In that narration, Roger told Helena with an upset tone that his first wife had packed all the manuscript folders by mistake. In that place, he told her that he had
met the concierge. He actually convinced the concierge to recheck that it was a great misfortune about the manuscript. The concierge made him sure that all of his
works in the suitcase were gone. He felt depressed because he lost all of his works. Then he also blamed his first wife for the loss of his stories because the
copies were also lost along with the original ones. As for him, it was a fatal mistake.
c. Sublimation
Sublimation is one of behaving in response to frustration. In sublimating, a need which individual cannot satisfy directly he accepts some alternate goal which
provides a socially acceptable outlet of expression and which provides partial satisfactions that are free of guilt feelings Ruch, 1971: 472. This idea is similar
to Crow 1973: 184 who says that sublimation represents substitute activity. It can be said that people will accept some goals in ways of fulfilling the motives in
which cannot satisfy its goal directly. The goal of any individuals particularly never provides the same satisfaction as original one, so they may choose an
alternate goal to satisfy their need. In this case, substitution is likely to involve activity that is accompanied by some feelings of guilt, self-disapproval and
inferiority Ruch, 1971: 472.
In relation to the theory of sublimation as explained above, the researcher observes that Roger had also undergone sublimation. It was a result of his blocked
wishes to rewrite a better novel again. He sublimated his desire for writing something toward other object. In his weaknesses, he substituted his ambition to
write by drinking the whiskey. It is reflected in the narration below : There is always a chance, Roger thought, when a drink can still do what it is
supposed to do. This drink had done exactly what it should do. The Strange Country: 697.
The above narration shows that he did substitute his writing by alternating his original goal toward another object, namely drinking. He drank while he was
driving onto The Gulf of Mexico. He always thought that by drinking it he could do anything including writing the stories. But in reality, there was a little chance
to make it come true. Another evidence about Roger’ substitution is also reflected in a
conversation with Helena when they were in the barroom of the New Orleans. ‘What I wanted to tell you was that drinking this made me feel the way I
feel when I am going to write. That I could do anything and that I can write wonderfully. Then I write and it’s just dull. The truer I try to make it the
duller it is. And when it isn’t true it’s silly’. The Strange Country: 736.
The conversation above happened when both of them were in an unfriendly situation to talk to each other. At that time, she really wanted to talk about things
that interested them both especially about writing. What did she want made him feel anxious with her because he didn’t want to discuss about it anymore.
Meanwhile, she forced him to write until he told her that it was an awful story about writing.
Since he had lost his desire to write, his desired goal to create a better novel was substituted or alternated by drinking the whiskey. He said it to her that
drinking made him feel the way when he was going to write something. In other words, he felt secure enough that by drinking it he would get the same satisfaction
as the way he used to write the stories. From the description above, it can be said that Roger’ ambition to write was
not realized because he substituted his goals to make a decent writing by drinking much whiskey and absinthe.
d. Rationalization
