"If this constant sliding and hiding of meaning were true of conscious life, then we would of course never be able to speak coherently at all. If the whole of language were present to me when I spoke, then I would not be able to articulate anything at all. The ego, or consciousness, can therefore only work by repressing this turbulent activity, provisionally nailing down words on to meanings."
In this quote, Eagleton attempts to describe the overwhelming reality of the potential contained within language. He sees the function of the mind as a constant pushing back, against the full potential of language. There is only so much which may be expressed before the meaning begins to wane in light of the sheer amount of data.
"Meaning is always in some sense an approximation, a near-miss, a part-failure, mixing non-sense and non-communication into sense and dialogue."
The beauty of communication is partially its failure. Eagleton embraces the imperfection of the form as part of the human experience. To him, meaning is something fragile and complicit with non-meaning. The two are intertwined and gain validity in engagement with one another.
"We desire what others -- our parents, for instance -- unconsciously desire for us; and desire can only happen because we are caught up in linguistic, sexual and social relations -- the whole field of the 'Other' -- which generate it."
Eagleton believes desire is a result of human interaction. Through other people's vision of us, we generate ideas about ourselves which lead to desires. The attainment of fulfillment of desire is dependent upon one's ability to understand and communicate with other people because they are the source of influence which pushes us to desire more.
"Equally serious is the complain that psychoanalysis as a medical practice is a form of oppressive social control, labelling individuals and forcing them to conform to arbitrary definitions of 'normality.'"
Eagleton sheds light upon a lesser consensus that psychoanalysis is the practice of convincing people to conform. The implication here is that there is a pre-existing standard of normality and that in order to conform to said standard a person would need to relinquish something about himself or herself. Because psychoanalysis is a recent innovation, there is a natural suspicion of the field. Eagleton is quick to point this out along with inserting his own interpretation of the function of psychoanalysis, which is to reach a person within their variety, within their subjectivity.
