Behind the Veil of Memory: A Psychoanalytic Study of Repression and Rationalization in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending

Dr. N. Brindha¹, Ms. V. Glara Sweetline Kiruba²

¹Assistant Professor, Department of English, TDMNS, Kallikulam, Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli – 627012. 

²Research Scholar, Department of English, St. John’s College, Palayamkottai, Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli – 627012. 

Abstract

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes explores the psychology behind human mind, memory, self–deception and the guilt that comes along with deceiving oneself by reconstructing the event through Tony Webster, the central character of the novel. This article aims to examine the work through Freud’s concepts of rationalization and repression and demonstrates how one’s subconscious mind suppresses events that causes pain by justifying one’s actions to preserve their moral image and how it leads to unreliable narration, which reveals the interplay between defense mechanisms and memory. Through close textual analysis using the psychoanalytic theories of Freud, the study reveals how Barnes transforms psychological processes into literary strategies by presenting memory as a contested space where guilt, truth and identity continuously negotiate with one another. It suggests that one can only understand their true self by not letting their subconscious mind suppress the source of their pain and uncomfortable truth and by confronting with the truth. Thus, Barnes presents psychological defense mechanisms not only as sources that shape one’s character but as narrative principles that determine both the meaning and structure of the novel.

Keywords: Repression, Rationalization, Memory, Guilt, Psychology, Unreliable Narrator