Neurosis and Human Growth by Karen Horney

Author:Karen Horney
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-01-11T18:33:50+00:00

The need for vindictive triumph is a regular ingredient in any search for glory. Our interest therefore is not so much concerned with the existence of this need but with its overwhelming intensity. How can the idea of triumph get such a hold on an individual that he spends all his life chasing after it? Surely it must be fed by a multitude of powerful sources. But the knowledge of these sources alone does not sufficiently elucidate its formidable power. In order to arrive at a fuller understanding we must approach the problem from still another vantage point. Even though in others the impact of the need for vengeance and triumph can be poignant, it usually is kept within limits by three factors: love, fear, and self-preservation. Only if these checks are temporarily or permanently malfunctioning can the vindictiveness involve the total personality—thereby becoming a kind of integrating force, as in Medea—and sway it altogether in the one direction of vengeance and triumph. And in the type to be discussed it is the combination of these two processes—powerful impulse and insufficient checks—that accounts for the magnitude of vindictiveness. Great writers have intuitively grasped this combination and have presented it in more impressive forms than a psychiatrist can hope to do. I am thinking for instance of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, of Heath-cliff in Wuthering Heights, and of Julien in The Red and the Black.

We shall start by describing how vindictiveness shows in human relations. An impelling need for triumph makes this type extremely competitive. As a matter of fact he cannot tolerate anybody who knows or achieves more than he does, wields more power, or in any way questions his superiority. Compulsively he has to drag his rival down or defeat him. Even if he subordinates himself for the sake of his career, he is scheming for ultimate triumph. Not being tied by feelings of loyalty, he easily can become treacherous. What he actually achieves with his often indefatigable work depends on his gifts. But with all his planning and scheming he will often achieve nothing worth while, not only because he is unproductive but because he is too self-destructive, as we shall see presently.

The most conspicuous manifestations of his vindictiveness are violent rages. These spells of vindictive fury can be so formidable that he himself may become frightened lest he do something irreparable when out of control. Patients may, for instance, actually be scared of killing somebody when under the influence of alcohol—i.e., when their usual controls do not operate. The impulse for revengeful actions can be strong enough to override the cautious prudence which usually governs their behavior. When seized by vindictive wrath, they may indeed jeopardize their lives, their security, their jobs, their social positions. An example from literature is Stendhal's The Red and the Black, where Julien shoots Madame de Renal after having read the letter slandering him. We shall understand the recklessness involved later on.

Even more important than these, after all, rare eruptions of

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