The Imagery of a Psychotic Patient
Dr. Grene writes about a psychotic patient: “He had no children, certainly no sons, and the name would die with him. The name for the record was Meel, which right enough is a very strange name, and may be from the Irish word for honey, or so he said. And he is about seventy, very dignified, unwell, and mad. Yes, he is mad. That is to say, psychotic, and I see from his file that he unfortunately was found years ago sheltering in a schoolyard, under a seat, with three dead dogs tied to his leg.” which he was dragging about with him. But as I spoke to him, all I could feel was love.”
This account involves the imagery of absolute madness because a sane individual would inter dead dogs instead of dragging them around using his legs. Diagnosing the man with psychosis is valid because his mannerisms underscore his mental instability. In the framework of Lacanian psychoanalysis, the dead dogs are the patient’s Objet petit a for an material, intimate family; seeing that he is childless. Perhaps, the dogs’ deaths are causative to the man’s madness for they are his sole family.
“The Horror of Horrors”
Roseanne recalls, “It was persons unknown that banged on the door then, and shouted out with harsh military voices. We were like a set of hidden woodlice then inside, scattering away in different directions, myself drawing back like a tragedian in a travelling play, such as might be seen in a damp hall in the town, the three Irregulars ducking down behind the table, my father drawing Fr Gaunt near to me, as if he might hide me behind the priest and his own love. For it was clear to anyone that there would be shots now, and just as I had that thought, the iron door pushed open on its big scraping hinges. Yes, it was lads of the new army in their awkward uniforms. It would be thought as they came in that they had bullets aplenty, at least they levelled their guns at us in their own fierce moments of concentration.” The horror elicits punishing anxiety because it generates an ambiance of death. ‘Military voices’ are threatening since they embody violence which could trigger death for the military is wholly armed. The reactions which Roseanne and her company confirm that they categorically endangered; hence, their flight apparatuses are triggered for their existence is facing a life-threatening menace.
