The power of writing

Cleansed and set in Gold Analysis

Sigmund Freud presents the Psychoanalytic theory: where your id or subconscious is the basic drive for survival and ambition, your ego is your self-conscious- the person you want to be or put out there, and the superego (also subconscious) causes you to judge yourself, form biases or simply be ashamed or prideful towards yourself\others. "Cleansed and Set in Gold" by Matthew Sturges tells the story of David Caulfield, "the wildcard" who fights criminals in jeans and tees, has no fascinating origin story and is one of the league's reservists (who are only called at times of emergencies.) Until the Ghoul king- stronger than any other of the ghouls who have been terrorizing cities- killed Verlaine, a great hero thought to be immortal. Now David not only has to risk his life trying to defeat the newly organized ghouls and their king, but keep people from finding out about his powers which cause him to gain other super's powers- dead supers. David's superego causes him to judge and be disgusted with himself and his powers, while his ego makes him strive to be a great hero.

David's power is the ability to use a super's power for a certain amount of time, a power which he gains by eating their flesh. Since growing up within society he's told eating people alive or dead is wrong and inhumane- "I am disgusted with myself....I gag every time I put a piece of them in my mouth. Can you imagine the horror of this? The horror of being me?" (Sturges pg 13)-his superego causes him to feel disgust and shame towards himself. "How...how do you live with yourself?" (Sturges pg 13) Toni Evins asked, shocked and disgusted as David showed her the bodies. It's the question anyone would be asking, seeing David as a monster, and causing him to be unable to have a good relationship with anyone since their superegos would cause them to feel disgusted towards David. "Of course it revolts me. I think it's disgusting." (Sturges pg 21) David not only hates himself, but at the same time, he's alone in the world.

His ego is his super identity and what he wants everyone else to see him as even if they only see the surface (and he was not really liked in the first place.) Even with the negative emotions towards himself and his powers, a hero is what he wants to be and what he uses his powers for. His friend's wife on discovering the truth said,"He knew how much you hated yourself for doing it, and he knew that you did it anyway because you were willing to sacrifice your self-worth in order to do the right thing." (Sturges pg 22). He strives to be a hero even if he is also hurting himself mentally and emotionally. "The difference, though, is that I keep doing it, despite how much I hate myself." (Sturges 14) said David. He knows that even if his powers are inhumane, still he has the power to help those in need. "But then I see some pregnant mother get shot by a bad guy in pink tights, or some Ghoul tear apart a bus full of kids and... what would you have me do?" That doesn't mean he still isn't cautious about his secret because if it's discovered, it'll change how people view him. "The less they know about me, the better." (Sturges pg 3)

When everyone finds out his secret, what then? The immediate reaction is horror and disgust of course, but will they look past that? Will they overcome their superegos to see that all he had done was for them? This happens every day in the world (superpowers not included of course.) People are disgusted towards themselves for actions they have done, or simply thoughts they have that society deems unacceptable. Every day people are judging themselves and others, and only let a little of themselves be viewed, the parts that are favorable, acceptable. Of course, the superego helps as much as it hurts; without it the world would be chaos, and no one wants people thinking rape, killing and stealing is acceptable. As David's inner conflict shows, the world is a very confusing and contradicting place.