ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the system superego origination and establishes itself in childhood, and subsequently how each person comes to achieve, or fails to achieve, the mature functioning of this system in adulthood. Klein, describes the mental life of the infant as dominated by aggressive fantasies and the anxious reaction to them. The child's fears of harm to the body and the loss of parental love, therefore, act to facilitate the formation of the superego system. The advent of puberty and adolescence is a very important developmental stage for the further growth of the system superego. Stephen’s “growing up” typically involves many “ups and downs”, and these are described by Joyce in a series of memories and images. His responses to circumstance are tinged with internal fantasy, and always subject to external influences, and a selection of these memories is from the viewpoint of the hero's developing superego system.
