There are a lot of Freudian concepts that have meaning throughout the psychological world. Sigmund Freud was the founding father of psycho-analysis, he showed his concepts through his “Five Lectures On Psycho-Analsysis.” In his lectures he mentions many things such as the meaning behind the unconscious, conscious, repression, wishful-impulse, etc. These examples are shown in the story “It Was A Different Day When They Killed The Pig” by João Ubaldo Ribeiro. In the story, Alosios’s neediness in becoming an adult shows the Freudian ideas of having a wishful-impulse and shows signs of repression after witnessing the pig die. This explains how repression can impact someone’s regret on their “wishful impulse” because in the end Aloisio regretted witnessing the pig be slaughtered.
In the literary text, “It Was A Different Day When They Killed The Pig” by João Ubaldo Ribeiro it shows how repression can impact someone’s regret on their “wishful impulse.” In the story Aloisio, a boy who proves his manliness to his family by witnessing pig slaughter. His obsession of being mature takes over when he realizes pig slaughter isn’t the reality of adulthood. This shows Freud’s concept of a “wishful impulse.” A wishful impulse simply means what someone wants in the unconscious mind, but it goes against their moralities (Freud 2221-2224). Ribeiro states, “he wanted very, very much to be a man. He wanted nobody to be ever, ever able to say he had not been a man even if only for an instant” (Ribeiro 189). Aloisio wanted to be viewed as a man instead of a kid to his family and community. Men in his community were seen as superior; he wanted to prove that to everyone, especially his father. In the community, men are always the pig killers while the mothers are house wifes. This made Aloisio want to be prepared because there would be a time where he would have to do the same. The “wishful impulse” of Aloisio watching them slaughter the pig made him repress his feelings because it made him feel disgusted. Ribeiro states, “Aloiso felt his eyes wet, and pride with sickness again” (Ribeiro 191). Aloisio’s realization of regret made him double guess his reasoning behind the animal slaughter. Due to this, Aloisio represses these feelings which lie in his unconscious mind.
Although, wishful impulses are actions someone tries to fulfill, repression also comes along with it. According to Freud’s concept, repression comes from the unconscious mind and tends to create a barrier to stop someone’s desires (Freud 2213-2214). In the story, Aloisio’s repression stays in his unconscious mind after many years. In the end, he notices the feelings that he’s bottled up all those years and regrets witnessing pig slaughter. When Aliosio was a child, he had a connection with the pig, watching that scarred him for life. For example, Ribeiro states, “all around Aloisio’s eyes there seemed to be a dark wheel and one could only see the middle of this wheel, where the sow Noca lay being killed” (Ribeiro 190). This left Aloisio feeling sorry for seeing the pig die because he couldn’t prevent it. He just sat there and watched. Aloisio repressed his feelings so that he doesn’t seem weak to others and to assure himself his readiness for maturity. Ribeiro states, “He was still secretly bothered by what had happened, but was confident that the next time it would not be like this” (Ribeiro 191). Alosio was holding onto that “wishful impulse” and repressed what had bothered him so much. As a result, this memory made Aloisio very emotional as an adult (Ribeiro 191).
Aloisio along with the other little boys in his community have this “wishful impulse” to be seen tough and prove their maturity to their parents. Watching the pig slaughter to these children was an accomplishment that made them want to show off to their community. They wanted to be the first ones to be acknowledged apart from the rest of the kids. For example, Aloisio refused to show his emotions to others because he wanted them to be surprised. Ribeiro states “he would not turn his eyes away nor would he show emotions” (Ribeiro 190). Aloisio did not show emotions and he succeeded. Aloisio has a right to feel guilty and repress his feelings because he never got the chance to express them. In the end of the story, it quotes,“when he sits in a quiet corner and looks at all this, his chest feels heavy and he has the impression that if someone speaks to him, he will begin to cry without ever again being able to stop” (Ribeiro 191). This shows how he’s never mourned over his wishful impulse. Aloisio’s emotions were deep in his unconscious mind. Thus, the repression in Aloisio’s unconscious throughout the years made him regret his wishful impulse.
The result of Aloisio’s journey shows how badly he wanted to enter adulthood. Aloisio wanted to prove his value to his parents and community. He showed it by watching the pig get killed, which he soon regretted. Aloisio’s “wishful impulse” began with a desire and in the end turned into regret. Aloisio was just a little kid and knew nothing of what being an adult truly meant. He based his assumptions on the way they raised kids in his community, especially the men. Looking back now, Aloisio probably wouldn’t have wished to grow up so fast and would have stood up for himself. The bond Aloisio had with the pig didn’t deserve to end the way it did. Under those circumstances, Aloisio did what any kid would have done in his shoes. Aloisio’s repression impacted his true meaning over his “wishful impulse” because of the unhappiness that built over time while he grew up.
Works Cited:
1) Freud, Sigmund. “Five Lectures On Psycho-Analysis.” Semanticscholar.org, 1910, pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b446/cfb00094a2e62f82e8c8e430581891ca4e47.pdf?_ga=2.153662776.1893964575.1597526595-1709737971.1597526595.
2) Ribeiro, João Ubaldo. “It Was A Different When They Killed The Pig.” It Was a Different Day When They Killed the Pig.pdf, 1941, It Was a Different Day When They Killed the Pig.pdf.
