Psychoanalytic theory refers to the definition and dynamics of personality development which underlie and guide psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy. First laid out by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytic theory has undergone many refinements since his work (see psychoanalysis). Psychoanalytic theory came to full prominence as a critical force in the last third of the twentieth century as part of the flow of critical discourse after the 1960s. Freud ceased his analysis of the brain and his physiological studies in order to turn his focus to the study of the mind and the related psychological attributes making up the mind, something not many psychologists were willing to do. His study then included recognizing childhood events that could potentially lead to the mental functioning of adults. He examined the genetic and then the developmental aspects that made the psychoanalytic theory become what it was.
(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoanalytic_theory)
Psychoanalytic literary criticism, at its very simplest, can be the psychoanalysis of the author or of a particularly interesting character in a given work. In this directly therapeutic form, the criticism is very similar to psychoanalysis itself, closely following the analytic interpretive process discussed in Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams and other works. Critics may view the fictional characters as a psychological case study, attempting to identify such Freudian concepts as Oedipus complex, penis envy, Freudian slips, Id, ego and superego and so on, and demonstrate how they influenced the thoughts and behaviors of fictional characters.
(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoanalytic_criticism)
The Story:
(image courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheTexasChainSawMassacre-poster.jpg)
Sally Hardesty and her paraplegic brother, Franklin, travel with three friends, Jerry, Kirk, and Pam , to visit the grave of the Hardestys' grandfather to investigate reports of vandalism and grave robbing. Afterwards, they decide to visit an old Hardesty family homestead. Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker who slashes both himself and Franklin with a straight razor before the group forces him out of the van. They stop at a gas station to refuel, but the proprietor tells them that the pumps are empty. They continue towards the homestead, intending to return to the gas station once the fuel has been delivered.
When they arrive, Franklin tells Kirk and Pam about a local swimming hole and the couple head off to find it. Instead they stumble upon a nearby house. Kirk calls out, asking for gas, while Pam waits on the front steps. After Kirk receives no answer, he discovers that the door is unlocked and enters the house, where Leatherface appears and kills him. Pam enters soon after and finds the house filled with furniture made from human bones. She attempts to flee, but Leatherface catches her and impales her on a meathook. Jerry heads out to look for Pam and Kirk at sunset. He finds the couple's blanket outside the nearby house. He investigates and finds Pam, who is still alive, inside a freezer. Before he can react, Leatherface kills him and stuffs Pam back into the freezer.
With darkness falling, Sally and Franklin set out to find their friends. As they near the neighboring house and call out, Leatherface lunges from the darkness and kills Franklin with a chainsaw. Sally heads toward the house and finds the desiccated remains of an elderly couple in an upstairs room. She escapes from Leatherface by jumping through a second-floor window and flees to the gas station. Leatherface disappears into the night. The proprietor calms her with offers of help, but then ties her up and forces her into his truck. He drives to the house, arriving at the same time as the hitchhiker, who turns out to be Leatherface's younger brother. When the pair bring Sally inside, the hitchhiker recognizes her and taunts her.
The men torment the bound and gagged Sally while Leatherface, now dressed as a woman, serves dinner. Leatherface and the hitchhiker bring an old man, "Grandpa", from upstairs to share the meal. During the night they decide Sally should be killed by "Grandpa". He tries to hit her with a hammer, but is too weak. In the ensuing confusion, she breaks free, leaps through a window, and escapes to the road. Leatherface and the hitchhiker give chase, but the latter is run down and killed by a passing semi-trailer truck. Armed with his chainsaw, Leatherface attacks the truck when the driver stops to help. The driver hits him in the face with a large wrench. Sally escapes in the back of a passing pickup truck as Leatherface waves the chainsaw above his head in frustration.
The Criticism:
The story is about Leatherface a former cow killer at a meat factory. He is a man who is scared of people going to their home. Leatherface was described by Gunnar Hansen (portrayed leatherface in the original movie) as "completely under the control of his family. He'll do whatever they tell him to do. He's a little bit afraid of them."
As the story goes leatherface kills everyone he feels threatened with and uses their bones for decorations in his family's house, then uses the flesh for chili and barbecue. He feels threatened to everyone except his family because, he is suffering from mental retardation and thinks that everyone wants to hurt him and his family. His deeds are really gruesome, but he only does it for "self defense" .
In the story leatherface lives with his inbred family, which means that, their off-springs came from close family members. This presents complications both physically and mentally, which kinda explains the situation of leatherface. So if we analyze the whole story, the problem really began with his family. Incest caused leatherface and his family to be the way they are. ( mentally retarded killers and cannibals )
The story is not in a usual horror-slasher movie plot were the killer is a psychopath. This makes the plot interesting, and it implies to the immoral acts of people when it comes to reproduction, most importantly, about the mental complications caused by incest.
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