Exploring Identity Crisis and the Symbolic Order in Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, 1970) Cary Edwards “aŵ PeĐkiŶpahs Straw Dogs (1971) has often been considered a difficult and controversial text. Central to this is the depiction of gender, specifically concerning the role of Amy (played by Susan George) and the double rape that she undergoes, and the suggestion that the film is a parable of male dominance wherein the central character, David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), ascends to being a ƌeal ŵaŶ ǀia a ǀioleŶt siege agaiŶst ŵaƌaudiŶg CoƌŶish loĐals. The tag-line, featured on several posters for the film, suggested this very reading; The knock at the door meant the birth of a man and the death of seven others Given the predominant view of the film as a story of male birth, or re-birth, a consideration of the psycho-sexual imagery seems relevant particularly considering the proliferation of such imagery throughout the film. Images of emasculation, castration and phallic power are consistently invoked and develop the theme of birth referred to in the advertising. Creed (1993) offers a suitable model for considering these images and I will ƌefeƌ to heƌ ǁoƌk, aŶd Julia Kƌiteǀas ĐoŶĐept of aďjeĐtioŶ, to explore the meanings of the psycho-sexual imagery of Straw Dogs. I propose that Straw Dogs gives us a drama of identity crisis tied to anxieties about castration and phallic power which culminates in Daǀid “uŵŶeƌs ƌejeĐtioŶ of hoŵe aŶd deĐisioŶ to eŶteƌ iŶto the syŵďoliĐ oƌdeƌ haǀiŶg pƌeǀiously retreated from it. In addition to Creed I will also refer to the writings of American psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson in investigating the identity crisis which runs through the film. Before entering into the aŶalysis pƌopeƌ it is ǁoƌth outliŶiŶg the ǀalidity of ŵappiŶg Cƌeeds aŶalysis oŶto Straw Dogs. Creed was writing about women in horror, whereas this film is more concerned with men. I am not claiming the character of Amy as an instance of the monstrous feminine, rather that the concepts that Creed deals with are applicable outside of films which deal centrally with the female monster. There is also some debate about the genre classification of Straw Dogs itself, whether it fits into the horror genre. Many of its contemporary reviewers typed it simply as a relocated western, though this surely has as much to do ǁith the pƌeseŶĐe of PeĐkiŶpah as the filŵs autueƌ as it does foƌ aŶy specific textual evidence. I would suggest that the film is a hybrid of several generic elements, including those of horror and bears comparison with another contemporary British set horror The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973); both concern the intrusion of an outsider into a closed community, and both make extensive use of sexual imagery. Whereas The Wicker Man deals with a conflict between Catholic and Pagan morality Straw Dogs is concerned with a breakdown in identity that precipitates a re-birth of the protagonist. In its use of a corrupt, parodic, family, the Heddens, Straw Dogs also invokes other horror films from the 1970s such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House on the Left. Given the generic and thematic content of the film Creed seems a pertinent source for an analytical framework. Castration & Emasculation Castration and emasculation imagery runs through Straw Dogs from the earliest images of the film. It is immediately present in the gift given by Amy to David in the first moments, a large man-trap. As Cƌeed poiŶts out ŵaŶ-tƌap is a phƌase eupheŵistiĐally used to ƌefeƌ to the ǀagiŶa. The tƌap itself, with such jagged edges, invariably invokes the concept of the vagina-dentata. This image lurks throughout the film, opened up it takes a prominent place in the living room of the farm-house ǁaitiŶg to ďe Đlosed iŶ the siege ǁheƌe Daǀid ŵakes use of it, eŶĐlosiŶg it aƌouŶd aŶ iŶǀadeƌs head (a clear image of castration). Beyond the image itself, the issue of ownership of the trap prompts questions about the relationship between David and Amy. It is given to David as a gift, one which he places in the home. We must for a moment consider what this means for the dynamic of their ƌelatioŶship. We ŵay ĐoŶsideƌ this aŶ aĐƋuiesĐeŶĐe oŶ Aŵys paƌt to Daǀid, offeƌiŶg hiŵ oǁŶeƌship