Psychological analysis of maternal symbolism in The Roots of Heaven of Romain Gary

This article is a Psychological analysis of The Roots of Heaven of Romain Gary. Our study is based on Freud theories with the model of Marie Bonaparte. The Roots of Heaven, in its manifest layer, tells a story about preservation of nature and elephants in Africa. In this article, we identify the latent meaning behind the manifest story through psychological analysis. In real-life, Gary has lost his mother, but his unconscious mind attempts to keep her alive through writing. It seems that as his fight to protect the elephants is unsuccessful, his unconscious attempt also ends in failure. Maybe that is why he continues to write, it is the mean to always have her mother on his side in his writings.