The Role of Religion in Social Conflicts in Devil on the Cross and The Name of the Rose
The Role of Religion in Social Conflicts in Devil on the Cross and The Name of the Rose
“Devout believers are safeguarded in a high degree Against the risk of certain neurotic illnesses; Their acceptance of the universal neurosis Spares them the task of constructing a personal one.”
Sigmund Freud Civilization and Its Discontents Chapter II
No discussion of postmodernism in literature can avoid beginning and ending without examining the truth and understanding of the role of God. In the philosophical and psychological contributions of Sigmund Freud, his views on social conflict, and individual suffering resulted in his theories on the state of mental health and its effect on individuals in the face of culture and religion. Through practicing such theories of psychoanalysis and the unconscious, he pursued and cured fears in many of his patients. Yet, ironically in his statement above, it became evident from his philosophical work, Civilization and its Discontents, that he concluded many social sanctions around devotion to religion as well as the social rules and social structures were somewhat protective against changing away from suffering and conflict. His observation inferred that faith and devotion were intended to deflect the truth of irrationality and uncertainty in the world, and Christianity provided comfort. It required a leap of faith, as demonstrated by a steady acceptance of pre-arranged patterns in Christian knowledge; eventually it lead people to have an inability to question what they were told from the disseminators of the truth of the words of God. Freud’s writings reflected that no matter how much negative social conditions like war, poverty, and crime became tragic and severe, for 2000 years Christianity readily supplied
“Devout believers are safeguarded in a high degree Against the risk of certain neurotic illnesses; Their acceptance of the universal neurosis Spares them the task of constructing a personal one.”
Sigmund Freud Civilization and Its Discontents Chapter II
No discussion of postmodernism in literature can avoid beginning and ending without examining the truth and understanding of the role of God. In the philosophical and psychological contributions of Sigmund Freud, his views on social conflict, and individual suffering resulted in his theories on the state of mental health and its effect on individuals in the face of culture and religion. Through practicing such theories of psychoanalysis and the unconscious, he pursued and cured fears in many of his patients. Yet, ironically in his statement above, it became evident from his philosophical work, Civilization and its Discontents, that he concluded many social sanctions around devotion to religion as well as the social rules and social structures were somewhat protective against changing away from suffering and conflict. His observation inferred that faith and devotion were intended to deflect the truth of irrationality and uncertainty in the world, and Christianity provided comfort. It required a leap of faith, as demonstrated by a steady acceptance of pre-arranged patterns in Christian knowledge; eventually it lead people to have an inability to question what they were told from the disseminators of the truth of the words of God. Freud’s writings reflected that no matter how much negative social conditions like war, poverty, and crime became tragic and severe, for 2000 years Christianity readily supplied
Cited: Eco, Umberto. The name of the rose. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983. Print. Freud, Sigmund, and Joan Riviere. Civilization and its discontents. New York: Cape & Smith, 1930. Print. Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. On literature and art. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976. Print. Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, and Ellen Meiksins Wood. The Communist manifesto / Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1998. Print. Ngugi, Wa Thiong’O. Devil on the cross. London: Heinemann, 1982. Print. Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. The gay science. Dover ed. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2006. Print.