"Gorilla My Love"

Paper Summary:

The writer analyzes how Jacques Lacan's psychoanalytic theory of lack/fragmentation is present in Toni Cade Bambara's "Gorilla, My Love". The paper highlights how throughout the story we see the character of Hazel as someone who is in a state of lack and fragmentation. The paper also explains how Hazel starts to understand how a person becomes complete but is also faced with the realization that in certain aspects of the real order, she is not always in control.

From the Paper:

"Jacques Lacan's psychoanalytic theory of lack/fragmentation is present in Toni Cade Bambara's "Gorilla, My Love", where a young girl sees the separation that exists between children and adults. She begins to understand the world as a place where people lie and there is not much that can be done about it. Throughout the story we see Hazel as someone who is in a state of lack and fragmentation. She reflects a lot on her past and on the way she was raised, which is the drive for her unpredictable choices, such as going up to the manager of the movie theatre and complaining about the movie. Lacan's theory of jouissance, which refers to a character's moment of remembrance of a time when they were in a state of "joy, terror or desire," is the main concept found in Hazel's story (Bressler 155). This moment, which for Hazel occurs when she is reminded of her uncle's promise to marry her, takes her away from what Lacan termed the real order. In this moment she is brought back to a place where she felt like a whole person and not just a fragment of what she wants to be."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bambara, Toni C. "Gorilla, My Love." New York: Vintage, 1992. 13-20.
• Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006.

More papers on "Gorilla My Love":

• Book Review # 49037 : "Peel My Love Like an Onion"
• Comparison Essay # 93240 : "A Time for Love"
• Essay # 138078 : "The Emotion of Love"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: