Scholars from Saudi Arabia:
by Lama Alsulaiman, King Saud University
AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 10. Number 3. August 2026
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and The Giver by Lois Lowry represent characteristics of comingof-age novels, or bildungsromans, in which the protagonists evolve within seemingly idealistic yet highly dominating, emotionally repressive societies. The protagonists of these novels develop their moral identities by actively engaging with their memories. Jane reflects on her personal memories while Jonas internalizes and examines collective memories that are forbidden to other citizens by societal authorities. Accordingly, by comparing the two protagonists' coming-of-age stories, this article aims to illustrate how memories, whether lived or passed on, can play a transformative role in the protagonists' gradual moral growth by reconstructing their internalized morality that Freud conceptualizes as the superego. The significance of this study lies in the new comparative perspective it offers on these two works from different literary periods and genres, underscoring the shared psychological role of memory in the process of moral development. This study answers the question: How can individual and collective memories contribute to reshaping the superego in these two novels? This article utilizes memory studies and employs Freud's construct of the superego as its psychoanalytic lens to demonstrate how and why the protagonists alter their socially imposed mindsets after encountering memories that foster moral growth. The analysis concludes that, in both novels, memory functions as a reconstructive mechanism that integrates emotion with moral consciousness through personal reflection on recollected experiences, releasing repressed emotions and resulting in moral autonomy.
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