AN ANALYSIS OF KEVIN’S EGO IN “SPLIT” MOVIE

(A PSYCHOANALYSIS STUDY)

Deni Pratama1, Merry Rullyanti2

1
Dehasen University of Bengkulu, Bajak 1, Taba Penanjung, Bengkulu Tengah
email: zs.denipratama@gmail.com
2
Dehasen University of Bengkulu, Bentiring Permai, Muara Bangkahulu, Bengkulu
email: merri.sasing@unived.ac.id

Abstract

Split movie is an interesting psycholinguistically analyzed movie in the last decade. The movie criticizes a bad
psychological relationship between the main character and his community. Through this study, the researcher
analyzed the multiple personality of main character on Split movie and used the theory of Sigmund Freud within the
title “An Analysis of Kevin’s Ego in “Split” Movie (a Psychoanalysis Study)”. The purpose of this study are to find
out Kevin’s ego based on the Sigmund Freud’s defence mechanism in the movie and to find out Kevin’s most frequently
emerging ego based on the Sigmund Freud’s defence mechanism.
In this study the researcher used a qualitative descriptive method by collecting data on all character
conversations in “Split” movie. The data were analyzed based on Frued's theory of defence mechanism. Furthermore,
the data were also anaylized by using Spradley's theory. There are three steps that must be taken in using this theory,
namely domain analysis, taxonomic analysis and component analysis.
The researcher found 8 Kevin’s egos that got involved in real dialogues in Split movie. They are childish, firm
man, mother-like, effeminate person, firm and effeminate, cruel, cool man, and weak lady. The highest value of
frequently emerging ego goes to childish. Whereas, the lowest frequently emerging ego is a weak lady. Hopefully, the
results of this study will increase the knowledge in English letters, especially in psychoanalysis study about various
egos of movie characters or even real persons and the defence mechanism based on Sigmund Freud’s and Spradley’s
theories.

Key words : Psychoanalysis, Split movie, Kevin’s ego, defence mechanism, MPD.

