Tell Me How Long the Train?s Been Gone portrays the life of James
Baldwin?s great character, Leo who lives as a black American and experiences a
change from a heterosexual to a homosexual. Through Leo, the writer is eager to
find out the process of how he can experience a change from a heterosexual to a
homosexual. First of all, the writer applies the psychological approach by using
Freud?s theory of personality, specifically anxiety, identification, displacement,
and one of defense mechanisms. These theories are used in order to analyze what
problems that the main character has in his childhood and the anxiety that comes
up due to his problem in his childhood. The writer will also analyze the ways that
the main character uses in dealing with his anxiety. There are some ways that Leo
uses, such as, identification, displacement, and repression. These ways finally lead
Leo experiences a change from a heterosexual to a homosexual. Finally, the writer
may conclude that Leo becomes a homosexual in the process of finding the love
that once he had, the substitute figure of his brother, and the release of all his
discomfort feeling.