Psychoanalytic Analysis of Alice Munro's Train: A Freudian Interpretation of Trauma and Repression

Abstract

This research provides a psychoanalytic interpretation of Alice Munro's short story Train, focusing on the protagonist Jackson and employing Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory as the analytical framework. The study examines how Freudian concepts of repression, defense mechanisms, and repetition compulsion manifest in Jackson's character and behavior. Through close textual analysis, this paper demonstrates how unresolved psychological conflicts stemming from childhood trauma shape Jackson's impulsive leap from the train, his years of wandering, his emotional detachment, and his perpetual avoidance of meaningful connection. Munro's use of narrative gaps and symbolic motifs reflects the fragmented logic of traumatic memory, illustrating how Jackson's behavior is governed by unconscious processes rather than conscious choice. By applying Freud's framework to this under-examined story, this research contributes to Munro scholarship and establishes Train as a significant examination of the psychological costs of sustained repression.