An Exploration of Meggie in The Thorn Birds With Theory of “The Desire of the Other”

楊苗

【Abstract】The Thorn Birds（1977） is famed in Australia does feature an ambitious priest， a huge fortune， and three generations of family on a sprawling estate.This thesis follows the life， love and deaths of one family， then explores discourse of their tragedies and self-identification with “The Desire of the Other”， which could contribute to explain the identification of “ego” and “The Other” and explore two characters inner world.

【Key Words】The Thorn Birds； self-identification；“The Desire of the Other”；“ego”

It is no denying that The Thorn Birds is one of the most outstanding books narrating the humans life， exploring the desire and destiny.The epic of The Thorn Birds begins with two main tragic characters： beautiful Meggie and handsome priest Father Ralph.Maggie is straightforward， full of emotion； her independence and love pursuit fight against man-dominant society with countless hardships and pretermission.Ralph certainly has too much of what it takes to be a prince of the Church.For Church gives him a transcendent identity.Meggie Cleary，is the heroine， with her tough nature and tenacious willingness， Maggie is not stipulated by the patriarchy society； and she is not a label of mens property in the whole story.

During Meggies childhood，Sister Agatha has punished Maggie many times for she insists on using her left hand.Meggie also is not able to get along with others in school，she always has the sense of isolation and pretermission.The Imaginary of “the Other”is created， imaginary originates in the human beings fascination with form.In this respect， Imaginary is not simply the opposite of real， the image certainly belongs to reality（Philippe Julien， 1994： 47）.According to Lacan， the imaginary gains its false reality and has been affected by “the Other”.Because individuals perceive “the Other” desire it， such as its allure.

Lacans concept shows the problems between “ego” and “the Other”

Lacan points out that young child understand his relation to “the Other” in terms of his position within a larger system of rules， gender differences， and desires.Under the shadow of “The Desire of the Other”， Meggies “ego” identification is closer “ego ideal”.When Meggie goes through earlier hazy period and becomes mature， “the Other” has established her image of “ideal ego” and identification.When Meggie is growing as a beautiful girl， and she passionately falls in love with Ralph.With the growing conception of self-awareness and “ego ideal”， Meggie is wanting care and pursuing love from “the Other”， she possesses a kind of female quality as femininity.Unluckily， Meggie gradually realizes the block between Ralph and her， both of them must come to face different choices and broken dreams.The destruction and falling of “ideal ego” have stroked due to “the Other” denial and disapproval to them.In front of the great anguish and betray， Meggie has been supplemented by an identification of an entirely different order.

Ralph says to Meggies mother： “Look after Maggie...encourage her to think of marriage and a home of her own”（McCullough， 1994：291）.Ralph and her family force Meggie to gain her “ideal ego” again， she also tries to be normal and follow the rules of “the Other”， especially tradition and marriage.When Meggie meets Luke who has the similar appearance with Ralph， she decides to marry him.Meggies desire of love and care is transitorily satisfied， for Luke is a duplicated image and ideal illusion in Meggies mind.It is unbelievable fate that Ralph comes all the ways to visit Meggie for holidays.They have stayed for two nights and Meggie finally gets pregnant.At the mercy of God， this romance brings them a son — Dane.Meggie can not dare to admit the “bastard” an illegitimate child.Meggie tries her best to keep the secret and make Luck believe that Dane is his son.Meggie is forced to cater for “ideal ego” and tries her best to protect her son.The life experiences of Meggie do actually undergo a process from losing the self， bitterly discovering the self to fully self-awakening.Lacans theory offers us a sensible explanation and psychoanalytic understanding to explore humans inner world.Meggie makes efforts to fight against the influences from “The Desire of the Other” with her persistence and braveness.She pursues her love and care all the time， thus her identification of “ego”is closer to her inner desire.

References：

[1]Colleen McCullough.The Thorn Birds，Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，1996.

[2]Philippe Julien.Jacques Lacans Reture to Freud： the Real，the Symbolic and the Imaginary，translated by Devra Beck Simiu，New York and London： New York University Press，1994.

[3]Jacques-Alain Miller（Ed）.Jacques Lacan.The Seminar of Jacques Lacan Book II，The Ago in Freuds Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis，New York：Cambridge University Press，1988.

[4]Sean Homer.Routledge Critical Thinkers -Jacques Lacan，London and New York： Routledge，1997.