THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

1.1 Double, Double, Toil and Trouble The Avatar in Panamareality. 15 These psychological mechanisms function symbiotically and itis exactly the character’s interpretation of external events whichinfluences the effect and nature of the double. Analytically, narcissistictheory is enormously important in this genre of literature. Otto Rankbased his entire study of the double on Freud’s psychoanalytic theory ofthe concept and Rank’s work has been seminal for all subsequentinvestigation into the concept of the double.As with any type of interpersonal association, the narcissisticrelationship relies on the reciprocity of two people. In the narcissist’scase however, the relationship is between the self and the same self asif it were another living person. In another significant work APsychoanalytic Study of the Double in Literature, Robert Rogerssuggests a hallucination of one’s own image as opposed to any otherimage is evidence of a “morbid preoccupation of the individual with hisown essence” and can be interpreted as nothing other thannarcissistic. 16 The appearance of the double is a defensive reduplicationof the self/ego and is achieved by splitting and pitting one part of theego against the other so that a subject and object are created just as ina regular relationship. 17 Even though subject and object appear to beseparate and distinct entities, the fact they are born of the same egocompels the created and projected object –the double- to remaindependent upon the subject or original to varying degrees.Psychologically, Rank refers to the double’s creation as “aninner division and projection”, but just how exactly is this achieved? Thesuggestion is that an encroaching awareness of guilt forces theprotagonist to deny or at least reject responsibility for some of hisactions. Consequently he places the burden upon another ego or self -adouble- which becomes a measure against the ego’s total destruction.By executing this, the character’s instincts and desires are personified.The protagonist’s guilt is perpetuated by a fear of death and createssuicidal tendencies as a type of self-punishment although Rank15 The “perceiving and reacting to inner impulses as though they were outside the self”is known as projection. That of denial manifests itself by the “avoidance of becomingaware of a painful aspect of reality’ and at the psychotic level ‘may be replaced by afantasy or delusion”. The narcissistic defence of distortion is defined as “grosslyreshaping external reality to suit inner needs – including unrealistic megalomaniacalbeliefs, hallucinations, and wish fulfilling delusions – and using sustained feelings ofdelusional superiority or entitlement.” Kaplan, Freedman, and Sadock 691.16 These types of hallucinations are clinically known as autoscopic phenomena. Theyare defined as “hallucinatory experiences in which all or part of the person’s own bodyoften only the face or bust but sometimes the whole body is perceived as appearing ina mirror. This spectre is usually colourless and transparent, but it is seen clearly,appears suddenly and without warning, and imitates the person’s movements.”Kaplan, Freedman, and Sadock vol. 2 1992.17 Robert Rogers, A Psychoanalytic Study of the Double in Literature (Detroit: WayneState UP, 1970) 18-19.17