Winter Santiago's Innocence

Words: 817
Pages: 4

Brooklyn, New York was experiencing one of the coldest and snowiest days in the world that was until a bundle of joy was born. Winter Santiago (named after the weather), was bought into the world privileged. Her father, Ricky Santiago a notorious drug dealer, spent his whole life catering to Winter, her mother, and her siblings. Santiago, as he liked to be called was a force to be reckoned with. He made sure not a single soul touched his family, but he forgot about himself. He trusted the wrong drug dealer, and that lead him being spied on, and later on arrested by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). Her mother turned to drugs after losing the love of her life, and her siblings were thrown into foster care. For the first time in her …show more content…
The book The Coldest Winter Ever follows Winter through the ups and downs of trying to survive without her family. Sigmund Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory best describes winters personality. Winter Santiago's personality was definitely very unique and interesting to read. Based on the psychoanalytical structure of personality Freud introduced, it was almost as though she was operating using her “ID,” and not her “Ego.” The “ID” is the pleasure principle, the “thing” a person wants/desires. Throughout the entire story, Winter operated based off of that. No matter who she sabotaged, and betrayed she was all about herself. Ms. Santiago also displayed various defensive mechanisms to justify her behavior. The first defense mechanism she used was denial. After the conviction of her father, and her family basically losing the street …show more content…
"In the first stage of personality development the libido is centered in a baby's mouth. It gets much satisfaction from putting all sorts of things in its mouth to satisfy the libido, and thus its id demands. Which at this stage in life are oral, or mouth orientated, such as sucking, biting, and breastfeeding." Winter showed a sign of being stuck in this stage later on in her life. For example, due to her being stuck in the oral stage, Winter had an addiction to smoking marijuana. Winter also showed signs of not making it through the anal stage. “The libido now becomes focused on the anus and the child derives great pleasure from defecating. The child is now fully aware that they are a person in their own right and that their wishes can bring them into conflict with the demands of the outside world.” Winter showed signs of not making it through this stage either. As Sigmund Freud would say “(McLeod, 2008) Early or harsh potty training can lead to the child becoming an anal-retentive personality who hates mess, is obsessively tidy, punctual and respectful of authority. They can be stubborn and tight-fisted with their cash and possessions.” During her stay at the all-female group home, Winter showed signs of being very