Introduction
Psychoanalysis is a branch of science developed by Sigmund Freud in 1856-1939. It studies
human personality or psychological behavior. It can be applied into a method of treating
psychological or emotional illness (Yorke, 2015). It is also a form of therapy based on the
understanding that humans are generally unaware of the mental processes associated with their
thoughts, feelings and behavior. Freud described the human personality as an iceberg with the part
above sea level as the area of consciousness and the part below the sea level as the area of the
unconsciousness. Between the two regions there is an area of preconsciuousness. The topological
model was then transformed into a structural model. Freud developed the structure of personality
as a dynamic relationship between its elements. In this structure, the human personality consists
of three elements, namely the id, ego, and superego.
Of those three elements above, the ego is an important part of the defence mechanism.
According to Freud, the defence mechanism is a strategy used by individuals to prevent the open
emergence of id urges and to deal with superego pressure on id, with the aim of reducing or
alleviating the anxiety experienced by individuals (Kuntojo, 2015: 46). The defence mechanism
can occur in the real life as well as in literature. In the world of literature, there are much literary
work that discuss or display the diversity of the ego. One of the literary work that is successful in
presenting a defence mechanism by bringing out various characters of the ego is the movie
discussed in this study.
In this study, the researcher analyzed the multiple personality of main character on Split
movie and use the theory of Sigmund Freud (psychoanalysis). Split is a United States film released
in 2017. The movie was directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie, especially the actor,
successfully exposed the multiple personality that the character, namely Kevin, has in his life. This
psychological condition was analyzed by the reseacher of this study through a descriptive method
of research.
Starting the study, the researcher has observed some of previous researches. The first
previous research was conducted by Sudrazat (2016) and entitled “Id, Ego, and Superego
Represented by the Main Character of Fifty Shades of Grey Movie Christian Grey”. It was found
that Christian Grey’s personality is leaning on his id which is BDSM, i.e. involving bondage and
discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism. Then, the ego and superego work
to restrict the id into non-destructive ways.
The second previous research is from Astuti (2015). The research was entitled “The
Personality Structure and Defence Mechanism of the Main Character in The House at the End of
the Street Film”. This research focuses on Ryan Jacobson as the main character in the movie. The
findings show that Ryan Jacobson has abnormal obsession to have his sister named Carrie Anne
alive. Due to a traumatic experience, Ryan has unbalanced personality structure caused by
disturbance in his childhood. His ego is dominated by the id when it is about his secret and trauma
in the past. Although Ryan has done some defence mechanism, it is not enough for him to remove
his trauma and anxiety.
The next reviewed study is about “Anxiety and Defence Mechanism of Will Hunting in
Good Will Hunting Movie” conducted by Masykuroh (2017). The analysis of data led to the
conclusion that through the story, Will Hunting has three kinds of anxiety; realistic anxiety,
neurotic anxiety, and moral anxiety. Will Hunting suffers from the realistic anxiety because of
Sean and the difficult situation around him. He also has the neurotic anxiety because of his
imagination that something dreadful will happen to him. Therefore, he also suffers from moral
anxiety because he breaks a moral value. Will Hunting tries to deal with his anxieties by doing
defence mechanism.
The fourth previous research was done by Ria Anita (2017) written in her thesis entitled
“Sybil’s Dissociative Identity Disorder (A Psychoanalysis Study in Sybil Novel by Flora Rheta
Schreiber, 1973)”. Based on the finding, Sybil is the main character and she is a woman who
always experiences nervousness. There are 15 individuals who are Sybil's personalities as minor
figures. They are Vicky, Peggy Lou, Peggy Ann, Marcia, Vanessa, Mary, Sybil Ann, Marjorie,
Helen, Clara, Nancy, Mike and Sid, Ruthie and the Blonde. Among all minor personalities, Vicky
and Peggy Lou are the strongest individuals who often appear and control Sybil's body. Vicky is
a jolly woman who knows many things, she is an observer. Whereas Peggy Lou is an emotional
female personality and she endures the anger that can’t be expressed by Sybil. The dissociative
identity disorder in Sybil’s characters is physical and sexual abuse during childhood done by her
mother.
The Last but not the least research previewed was done by Mutmainnah (2017). The title
of the research is “Psychopathic by the main character in the Movie Maniac”. The result shows
that there are five characteristics of psychophat that were found in Frank’s character. They are glib
and superficial, lack of remorse or guilt, impulsive, poor behavior control, and lack of empathy.
The researcher also found that the factor that made frank be a psychophat is his id which became
the dominant one over his ego and superego.
All of the above researchers used descriptive and qualitative method and focused on
various kinds of psychological condition in literary work. The results found are general. The
observations by the researchers towards previous studies were done by analyzing the forms of
human psyche based on Sigmund Freud’s theory. In the previous researches, there apparently is
no specific discussion about the ego and the defence mechanism of the main character that is also
analyzed by Spradley’s theory. Thus, the researcher focused on the ego and the defence mechanism
of the main character in a movie that was also analyzed by Spradley’s theory. Furthermore, the
character has multiple personality as well shown on “Split” movie which is an interesting
psycholinguistically analyzed movie in the last decade. For those reasons the researcher took the
title “An Analysis of Kevin’s Ego in “Split” Movie (a Psychoanalysis Study)”. The researcher of
this study analyzed all utterances of main character in the movie. The discussion is about the use
of words in the nature of psychological situation. Hopefully, the results of this study will increase
the knowledge in English letters, especially in psycholinguistic study about various egos of movie
characters or even real persons and the defence mechanism based on Sigmund Freud’s and
Spradley’s theories.
Research Design and Methodology
This research is a qualitative descriptive study. A qualitative descriptive study discusses
the phenomenon of what is experienced by the subject of research such as behavior, perceptions,
motivations, actions, etc., holistically, and in a descriptive way (Moleong, 2007). The researcher
collected data from “Split” movie. They were then analyzed and reported by fulfilling the
systematics of scientific writing from Chapter I, together with the cover, to Appendices. The data
found were analyzed by using Spradley’s theory (Spradley, 1979).
Findings and Discussion
All of Kevin’s utterances in Split movie are the data of this research. This chapter presents
the research findings and discussion of the utterances based on Sigmund Freud’s theory of defence
mechanism and Spradley’s theory of analysing descriptive-qualiative data.
Kevin’s Ego
The researcher found 8 Kevin’s egos that got involved in real dialogues in Split movie.
They are explained in the following table.
Table 1. Domain Analysis of Kevin’s Ego
Data First Utterance and Expression Character Ego
1. I choose you first Dennis Firm man
2. Hey! I was inspired Barry Effeminate person
3. Dennis, admit what you've done. Patricia Mother-like
4. My name's Hedwig. I have red socks. Hedwig Childish
5. Thank you for helping us till now. The Beast Brutal
6. Wait, no! Don't do that! Jade Weak lady
7. Have I done something? Barry (Dennis) Effeminate-Firm
8. Thank you, Dennis. Kevin Cool man

