dial v for violence: reading karoly kisfaludi's the invisible wound as a ...

IRJC
International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 11, November 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
“Not the least,” he said with a smile. “It is as if the pain had been cut off and the slight
irritation caused by the cutting seems like a cool breeze after a hot spell. Just let the blood run. It
soothes me”” (6)
Here the conversation between the doctor and the patient exposes certain aspects of the cathartic
effect that the patient experiences. Here tears are replaced by blood. It is apt to mention the
hydraulic model of emotions and venting theory in this case as blood is used as a hydraulic force
that when given vent to brings peace, calm, releases tension and heat of body and mind.
Generally, tears carry away the negativity of feelings in a cathartic moment and bring in insight.
The hydraulic model of emotions uses the analogy of the fluid flowing through a system. The
American Psychological Association opines that emotional distress, if not expressed, gets stored
and can create pressure in the system, therefore 'venting' emotions should decrease tension and
consequentially the negative psychological experience and symptoms. The greater the expression
of negative emotions, the greater the relief should be. But in this case, tears are docile elements
that cannot stop his tremendous burning sensation. He tells of a burning sensation that is cooled
with the flow of blood. Here burning, as we come to know at the end of the story is
psychological purgation. In religious perceptions release of negative feelings are done with fire,
water, sacrifice, washing etc. Here we find the protagonist sacrificing his blood and skin first and
then using heated charcoal to get relief. Heat of unrest and guilt that made him unstable could
only be cooled by another doze of violence on him so as to match the original violence that he
had committed on his loving wife. The methods of cathartic release that he adopts are thus
medically, religiously, spiritually and psychometrically pliable.
The protagonist experiences a hellish situation in his life after becoming skeptic towards his wife
and kills her only on the basis of false assumption of infidelity. Like Browning‟s heroes, in his
poems, this man is also a patient of obsessive disorder syndrome that takes a unique shape this
time leading to murder and repentance. This becomes clearer when he returns to the doctor only
after three weeks with a similar complaint of tremendous pain in his hand on the same place. He
complains:
“You didn‟t cut it deep enough,” he groaned. “The pain returned; it is even worse
than before. I am almost done for. I didn‟t want to trouble you again, so I just bore
it, but I cant bear it any longer. You must operate it again”(7).
The doctor repeats the same process letting him some peace but this time he does not seem
satisfied or much relieved. He assures the doctor, “You needn‟t be surprised if I am back again in
a month,” (7). This statement of his clears all suspicion about his supposed insanity. He is as
sane as any intelligent normal person, perhaps more than others, only with the fault of hubris in
him. He is a man of moral disposition and realizes that the invisible would is nothing but
psychological outcome of his guilt and pain. However, the traumatic part is that he cannot get rid
of it. He implicitly explains the doctor, “It is as sure there is God in heaven,” and it is He who is
just in giving him this pain. The moral or spiritual fervor of the story becomes clear. The original
mystery unravels in the end when after one month and three weeks time, he writes a letter to the
doctor unfolding his heart thus, making clear of all his agonies.
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