Webology (ISSN: 1735-188X) Volume 19, Number 3, 2022 2424 http://www.webology.org Guilt And Remorse: A Psychoanalytic Study Of Julian Barnes’s The Sense Of An Ending Khalid Usman 1 , Javed Khan 2 , Muhammad Hassan Shah 3 1 Associate Professor of English, Govt. Degree College Serai Naurang, Lakki Marwat. (HED Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). 2 Assistant Professor of English, Govt. Degree College Dera Ismail Khan No.2 (HED Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). 3 BS English, University of Science and Technology, Bannu (USTB) _________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: This study tends to explore the effects of guilt and remorse in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending. The study argues that guilt and remorse have both positive and negative effects. Major characters have been taken for analysis and interpretation under the broad vision of psychoanalytic theory. Classical psychoanalytic theorization of guilt and remorse by Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein makes the theoretical framework of the study where guilt and remorse arise due to conflict among id, ego and superego. This study examines the novelist’s depiction of guilt and remorse in the novel. It makes a contribution to the bulk of knowledge as guilt and remorse in the novel have not been investigated before. The study finds that despite postmodern incredulity towards ethical considerations, the elements of guilt and remorse and its effects justify Barnes’s humanistic and optimistic approach towards life. Keywords: Guilt and remorse, id, ego, superego, Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Introduction to the Research Problem Guilt and remorse are viewed as having both positive and negative effects on man’s life. The positive side is that it can motivate us to attempt to make amends and to try to repair damage to relationships. This aspect of guilt and remorse is referred to as “the capacity for concern” (Winnicott 72) and “the healing…of our cultural malaise” (Carveth 176). On the other hand, it can lead to self-punishment which inhibits our progress. Sigmund Freud in Civilization and Its Discontents says that it is his “intention to represent the sense of guilt as the most important problem in the development of civilization” (81). Lacan draws attention to the fact that the sole aim of psychoanalysis is to soothe the sense of guilt (3). Guilt is a sullen experience felt at the infringement of familial, religious or national rules; or even at the thought of such violation