Trajectories of Youth Crises: An Appraisal of Mohamed Choukri’s For Bread Alone

Abstract

This article examines the trajectories and manifestations of youth crises in the lives of young people as explored in Mohamed Choukri’s For Bread Alone. The psychoanalytic literary theory is applied in interrogating the motives for the actions of the young people entangled in crises. Findings reveal that these result from some underlying factors of dysfunctional family, poverty, and hunger. As discovered, youth crises manifest in drug and substance abuse, streetism, crime, and sexual perversion. These nonetheless serve as coping mechanisms for the young people to survive the difficulties. The study concludes that the absence of familial care, emptiness and disillusionment play crucial roles in disposing youths to certain crises.