The Impact of Childhood Psychological Trauma on the Main Character's Attitude Development in John Boyne's Fire: Theory of Ego Defense Mechanisms

Abstract

This thesis explores the attitude development of Freya Petrus, the main character in John Boyne’s novel Fire, through the lens of Freud’s theory of ego defense mechanisms. The study focuses on how childhood psychological trauma, particularly sexual abuse, being buried alive, and neglect, as well as rejection, shapes Freya’s attitudes and behaviors across different stages of her life. Using a qualitative research method, the thesis draws from primary data primary data and secondary data. The primary data are in the form of narrations, dialogues, and statements in the novel by John Boyne entitled Fire as the main focus in this research. The secondary data are taken from several books, journal articles and sites available on the internet that are still related to the topic to be analyzed. The thesis reveals that childhood trauma profoundly affects Freya’s psychological structure, making her id-dominated, while her ego serves primarily as a mask to fit societal expectations. Her superego, shaped by inadequate moral guidance, remains underdeveloped, allowing destructive impulses to manifest in concealed ways. Freya’s traumatic experiences also lead to the employment of Freudian ego defense mechanisms such as repression, rationalization, sublimation, denial, reaction formation, displacement, projection, and identification. In the early phase, Freya uses repression and rationalization, shaping a reserved attitude and leading her to normalize abuse. In her teenage phase, she employs sublimation, redirecting her emotional trauma into constructive activities, such as pursuing a career in medicine focused on burn victims which helps to develop a sense of professionalism. In adulthood, she uses more complex defense mechanisms as she struggles with enclosed spaces, distrust of men, and a hidden urge for control and revenge. These mechanisms contribute to the development of a reserved attitude, hatred toward men, and a defensive attitude. In conclusion, this study confirms that Freud’s psychoanalytic theory reveals how a character could possibly overcome the dark past by negotiating between the individual and the social, thereby justifying her actions. The novel unearths the dilemma between being and being-for-others, and also exposes the darker side of sublimation—a tragedy hidden behind skill, masked by professionalism, and driven by unresolved trauma rooted in the past.