Having a traumatic and life-altering event most certainly has an effect on people and their view on the world. Oftentimes as humans, it is only natural to seek vengeance when we are wronged by an individual. Tóibín shares the story of a modern day Oresteia, but in his version, both Clytemnestra and Electra get to tell their own stories and personal narratives. In House of Names, we learn how similar to hope vengeance really can be, specifically to individuals who have been traumatized throughout their lifetime. The topic, not surprisingly once again seems oh so familiar to my psychology background. From my studies over the past 4 years I have discovered that oftentimes we relate disorders and diagnoses back to an individual's childhood. It seems that more times than not, that child has encountered a traumatic experience that will forever alter their perspective on the world. So the question is, do these traumatized children seek out vengeance like the characters of the House of Names? There are three main types of trauma: Acute, chronic, and complex. Acute trauma is from one incident, chronic trauma is repeated and prolonged trauma, and complex trauma is an exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events that are frequent and invasive. When an individual views themselves as severely harmed by a person and holds that person accountable for their trauma, the individual's ego assesses the harm as wrong, therefore developing a desire to retaliate. Revenge is then sought out to re-equilibrate the losses the individual experienced due to their trauma. This need for revenge and re-equilibrium oftentimes is intended to allow the victim to regain a sense of control over the situation, which is specifically important because the perception of one's ability to influence others and need for power and control is a basic human need. One's desire to seek revenge is a universal response in all human cultures. Tóibín focused on this universal response from the murder of Iphigenia to the murder of Clytemnestra. In his version of the story, Orestes is kidnapped by Clytemnestra and held in captivity with other boys, who were held hostage. So can the desire for revenge stem down to our parents? We know that the characters in this novel have quite large shoes to fill in terms of their parents' actions. The saying, “the apple doesn't fall far from the tree” is a common term used for when a child inherits characteristics or mannerisms of their parents. Sometimes, this happens because children are conditioned to the acts of their parents, whether those acts are right or wrong. Throughout the book we see the characters learning to step in or failing to step out of roles that their parents filled, roles that they have inherited the skills and characteristics for. Towards the end of the novel even Orestes notices the resemblance when looking at his sister explaining that he “saw his mother”. The apple didn't fall far from the tree, and their actions appeared uncanny to him. Could his sister's actions so similar to the actions of their mother be due to the trauma that she witnessed over time? She grew up witnessing unspeakable acts that her mother committed, conditioning her to think these acts were what she had to do to get by. So does that mean we can truly tie everything back to trauma when explaining why people are the way they are? Truthfully, in short no- but when looking at traumatized individuals situations in depth, oftentimes this is the case I would say. Overall, current literature and studies suggest that the desire for vengeance and revenge fantasies are a form of “narcissistic repair” that reinforce ego stability after harmful experiences. I believe that in his novel, that is exactly what Tóibín was trying to portray. https://earlyconnections.mo.gov/professionals/trauma-informed-care https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00886/full https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/books/review/house-of-names-colm-toibin-bright-air-black-david-vann.html https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00886/full
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AuthorHi! My name is Alyssa and I am a fourth year Psychology major! When I'm not busy with work and school I enjoy cooking new recipes, and binging Schitt's Creek on Netflix. Archives |