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4.1.6. Adventurous
Athena loved to spend her time looking for something in the unexpected places. Athena was experiencing two main journeys in her life: her journey to the desert and
her journey to Transylvania. Those journeys were considered as spiritual journeys since the reason Athena went on those journeys was to find a spiritual satisfaction.
Her journey to the desert is to seek wisdom through calligraphy. Meanwhile, her journey to Transylvania was to find her birth mother.
Her journey to seek her birth mother was to reveal the truth. As an adopted child, Athena did not know her birth mother until finally she decided to seek for her.
The meeting with her birth mother made her know the truth. Furthermore, she became aware that she was loved.
“I came here because there was something missing in my life,” she said. “I needed to fill up my blank spaces, and I thought just seeing your face would be
enough. But it wasn’t. I also needed to understand that...I was loved.” “Your are loved.” p. 122
Athena believed that going on journeys was her path. “Yes, I think they do. The earth I’m standing on now has laid out many strange
paths for me, from a village in Transylvania to a city in the Middle East, from there to another city on an island, and then to the desert and back to
Transylvania. From a suburban bank to a real estate company in the Persian Gulf.” p. 233
4.2. The Meaning of Athena’s Life as Seen in Her Struggles
This session consists of three sections: the list of Athena’s struggle, the true meaning of Athena’s stuggle, and the meaning of Athena’s life. Freud 1923
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believes: The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through the secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that
matches the mental image created by the ids primary process. The literal meaning— as seen in the list of Athena’s struggles, refers to the ego and the true meaning refer to
the id. This session examines the events of Athena’s life to see how she find the meaning of her life.
4.2.1. The List of Athena’s Struggles
This session discusses Athena’s struggles literally. As we already knew that Athena’s struggle in this novel was to find the meaning of her life. Athena went on
many struggle on her life as listed below.
4.2.1.1. Athena’s Struggle in University
At first, Athena entered university because she wanted to be an engineer. “Athena was able to study at good schools, she attended dance classes—because
dance was her passion—and when she’d finished at secondary school, she chose to take a degree in engineering” p. 25. She almost ruined her university career because
she was attacking another student. “Oh, very, but when you attack someone weaker than yourself, you make it look as if you really do need protection. You could have
ruined your university career right there and then” p. 26. She then ruined her university career herself by suddenly told his boyfriend–
Lukas Jessen-Petersen that she was going to leave university. “One day, after almost
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