The above table shows the domain of Kevin’s egos. They are the first words uttered by the
characters. The ego of Dennis was found as a defense mechanism emerging in the situation that
Kevin was trying to be a firm man. It was shown in his character that is firm and uses to the point
words. In stead of saying more polite utterance like “I’d like to choose you, first, OK?”, he used a
more firm utterance “I choose you first” as he is acting in the situation. Moreover, in the scene,
the character is showing a firm expression.
Meanwhile, the ego of Barry was found as a defense mechanism emerging in the situation
that Kevin was trying to be an effeminate person. It was shown in his character that is feminine
and uses tender words. In stead of saying firmer utterance like “Wow! That’s cool”, he used more
feminine utterance “Hey! I was inspired” as he is acting in the situation. Moreover, in the scene,
the character is showing an effeminate expression.
Whereas the ego of Patricia was found as a defense mechanism emerging in the situation
that Kevin was trying to be a mother. It was shown in his character that is motherly and uses words
often said by a mother. In stead of saying more tender utterance like “Dennis, please, say the truth
about what you've done.”, he used words often said by a mother “Dennis, admit what you've done.”
as he is acting in the situation. Moreover, in the scene, the character is showing a motherly
expression.
In the meantime, there is a nine year old child was found to be the characteristic of Kevin’s
ego as Hedwig. It was shown in his character that is childish and uses words often said by a child.
In stead of saying more common utterances spoken by an adult man like “I’m Hedwig and has
these socks”, he used a more childish utterance “My name's Hedwig. I have red socks” as he is
acting in the situation. Moreover, in the scene, the character is showing a childish expression.
In addition, monster-like character was found in Kevin’s ego as The Beast. It was shown
in his character that is brutal and uses tones of voice produced by a monster or even words uttered
by a monster or in a critical situation. In stead of using more common tone of voice of a man in
this utterance “Thank you for helping us till now”, he produced a monster-like tone of voice as he
is acting in the situation.
Next, Kevin also became a woman who suffered from diabetes who named Jade. It was
shown in his character that is suffering and uses words often said by unhealthy or powerless
person. In stead of saying more powerful utterance like “No way! (while doing evading action)”,
he used begging words “Wait, no! Don't do that!” as he is acting in the situation. Moreover, in the
scene, the character is showing a powerless expression and attitude.
At last but not the least, Kevin is the real character in this movie. It was shown when his
mother got so angry and yelled at him by saying his name so loudly “Keviiin...!”. Beside that,
Kevin is also a silent and cool man. In stead of saying more feminine and longer utterance as Barry
said “Wow, it’s so touching, thank you so much, Babe”, Kevin used less words in a cool way
“Thank you, Dennis” as he is acting in the situation. Moreover, in the scene, the character is
showing a cool expression.
Kevin’s Most Frequently Emerging Ego
After finding the eight Kevin’s egos, the researcher analyzed the taxonomy of the egos.
The following is the taxonomy analysis of the egos with the number of 151 data.

