Self-denial

After David and Joey's sexual encounter, David seems to reject him. He says, "I picked up with a rougher, older crowd and was very nasty to Joey. And the sadder this made him, the nastier I became" (Baldwin 10). Baldwin seems to be rejecting Joey even after their intimate encounter. This seems illogical at the surface. Why would David reject Joey after he appeared to like him so much. Later David says, "I had decided to allow no room in the universe for something which shamed and frightened me" (20). David appears to allude to Joey being the cause of some embarrassment. If David had loved him, then where would this chagrin originate from?

Freud says, "...an instinctual need acquires the strength to achieve satisfaction in spite of the conscience, which is, after all, limited in its strength; and with the nature of the need owing to its having been satisfied, the former balance of power is restored" (94). If Freud were to psycho-analyze David, he may suggest that he definitely fulfilled an instinctual love by having sex with Joey. Because David later tries to separate himself from Joey, and because he says, "I had decided to allow no room for the something that shamed and frightened me," Freud may argue that his conscience told him that his impulses were wrong. Freud actually has a psychoanalytic term for what Joey may have felt. Freud says, "When one has a sense of guilt after having committed a misdeed, and because of it, the feeling should more properly be called remorse" (94). David can be considered to be going through remorse because of his rejection of Joey after their night together. David's natural need for companionship was satisfied by Joey, but then after this was need was satisfied, his conscience came back. It was no longer overwhelmed by his desire. He then felt remorse for the "sin" he had committed.