RE: Me, myself, and Salinger

Sean Draine (seandr@Exchange.Microsoft.com)
Thu, 01 Apr 1999 10:25:26 -0800 

I agree that the DSM-IV should not be treated as the Holy Word. One lesson
that has stuck with me from my days getting a Ph.D. in experimental psych is
that scientific understanding of emotions and personality is lacking. These
psychological beasts have been far better characterized in novels, poems,
and short stories than in any scientific journal or diagnostic manual. 

Nevertheless, I do think some insight and intelligence has gone into the
DSM-IV, and it can be a useful way to organize one's thoughts about a
person's psychological makeup. 

Another aspect of Salinger that suggests narcissism is his tendency to pair
off with women much younger than him. A younger woman would be more likely
to adulate him, to assume the role of his inferior, than a woman his own
age. In any case, this is only a hypothesis, John, and I admire your
inclination to give Salinger the benefit of the doubt.

-Sean


-----Original Message-----
From: John Touzios [mailto:JTouzios@mwumail.midwestern.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 1999 7:52 AM
To: bananafish@lists.nyu.edu
Subject: RE: Me, myself, and Salinger


Being in medical school, I just came from a psychiatry class.  I am now in 
pocession of the DSM-IV requirements for a narcissistic personality
disorder.  
I think five of them are required for diagnosis.  I'm going to list them
both 
because i want to be a useful social unit, but also because the discussion
of 
personality disorders disturbed me a bit, and a little bit of commentary
might 
just be forthcoming.

*Lack of empathy
*Grandiose visions of self
*Want to be recognized as superior
*Believe self to be special or unique
*Require excessive admiration
*Sense of entitlement
*Willing to take advantage of others to gain personal ends
*Envious of others and think they are envious of him or her
*Arrogant

This reads (to me) a bit like the things a bully says as he beats you with
his 
fists.  I fit nicely into the "schizotypical" category, myself, and so might

be a little biased about DSM-IV, to say the least.  Nevertheless, I would
warn 
anybody against judging people according to lists of normal and abnormal 
behavior.  I have to wonder, after all, about who made the lists.

Now that the fine print's been read, let's see...Chuang Tzu wrote a little 
story about a spiritual teacher who attended Lao Tzu's wake.  He pounded his

chest three times and went home.  A pupil asked him why he hadn't mourned 
better for the Master's death.  The teacher replied that he had, indeed,
once 
thought Lao Tzu to be the Master, but at the wake were pupil's of Lao Tzu's 
crying as if for their mothers.  Disgusted at the display, he no longer 
thought that Lao Tzu was the Master.  And so I'm wondering what we'll do at 
Salinger's wake...I would bet a lot that many people have been negatively 
affected by the work, centering their lives around their interpretations of 
Salinger's words.  I suppose this was secondary to Salinger's intentions to 
thrill, to love, to tell his stories to people who would *hear* him.  But 
anyone who talks about enlightenment, even in a contextualized way, might
have 
a negative affect on some people, making them think you have something to
tell 
them that will make their lives better.
  I'm thinking a narcissist is someone for whom the thought, "because i said

so," is the end of all discussion in their head.  Perhaps Salinger's reason 
for hiding out is to meditate in peace, not just because he said so.
>===== Original Message From "Sean Draine (Exchange)" 
<bananafish@lists.nyu.edu> =====
>Jake McHenry wrote:
>> I am wondering why in the world would our man Salinger hole himself up
>for years writing and then opt to burn all of his work.
>
>Both behaviors strike me as classic manifestations of narcissism. The
>narcissist's world begins and ends with himself, and he does not worry
>himself with the interests or points of view of others. The narcissist is
>extremely sensitive to feedback that does not reinforce his high opinion of
>himself, avoiding situations in which he might be exposed to criticism
>(i.e., publishing).
>
>It might be fun to evaluate whether Salinger (or what we can glean of him)
>actually meets the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality
>Disorder. Anyone have a copy of the DSM-IV handy?
>
>-Sean
>
>"Pass the salt."
>	- Allen J. Bitflucker

"Man the most complex, intricate and delicately constructed 
machine of all creation, is the one with which the osteopath 
must become familiar."  A.T. Still

"Everyone seems to know how useful it is to be useful.
 No one seems to know how useful it is to be useless."
                           Chuang Tzu