My presentation on Eros and thanatos concept in Sense of an ending

1. Eros and Thanatos
In The Sense Of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Name -: Parmar Milankumar
Roll no. -: 14
Enrollment no. -: Pg14101026
Course no. -: New Literature
Email -: parmarmilan1994@gmail.com
Submitted to -: Department of
English
Smt.S.B. Gardi
M.K.B. University

2. Introduction
Julian Patrick Barnes
Born- 17 January 1946
“The Sense of an Ending”
Publication 2011
The Man Booker Prize- 2011

3. Eros and Thanatos – Greek
Myth
Eros – denotes romantic or intimate love,
god of love, desire, sex.
Thantos - In Greek mythology was
demon personification of death.
Minor figure in Greek Mythology

4. Eros and Thanatos in Psychology
 Sigmund Freud was leading figure in psychology.
 ..remembered for his work and studies on the human mind,
Conscious and unconscious mind.
 To explain all human behaviors he described two major classes
of drives known as life instincts and death instincts.

5. Instincts/ drive
An impulse that originates in the body and is
transferred to mind: drives actions.
Instincts are
“the representative of all the forces originating in the
interior of the body and transmitted to the mental
apparatus”
There are numbers of instincts or drives for e.g.
including basic instincts hunger, sex, thirst, and self-
preservation, aggression or death instincts.

6. Eros
Drive for survival, life instinct, pleasure,
reproduction, and basic instincts like sex hunger and
thirst.
These elements are necessary to preserve life
Energy created by life instinct is also known as
Libido
“The drive to preserve living substance and bring it
together in larger unit.”
Eros is associated with behaviors that supports
harmony among people such as love, collaboration
and cooperation.

7. Thantos
 counter part of Eros, Eros and Thanatos
are both help define one another in that
one is ‘not the other.’
drive to return to state of calm or dead
state.
It includes..negative feelings like hate,
anger and aggression.
It is associated with anti-social behavior.
“Born to die”, it drives human to engage in
activities that bring them closer to death
………..cont...

8. for instance – Murder, suicide, war.
“the goal of all life is death”
After traumatic experience people hold an
unconscious desire to die, but our Eros are
stronger than Thanatos thus enabling people to
survive rather than self destruction/Suicide.
Eros and Thanatos interact and one can turn into
the other such as flipping of love and hate, crying
and laughter, what preserve life is by death of
something else.

9. Eros and Thanatos : Dual instincts
Eros
Instinct for Life
Sex, thirst,
hunger
Self – Preservation
Pain avoidance
Tahantos
Instinct for death
Aggression towards self
(depression)
Aggression towards others(anger,
Prejudice, violence)
Drive to self destruction

12. Eros and Thanatos in The Sense of an Ending
• References in Text
• ‘Eros and Thanatos, sir.’-Adrian
• Adrian-‘Sex and death,’ ‘Or love and death, if
you prefer. The erotic principle, in any case,
coming into conflict with the death principle.
And what ensues from that conflict.(Barnes,
2011)
• Robson of the Science Sixth had passed away
during the weekend. ‘Thanatos wins again.’
• ‘First-class degree, first class suicide,’

13. But I think I have an instinct for survival, for self-
preservation. Perhaps this is what Veronica called
cowardice and I called being peaceable.
I have a certain instinct for self-preservation. I
successfully put Veronica out of my mind, out of my
history.
‘Insurance company’ preserve a self.
Giving books to ill people in hospital

15. Work cited
Barnes, J. (2011). The Sense of an Ending. In J. Barnes, The
Sense of an Ending (pp. 12-70). London , Great Britan: Random
House ebooks.
Freudsigmand.blogspot.in/2010/11/freudian-sleeps.html
Study.com/academy/lesson/eros-life-instinct-definition-lesson-
quiz.html
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_drive