Analysis Of Mario Garcia s Rationalizing Malibu

Mira Latif Professor Mario Garcia English M01B 22 April 2016 Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theories as Applied to Mario Garcia’s â€Å"Rationalizing Malibu† Abstract In Mario Garcia’s â€Å"Rationalizing Malibu†, readers traverse a terrain that is often unseen—one that involves both the beautiful and ugly sides of Malibu. In this paper, the thoughts of the narrator are dissected using Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic concepts of id, ego, and superego—superseding ambiguity with clarity. The reader is not immediately aware of the fact that Blaine does not actually exist, but rather, discovers it at the end of the story. One element that is reoccurring and ever-present in the narrator’s life is the loss of women. He loses his mother, grandmother, and a woman he was dating. The narrator uses repression, projection, rationalization, and denial to dull the pain of his past and reinvent himself. By using Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory and concepts of projection, rationalization, denial, and repression the reader is made to see the ugly truth behind a seemingly perfect picture. I. Introduction Mario Garcia’s â€Å"Rationalizing Malibu† illustrates the life of a troubled man who spirals out of control after experiencing a series of hardships. His problems begin with his bleak childhood that is riddled with physical violence at the hands of his abusive father. The reader is made to believe that these problems are happening to Blaine, an alter ego the narrator has subconsciously created, when the