This essay investigates the theory of intermediate area from D.W. Winnicott and Sigmund Freud’s idea of uncanny in the story of ‘The Inner Room’ by Robert Aickman. The study focuses on the development of psychological disorder experienced by the protagonist, Lene, struggling to separate her inner and outer reality. The failure of distinguishing the two separate areas is due to her inability to step out of the transitional phenomena experienced in childhood. Further he explains that this process of transition is tied to the successful use of transitional objects which Lene fails to detach from it. The study argues that the problem is not only because of her anxious detachment, but because of a fear of abandonment rooted from her relationship with her mother. This condition leads to many trauma that develop to the inability to separate her hallucination to her reality world. Consequently, the line between her imagination is blurred and the reality of her inner and outer world is hardly distinguishable. Later, Lene experiences supernatural events from her unresolved trauma with her dolls haunting her adult life. This condition is what Freud called ‘Uncanny’. The uncanniness experience comes from years of repressed memories, especially the guilt associated with the abandonment towards her dolls. Ultimately, this essay concludes that the failure of transitional phenomena endures the consequence of a broken childhood psychological structure. Aickman’s ‘The Inner Room’ perceives an example on how a person could be trapped in an area of reality and fantasy.

Authors:
Atikah Atikah, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Basofi Hardiyanto, King's College London, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Atikah, M.A is currently a lecturer in Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Tarbiyah (STIT) Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. She is teaching English subject to Islamic Education major students. Her research interest is in English Literature.

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