Table 2. Taxonomy Analysis of Kevin’s Ego

 Number of Data Character – Ego Percentages
47 Hedwig – Childish 31.13 %
38 Dennis – Firm man 25.16 %
19 Patricia – Mother-like 12.58 %
18 Barry – Effeminate person 11.92 %
15 Dennis as Barry – Effeminate-Firm 9.93 %
7 The Beast – Cruel 4.64 %
6 Kevin – Cool man 3.97 %
1 Jade – Weak lady 0.66 %

Table 2 above shows the taxonomy analysis of Kevin’s ego. Each ego has its own value.
Based on the table, the ego of Hedwig i.e. childish was more often found in the movie for about
47 times. This data answers the second question of this research which is about what Kevin’s most
frequently emerging ego is based on the Sigmund Freud’s defence mechanism in “Split” movie.
Whereas, the ego of jade i.e. weak lady was only found once. It is the least ego shown in the movie.
The last part is doing the componential analysis. The percentages shown in the last column
of Table 2 were concluded based on the values. The highest and the lowest values determined the
result of the research. Below is the analysis table.
Table 3. Componential Analysis

Component Number of Data Percentage

Maximum: Hedwig – Childish 47 31.13 %

Ego
Minimum: Jade – Weak lady 1 0.66 %

The above table shows a componential analysis where the maximum level of emerging ego
is for Hedwig (Childish) i.e. 13.31 % and the minimum level of emerging ego is for Jade (Weak
lady) i.e. 0.66 %.
Based on Freud’s theory of defence mechanism, 8 egos were found in Split movie. Among
the egos, the defence mechanism used most frequently is in the egos of childish shown by Hedwig.
The value indicate that the movie tends to use the ego that shows an abused childhood memory.
The movie was made for telling the audience about something serious and memorable happened
in Kevin’s childhood moment. Through flashbacks, it is known that Kevin's mother was abusive
and suffered from diabetes. After Kevin's father mysteriously disappeared on a train one day, the
young boy grew up suffering from abuse at the hands of his mother which caused Kevin to retreat
into other personalities to protect himself. This condition in psychoanalysis is known as defence
mechanism and MPD.
 The appearance of Hedwig which characterized a nine year old child is intensive in the
movie. Poor Hedwig, he lost his normal and happy childhood. The love of a normal mother and
father could not be got during his childhood. His sick mother and missing father made him thirsty
for his parents' caresses. Behaving like a child is the way he defends himself from the feeling of
losing his happy childhood, from wanting to be loved by both parents, father and mother. This
kind of analysis is not found in the previous literary work and analyses on Split movie and on
other researches that the researcher of this study has reviewed before.
Beside for entertainment, the movie itself criticizes a bad psychological relationship
between someone and his community. The movie shows the audience about the effects of abusive
treatment to a child in his future. One of the effects is multiple personality disorder as the defence
mechanism. By using the issue of MPD and defence mechanism, the movie makes the audience
realize that an abused child needs help. Their bad characters are something that can be learnt and
solved.
Conclusion
According to the analysis, it can be concluded that the highest value of frequently
emerging ego goes to the character of Hedwig i.e. childish. It was mostly used because the writer
wants the character to be cared more seriously. Whereas, the lowest frequently emerging ego is
a weak lady that is Jade. This ego is exposed so to show that Kevin has a touching memory about
an old woman. All egos relate to what the writer needs to tell. The movie was produced to show
a unique character of a person. Not all human beings are commonly the same.
Meanwhile, based on the results of reviewing the previous studies, it can be concluded
that Kevin’s ego i.e. childish is indeed the character that the writer wants to emerge frequently.
It means that the movie is really a movie of a person who has a bad childhood memory
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