Page 20 Raine • Strained Differentiation atheist Sigmund Freud, begins with a foundational rejection of Scripture. The theory seeks to usurp a Biblical theology of the mind with faulty explanations, asserting that human behaviors are driven primarily by instinct and unconscious drives. Such a position opposes Scripture, which communicates that humans are not victims of their unconscious, but rather rebels who consciously choose sin (English Standard Version, Eph. 2.1-3). Where psychoanalysis argues that humans are bound to their instincts, Scripture teaches that through Christ, the believer can be freed from the bonds of sin (John 8.31-32). Additionally, feminist theory proves incompatible with Scripture based on its insistence on divisions in the Body. Feminist theory views all experiences through the lens of patriarchal oppression, thus attacking the believer’s responsibility to exist with brothers and sisters in perfect unity (Gal. 3.28). Given these incongruencies with Scripture, the Christian must reject critical theory as a foundation for truth. However, once astutely aware of its problematic tenets, the Christian is free to use theory as an analytic tool without being swayed by its unbiblical presuppositions. Situating critical theory in this proper light—as a fallible device to understand marginalized perspectives—allows believers to interact with a prominent analytical tool, which preserves their influence and relevance in secular scholarship while also ensuring that Scripture will remain their foundational source of truth. We therefore accept, reject, and redeem the appropriate outpourings of secular academia, maintaining our scholarly relevance while never compromising on the infallible truth of Scripture. We are in the world, yet never of it. Interdependence of Psychoanalytic and Feminist Theories In order to accurately understand the significance of psychological maternal influence in Hunt’s novel, one must recognize the interdependent relationship between psychoanalytic and feminist theories. The traditional mother-daughter connection, initiated at conception, creates a unique bond that carries through childhood and into advanced personal development. This bond and its bearing on female psychological development causes “feminist theory and the psychology of gender [to] spill…over” as mothers set the frameworks for their daughters’ presuppositions, values, and psychological states (Chodorow 9). Thus, when psychoanalysts look to understand female development, it becomes nearly impossible to separate “this relation to the mother” from the psychologically constructed self since the development of the psyche relies heavily upon maternal socialization (4,14). This socialization informs the tripartite psyche, shaping the daughter’s biological desires, mediation of reality, and moral leanings to mirror characteristics of the mother (Dobie 57). Consequently, analysis of a woman’s psychotic state must consider the mother because the daughter’s acting psyche has been constructed under the guidance and leverage of the continued maternal bond.
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