Eros and ThanatosIn The Sense Of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Name -: Parmar Milankumar Roll no. -: 14Enrollment no. -: Pg14101026Course no. -: New LiteratureEmail -: parmarmilan1994@gmail.comSubmitted to -: Department of

English Smt.S.B. Gardi M.K.B. University

Introduction Julian Patrick BarnesBorn- 17 January 1946

“The Sense of an Ending” Publication 2011

The Man Booker Prize- 2011

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

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.

Instincts/ driveAn 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.

ErosDrive for survival, life instinct, pleasure, reproduction, and basic instincts like sex hunger and thirst. These elements are necessary to preserve lifeEnergy 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.

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...

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.

Eros and Thanatos : Dual instincts Eros

Instinct for Life

Sex, thirst, hungerSelf –

Preservation Pain

avoidance

Tahantos

Instinct for deathAggression towards self (depression)Aggression

towards others(anger, Prejudice, violence)Drive to

self destructio

n

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,’

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

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

ThankYou..