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Mary
We lived on a country block for a while,
and the thing I enjoyed most about it was
having chooks (hens). I loved them, eh?
Apart from they used to shit all over the
deck, but I thought they were the grooviest
thing.
Must be that my Methodist up-bringing
gave me huge amounts of satisfaction that
all those nice kind of healthy looking
scraps could go to the chooks, and they
used to scuttle round after them.
Paula
(inaudible) and you get to raid their nest,
and get their babies.
Mary
… follow you around. That’s right, and
you have to push the broody ones off with
a broom so you can get the eggs and … a
bit like (inaudible)
(Silence)
Table 5.3
Fragment of interaction from Page 148
Chapter Five - A Beginning – Page 175
Sadistic pleasure is expressed, at the thought of disrupting creativity
There seems to be some anticipation of sadistic pleasure, voiced by Paula who is in turn
followed and echoed by Mary, at the prospect of pushing the broody hens off the nest
and getting the eggs. One view of this could be that Paula is struggling with parts of
herself, not least the part that wishes to regress completely and the part that identifies
with her potential aggressors and wishes to push her out for that wish. In addition, it is
the broody hen whose desire is thwarted and whose chicks are then destroyed. Some
aggression and envy will be experienced towards the staff and their creativity, and this