A Horneyan Interpretation Of Yakov's Anxiety In The Fixer

As one of the most famous Jewish writers in the history of American literature,Bernard Malamud has been praised by literary critics as “the most Jewish” writer,because he endowed his works with unique Jewishness in the process of literary creation.He has always been very concerned about the fate of the entire Jewish nation.In his view,writing the Jewishness of the nation into his own work not only allows more readers to understand this particular nation,but also a heritage of his own national spirit and culture.The Fixer(1966)won him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Awards shortly after its publication.This novel tells the story of an ordinary Russian Jew,Yakov Bok,who was brutally tortured by the Russian anti-Semitic government.Since the publication of the novel,critics and readers in the literary world have carried out research on the novel at different levels,mainly including the theme of suffering,the mythical prototype and the historical significance.Slightly different from the above research direction,this article is based on Horney's anxiety theory under neurosis.By analyzing the series of processes such as the generation,development and resolution of Yakov's anxiety,it is expected to provide a new perspective for the study and interpretation of this novel.The paper mainly consists of three parts: the introduction,the body and the conclusion part.The first part makes a brief introduction of Malamud,the main plot of The Fixer,Horney and her anxiety theory.The main body of this article consists of three chapters.The first chapter discusses the causes of the protagonist's anxiety.According to Horney,individual's anxiety is the result of the interaction between his individual environment and social and cultural environment.The individual's anxiety originates from the unmet basic needs of love and security in his childhood.As the individual's growth stage changes,the social and cultural environment he is in will also affect his anxiety.In The Fixer,As far as the individual environment is concerned,due to the early death of his parents,Yakov's basic need for love in his childhood is not met.Theunfortunate marriage life frustrated him and deepened his anxiety.From the perspective of social and cultural environment,the strict apartheid system made Yakov very difficult.The anti-Semitism of the Russian people and government has exacerbated Yakov's inner tension and anxiety.The second chapter analyzes the various inappropriate defense strategies adopted by Yakov in dealing with his anxiety.There are mainly three kinds of interpersonal strategies for individuals in normal communication: the strategy of compliance,the strategy of aggression and the strategy of withdrawal.The three kinds of strategies can complement each other and make for a harmonious whole.When dealing with interpersonal relationships,Yakov cuts off these three interpersonal relationship strategies and rigidly chooses one of them as the dominant strategy.He only moves toward people,moves against people or moves away from people,and represses the other kinds of strategies in interpersonal communication.This leads to a conflict between the dominant interpersonal relationship strategy and the suppressed non-dominant interpersonal relationship strategy.Under such circumstances,not only the individual's original anxiety cannot be resolved,but even new anxiety may arise.Horney believes that when a person with anxiety enters a certain period of time.The changes in his environment will often cause him to change his previous interpersonal communication strategy.For Yakov,after a failed marriage,he attributes the misfortunes that happened to him to his national identity.So he chooses to solve his anxiety by leaving his hometown and hiding his Jewish identity to.In this process,his interpersonal communication strategy is also constantly changing.He changes his predominant attitude of compliance to withdrawal and then aggression.However,due to the lack of a comprehensive understanding of his own anxiety problems and the misuse of interpersonal relationship strategies,Yakov's anxiety was not resolved.The third chapter analyzes the results of Yakov's anxiety.According to Horney's theory,for patient with anxiety disorders,self-analysis is an effective way to alleviate or even solve his own anxiety.That is,facing your true heart is an important way to solve anxiety.Yakov's hope to prove his innocence is shattered due to strong external factors.In the face of cruel reality,he had to change his cognition and began toanalyze his inner world.After analyzing himself,Yakov found peace in his heart.He forgave his wife's betrayal and felt the support of countless people,the Father-in-law's sacrifice for himself made his heart re-recognize the cohesion of Jewish spirit.Under such circumstances,his heart re-accepted his own Jewish identity,no longer evading his own Jewishness.He automatically assumes his national responsibility,and he firmly strengthens his national beliefs.In the process of self-analysis,he reshaped his Jewish identity,successfully reduced or even resolved his anxiety.The third part is a conclusion of the paper.Through the exploration of Yakov's anxiety in The Fixer,readers can gain a better understanding of the plight of the Jewish people that Malamud depicts.Moreover,this study enlightens people in modern society to confront their own emotional disturbances.In an era when“anxiety” prevails among more and more individuals,it's important that people understand their own mental state.