Department of English

This thesis includes an exploration of science fiction through the psychoanalytic lens of attachment theory: a postulation regarding mother-child relationships and how they form the foundation of a child’s identity. Referencing two texts, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion, this thesis analyzes tropes of science fiction, such as Mecha Robots and Tralfamadorian aliens, to describe the texts as commentaries regarding human relationships. In the context of World War II and the technological race between nations to reach socio-economic superiority, these texts pose important questions regarding how individuals adapt to social expectations and the impact of interpersonal relationships on identity formation. Then, the paper draws connections between the narrative/mental coherence of the protagonists, Billy Pilgrim and Shinji Ikari, and emotional trauma in relation to their attachment styles. Scenes of trauma, emotional absence, neglect by attachment figures, and abusive mothers will be examined to make sense of the need for attachment, and how individual attachment styles change over time. The first section of this thesis explicates attachment theory and writings of Donald Winnicott and John Bowlby, presenting the central questions of the protagonists: “Who am I, Why am I here, What is the extent of my free will , and What is trauma’s role in my plight?” The second and third sections will analyze Kurt Vonnegut’s insecurely attached Billy Pilgrim, and Hideaki Anno’s existentially lonely Shinji Ikari. This thesis aims to highlight tropes of science Reyes 3 fiction and relate them to each text, as well as presenting how attachment functions in literary representations.