Freud in Artemis Fowl

            This week in English we’ve been reading Winesburg, Ohio, and have been examining several of its stories for examples of subconscious defense mechanisms as described by Sigmund Freud. This got me thinking about some of my favorite books, and if their main characters embody some of Freud’s defense mechanisms.

           

            My favorite book that I’ve read so far is Artemis Fowl, so I decided to examine it for signs of defense mechanisms. The main character of the book, named Artemis Fowl, is the son of an Irish crime lord who was killed through his business. This left Artemis and his mother with a vast estate and a missing father figure in their family. During the book, Artemis’ mother is bedridden, and is effectively insane. This is as a result of the loss of her husband, who, with his wealth and power, supported and led their family with ease. Without him, she has lost her direction in life, and subconsciously is in complete disarray. Her subconscious resorts to conversion to defend her against this hopelessness, making her insane.

           

            The main plotline involves Artemis kidnapping a fairy police officer and holding her for ransom, hoping to receive payment from the underground fairy society (in the book this is real; Artemis is completely sane). While the fairies heed to his agreement, they try several times to uproot his plans and get back Holly- the fairy he kidnapped- so they won’t have to pay the ransom. In the end, Artemis thwarts their attempts, and they finally pay him the gold he requested. Artemis understands fairy customs, and asks a favor of Holly before he lets her leave. He asks if she’ll cure his mother’s insanity, which Holly agrees to do. The next day, Mrs. Fowl wakes up completely sane, freed of her illness.

            At a first glance, it’s obvious that Holly cured Artemis’ mother. After re-examining this book with Freud’s defense mechanisms and their causes in mind, I’m not sure that’s the case. His mother went into insanity due to the loss of her husband, a leader of their family in every sense of the word. With Artemis successfully duping the fairies out of millions of dollars in gold, he has effectively established himself as the new leader of the family. He can support his mother financially and emotionally. She snaps out of her insanity, which was a result of hysteria caused by the loss of her husband, because she no longer feels the need for a leader in her life- Artemis has proved that he can fill that roll.