Psychology, the study of individuals' mental thoughts and interpretations, helps provide an in-depth understanding of mental and social behavior, which determines how people they interact. Psychoanalytic criticism, developed by Sigmund Freud, focuses on a method of treating patients through analysis and identification of the root cause of distress and hysteria. They examine a person's youth to see if influences develop from a person's childhood. This can be related to the characters in Anne Rice's Pandora and Robertson Davies' Fifth Business. These two stories tend to focus more on the psychological aspect, especially since they are both fictional semi-autobiographies. The main characters in both books begin by telling the reader about their past, their journey into adolescence, youth, and, finally, adulthood. This includes a multitude of psychological behaviors that can be described through traits and characteristics. The characters' internal conflicts within Pandora and the Fifth Business support psychological understandings and are primarily influenced by the id, ego, and isolation. The id is the natural instinct that manifests itself from birth, allowing everyone to survive and thrive in the world of the living. Within the stories, the id appears as characters are described and trying to survive in one form or another. Approaching Pandora with a psychoanalytic lens reinforces the current view of psychoanalytic criticism developed by Sigmund Freud. A strong example of the id in action within Pandora would be when the main protagonist, Pandora, uses her natural survival instincts as a vampire, to kill people and drain them of their blood. He does this to survive when... middle of paper ......People's actions are indications of their current state of mind. This can help society in the real world; by being able to understand a mental illness, diagnostics and treatment can be completed and utilized. The impact of psychology on society is proven to contribute to how humans develop and grow as a whole. Works Cited Davies, Robertson. Fifth feat. Toronto: Penguin Group, 1996.Rice, Anne. Pandora: new vampire stories. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998. “Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism.” Welcome to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). Network. July 24, 2011. "Id, Ego, Superego, and the Unconscious in Psychology 101 on AllPsychOnline." Psychology classroom on AllPsych Online. Network. July 24 2011. .