A Psychodynamic Perspective of the Protagonists in the Novel "Turtles all the Way Down" by John Green

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to extract the elements of Obsessive?Compulsive Disorder hereinafter OCD found in the personality traits of the main character of the novel Turtles All The Way Down written by an American author John Green. As defined by Csigo, 2021, “OCD is a disorder of personality organization and ego-organization.” The novel operates at the two levels of the story: on one level, there is a romantic story going on between Aza Holmes and Davis Pickett while on the other hand, there is an inner conflict of Aza that is because of her mental illness, known as OCD. To demonstrate the traits of mental illness in the character of Aza, the Psychodynamic Theory of OCD has been applied to the selected content of the novel. The method for study is based on qualitative research method and the model is descriptive. The references from the novel has been extracted to carry out the analysis of the novel in the light ofPsychodynamic Theory of OCD. It has been found and confirmed by the results of analysis that the female protagonist of Green’s novel is patient of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the traits of OCD are reflected throughout the novel in Aza’s behavior.