wretched-of-the-earth-frantz-fanon

192THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTHCOLONIAL WAR AND MENTAL DISORDERS193asked to leave so that he could learn a trade compatible with hisdisability. He was then entrusted to the care of the FLN's socialservices. Saw him again months later. Doing well.Case No.3 Major depressive disorder with mood-congruentpsychotic features following the murder of a woman whilebriefly psychotic_) former student, ALN fighter, nineteen years old. Whenhe arrived at the Center he had already been ill for several months.His symptoms were characteristic: deeply depressed, dry lips, andconstantly moist hands. Heaved constant sighs. Persistent insomnia.Two suicide attempts since the onset of the disorder. Duringthe conversation showed signs of auditory hallucination.Sometimes his gaze for a few moments at a point in spacewhile his face lit up, giving the impression he was seeing something.Incoherent thoughts. Behavior known in psychiatry asblocking where the start of a gesture or phrase is suddenly interruptedfor no apparent reason. But one feature in particularour attention: The patient talked of his blood beinghis arteries drained, and an abnormal heartbeat. Hebegged us to stop the hemorrhage and not let them come intothe hospital to "suck the lifeblood" out ofhim. From time to time,could no speak and asked for a pencil. Wrote: "Have lostmy voice, my whole life is fading away." This display of depersonalizationled us to believe he had reached a serious stage.Several times in the course of our conversations the patientmentioned a woman who would come and persecute him whennight fell. Having previously learned that his mother, whom headored, had died and that he would never get over his loss (atthat moment his voice became mufl:led and a few tears appeared)I turned the cross-examination to the mother image. When 1asked him to describe this woman who was haunting, evensecuting, him he told me she was no stranger, that he knew herwell and he was the one who had killed her. The questionwas then of knowing whether we were in the presence of anunconscious guilt complex after his mother's death, as Freuddescribes in his "Mourning and Melancholia." We asked himto tell us more about this woman since he knew her so well andwas supposed to have killed her. That is how we managed toreconstruct the following"I left the town where I had been a student to join theground resistance movement. After several months I received newsof home. I learned that my mother had been killed at point-blankrange by a French soldier, and two of my sisters taken to the barracks.To tllis day I don't know where they are. I was terribly shakenby my mother's death. My father had died some years back, I wasthe only man in the family, and my sole ambition had alwaysto do something to make life easier for my mother and sisters. Oneday we went to a estate owned by white settlers where themanager, a notorious colonial, had already killed two Algeriancivilians. It was night when we arrived at his house. But he wasn'tat home. Only his wife was in the house. On seeing us, she beggedus not to kill her: 'I know you have come for my husband,' shesaid, 'but he isn't here ... How many times have I told him not toget mixed up in politics.' We decided to wait for the husband. ButI kept looking at the woman and thinking of my mother. She wassitting in an armchair and her thoughts seemed to elsewhere.I was asking myself why we didn't kill her. And then she noticed Iwas looking at She threw herself on me screaming: 'Please... don't kill me ... I've got children.' The next minute she wasdead. I'd killed her with my knife. My commander disarmed meand gave me orders to leave. I was interrogated by the district commandera few days later. I thought I was going to be shot, but Igive a damn. 24 And then I began to vomit after eating and Islept badly. After that this woman would come every night askingfor my blood. And what about mv mother's blood?"24 After the medical and legal reports had stressed the pathological natureof the act, the legal proceedings initiated by the ALN's staff headquarters weredropped."';,'fu;..-ZW"·