicine

8. Psychoanalytic view on
Conflicts arise

9. Mother versus Herself
Mother didn’t want to believe Aloo is offered a spot in
university abroad with scholarship and immediately
didn’t give Aloo permission to go
▪ Reaction Formation
Shows that the mother is like avoiding or refusing the
reality of her children is all grown ups

10. Aloo versus Himself
He really wants to study abroad and better their live but
still feel guilty about leaving her and the fact that they
didn’t have enough money
▪ Intellectualization
Aloo is denying his dream and started to rationalize his
decision of going abroad and leaving his mother

11. Aloo versus Mother
Aloo blame Mother for not understanding his dream
and the fact that the other children can leave the house
but not him
▪ Rationalization
Aloo directly blame his mother but actually he didn’t
even try to explain or persuade his mother regarding
the benefits of him studying abroad and how he wanted
to better their live.

12. The End