The Cavemen in the Hedges” is a short story that explores various themes of psychoanalytical theory. The story delves into the concepts of the “id,” which represents one’s primal and selfish desires, the “superego,” which is concerned with morals and ideals, and the “ego,” which attempts to balance both id and superego natures. These themes play a significant role in shaping the narrative of this story.
Repression and other psychological defense mechanisms are also crucial in the analysis. The first display of the id is that of the cavemen themselves. Our cavemen are impervious to pain or discipline, demonstrating a lack of mental sense (as shown by college students trapping them with shiny objects). Kim describes them as “mother fuckers” without any sexual taboos or restraints. This means that if something amused or felt good to the cavemen, nothing else mattered.
According to Sigmund Freud, our primal nature is embodied by the id. It is pleasure-driven and disregards the reality of any situation. This perfectly describes our cavemen ancestors. In The Cavemen in the Hedges,” we see this unrestrained nature again in Kim, an unlikely character who is an anal-retentive housewife.
At first, Kim appears very prim and proper. She is frightened and disapproving of the cavemen. Her house is always spotless, and she constantly reorganizes things like her furniture and spice rack.
In her younger days, Kim was a rocker and a delinquent, almost as wild as the cavemen. She spent her time hocking spit on rich kids’ cars, doing drugs, and throwing rocks through corporate glass windows. However, she eventually grew up and settled down. That is until our main character (who remains unnamed throughout the story) claims he is not ready for marriage after 10 years of dating. Kim’s id regains control and she begins to have an affair with one of the cavemen. As a result, she lets the cleanliness of her once perfectly kept house go to pot.
She no longer cares about reality or morals and becomes lost to the raw desires of her primal nature. The next theme displayed in “The Cavemen in the Hedges” is the superego. This is seen in several of our characters at times, but it is personified without a doubt in the annoying neighbors, the Schaefers. Evan and Winsome are described as New Age hippies who are over-friendly”. Their dress reminds me of choir robes. These two are the type of people who believe that everything has a spirit and every creature should be cared for.
During dinner with our main characters, Winsome becomes teary-eyed as she shares her discovery of a newborn cavebaby that had died in their backyard. She expresses compassion for the abandoned creature, showcasing one of the greatest emotions associated with the superego. However, when Kim declares her lack of understanding and calls the baby disgusting,” Winsome perceives it as a judgmental and archetypal viewpoint of the superego. Kim’s condescending tone only reinforces this perception.
The Schaefers appear to be a moral and sensitive couple who care deeply for all types of people, which supremely annoys Kim and the narrator. The reason they are so put off by their neighbors is that they feel uncomfortable with themselves in comparison to the Schaefers. The Schaefers are happily married and genuinely good people, but our couple (especially Kim) lashes out at them because they realize they are not as happy or good as their neighbors. The superego can be physically detrimental to a person in the opposite way of the id.
If the superego is in complete control of a person, they no longer care about material needs, social adeptness, or possibly other people’s varying viewpoints. The Schaefers embrace all of these ideals; however, they seem to be the most content people in this story. Therefore, the superego may be the best way to go regarding psychological control. The ego is the dominant theme that prevails in nearly all humans. Although displayed in several characters, Kim and her husband best exemplify this trait prior to their dinner with the Schaefers.
The job of the ego is to provide balance between the id and superego, satisfying both of these ideals and keeping reality in focus. This is exactly what our narrator and Kim are attempting to accomplish through their suburban existence. When they were younger, they were wild and free-spirited, reckless with their bodies, didn’t give a damn what others thought of them, and had no respect for the law. Their id was in complete control of their lives. As they aged, their egos began to conform them to society’s expectations. They purchased a house together, removed tattoos, and got real jobs.
They become normal, boring, law-abiding citizens. The only thing keeping them from being completely reformed is the fact that our narrator isn’t ready for marriage. He feels as though doing this will destroy the last shred of rebel in him.” This last piece of his rebellious youth ultimately becomes our narrator’s downfall. Though our narrator and Kim have seemingly adjusted to society, something is not right. They have fully repressed their id. Boiling just beneath the surface of their successful jobs, spotless house, and normal lives is the primal side within them.
Using repression to contain only your id is very dangerous because there is no safe release. Repressing primal sexual and rebellious desires for too long will eventually lead to an explosion. The narrator’s refusal of marriage ignites the fuse of this metaphorical bomb, and once it’s set off, there’s no going back to the way things were, no matter how hard the narrator tries. The narrator uses several defense mechanisms against the cold hard fact that his girlfriend of ten years is having an affair with a caveman.
The first stage is denial. He puts the thought out of his mind, saying that Kim just needed time to herself.” When he can no longer deny the affair, he attempts to rationalize the situation. He decides that he must win Kim back with his charm and cleanliness. However, no amount of cleaning, washing, or cooking is sufficient to bring Kim back to her senses. When this fails, he begins to displace his anger by drinking away the fact that his woman had “thrown him over for the missing link.” This behavior is also futile and leads to nothing good.
Finally, the cavemen eventually exterminate themselves because they are not smart enough to survive in our world. This destroys Kim, and she leaves home never to be seen again. In conclusion, my interpretation of The Cavemen in the Hedges” is that if one does not find a suitable release for their id behavior (which is encrypted into every human being), things can turn disastrous very quickly.
References
- Unknown. Psychology 101 Chapter 3 Section 5. March 21, 2004 and March 16, 2011.
- Unknown. Psychology 101 Chapter 3 Section6. March21,2004andMarch16,2011.
- Richter, Stacey. The Cavemen in the Hedges. March12,2007andOctober28,2
