When I was creating the characters of Sunnyville and building the universe, I needed to make sure the characters were not simply flat characters with no life or no motivation. A lot of work went into creating Rusty and company; in fact, these characters have something those in my previous creations don’t – they have “heart”.
However, when creating Rusty’s family, I needed more than just heart and personalities. Rusty and his parents needed a unifying theme to define who they are. So I looked to neurologist Sigmund Freud for some ideas. Rusty and his parents are intended to represent the three aspects of the psyche as theorized by Freud.
The psyche is divided into three aspects: the id, which represents the base instincts as well as the emotions; the superego, which represents intellect and logical reasoning; and the ego, which acts as a balance between the first two. The Freudian trio is one that is prevalent throughout popular media. In fact, I can give you the best example of one.
James T. Kirk, “Bones” McCoy and Spock of the original Star Trek are symbolic of the ego, id and superego.
Rusty’s mom, Nancy, is the McCoy or the id. She represents the emotions and base instincts. Nancy wears her emotions on her sleeve (this is obvious in Sunnyville Stories #8 and #11) and is concerned about what is “right”, regardless of short-term or long- term consequences.
Rusty’s father, Al, is the Spock or the superego. He’s a direct contrast to his wife. He represents intelligence; Al will think before acting whereas Nancy will often charge into a challenge all guns blazing. He is the first to propose a solution to a problem but he is more concerned with the end result while Nancy tends to be concerned about the immediate present.
Rusty, the protagonist, is meant to be the Kirk or the ego. Rusty often has to act as a balance between the two.
What makes this family structure work is that the parents are the two opposites and their offspring is supposed to be a balance between the emotions and the intelligence. Rusty sees the approaches his parents take when dealing with challenges; ultimately, when he is out there in the world, he must choose between the methods of the McCoy or the Spock…or take a third option.
I’m quite pleased with the characterization I’ve done here. Only time will tell what future stories will mean for Rusty and his family.
That’s all for now. Sunnyville Stories Vol. 1 (ISBN 9780615653921) is still for sale on Amazon. Copies of Sunnyville Stories Volume 2 and Von Herling, Vampire Hunter are for sale right now at Great Stories. Check out Direct Textbook too for more details on my books! And if you have an Amazon Kindle, get Sunnyville Stories Volume 1, Sunnyville Stories Volume 2 and Von Herling, Vampire Hunter for it today!
