Summary
The psychodynamic theory forms the subject and focus of this work. The paper highlights troubled childhood experiences and their connection to teenage and adulthood depression. Humanity wills that every community member becomes productive on maturity after healthy growth. Another focus in humanity is the rise of vices and hurting behaviors, such as crimes, their origin, and the possible ways to explain and avert such. Currently, depression and inhumanity are evident daily among society members. All these incidences imply a crumbled society and ruined humanity. Focusing on the psychodynamic theory is superior to using punitive laws that harm the body without repairing the brain. The following discussion utilizes three examples that reveal the centrality of individuals’ hurting past in adults’ engagement in antisocial behaviors.
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The imp of the Perverse”
Creator’s Information
“The imp of the Perverse” is an 1845 literary work by Edgar Allen Poe. The work reveal’s a character’s inducement into antisocial mannerism involving aggression, narcissistic personality, and greed. Understanding this work requires the reader first to acknowledge the creator and his early life. Edgar Allen Poe is a renowned American writer and poet, born in January 1809 to an actor and actress parents (Poe XI). Poe was the second-born in a family of three, with his father neglecting the family soon after Edgar’s birth. His mother also passed away about a year after Edgar’s birth, forcing the young boy to grow in John Allan’s foster family, where he was rudely punished.
Edgar attended several schools but dropped out of the Thomas Jefferson-founded University of Virginia in 1826. The college exhibited strict rules banning gambling, guns, alcohol, and tobacco use, among other illicit behaviors. Nonetheless, Jefferson’s principle required that students learn under a self-government model, granting the learners the freedom to choose good from ill. Here, Edgar involved himself in gambling and drug abuse, using school money sent by Allen for fees on the illicit behaviors. The behavior made Poe an estranged boy pushing him out of school and the foster family. Edgar then strived through life to become a writer and poet until his death in 1847 through suspected suicide.
Historical and Cultural Context and Style
“The imp of the Perverse” holds much significance to the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries’ societies. The narrative talks about an imp or a demon that leads humans astray by encouraging them to commit non-compliant deeds against the directives of social laws. Contextually, the literary work shows the plights of young people in the economicism world, especially the orphaned or children growing in abject poverty. According to DeLuca and Christine (463), poverty and lack of adequate parental care during childhood push many people to make unsound decisions in life. Since the nineteenth century to date, the world values money, which, in turn, determines success or failure in life.
Children born to impoverished families and those without parents often lack access to many essential needs, making them depressed from a young age. The matter affects their lives even in adulthood, as shown by the “Imp of the Perverse”, available through. As such, Edger uses literary terms, especially metaphor to communicate his message. The story’s main character murders using a poisonous candle to get wealthy before confessing the offense. That happens due to the character’s psycho personality, metaphorically referred to (by Poe) as the “imp of the perverse”, developed through childhood experiences.
Joe Budden & Emanny “Only Human”
Creator’s Information
“Only Human” is a song by the American ex-rapper Joe Budden, featuring Emanny. The piece portrays a depressed tone, with the writer even mentioning an attempt to write a suicide note before a pastor calls and gives him new hope. Budden is an African American media personality in the U.S. The fellow’s history depicts the puzzling life that many children of color face in the U.S. Born in 1980, Budden grew under a single mother’s care after the father left, leaving the boy very young. Budden’s mother struggled to sustain him and his brother, making her exhibit higher expectations, especially from Budden.
The father’s absence, coupled with the mother’s pressure, made the young rapper develop a troubled personality as a youth. The matter made the mother send Budden to Laurinburg Institute, a boarding school where he could study without directly experiencing the hurting situation at home. Here, Budden learned and developed his rapping skills, only to experience unending problems in his career. For example, Budden sired a son at twenty with an older woman, leading to a confrontation with his mother, sending him to rehab (Iman n.d). Other significant incidences in Budden’s rapping life include his frequent arrests, sentencing, and later acquittals, label issues, and conviction for dodging his first son’s upkeep responsibilities.
Historical and Cultural Context and Style
“Only Human”, available throughtalks about a determined folk’s struggles with life’s unending woes. Budden is an established adult in the U.S., and everybody expects him to enjoy an elite life. His success story encourages many young people, especially those aspiring to join the entertainment sector. However, Budden’s song “Only Human” reiterates the difficulty of enjoying life as an adult from a challenged background. The rapper’s account is quite essential in present-day’s living. Suicide is a leading cause of death in the U.S., mainly due to depression, according to Hirsch et al. (98). The lack of understanding leads many policymakers to pass and enact irrelevant policies with insignificant impact on Americans’ lives. The struggles faced by most African American children during early life explain the rampant suicide cases in developing and developed societies, based on Budden’s account. The rapper uses literary genre choice to make his work more impactful. Putting the heavy words in a song allows Budden to carry his audience away from their everyday life into his mystical world to feel the pain in the song.
“The Enigma of Kaspe Hauser”
Creator’s Information
Lastly, the “Enigma of Kaspe Hauser” is a film by Werner Herzog Stipetić. The flick describes the life of a young talented, but isolated child whose later trials to get into society leads to his death. Herzog writes the film based on the real story of Kasper Hauser, a neglected German child with a hurting life. Nonetheless, the storyline rhymes significantly with Herzog’s personal experience. Born in 1942, Herzog never experienced a fatherly love after being abducted to participate in WWII. Therefore, Herzog grew under the care of his mother in a disconnected suburb with a severe scarcity of water and other necessary materials. Consequently, the social disconnection, lack of father’s care, and eventual ignorance by film firms make Herzog’s life similar to that of Hauser, thus the producer’s choice to for the subject.
Historical and Cultural Context and Style
Herzog’s film is highly relevant to the past and today’s world and culture. The work shows how people and social dynamics kill the young generation by exposing it to torture at a young age and never give them room to enjoy their success despite the immeasurable struggles. The movie further shows how stress experienced during childhood affects individuals’ personalities and deeds during adulthood. Subsequently, Herzog’s utilization of literary languages, such as perish, instead of die, gives the work the appropriate tone to cause the intended impact.
Works Cited
“The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser”. Internet Movie Database. November 1974, Web.
DeLuca, Stefanie, and Christine Jang–Trettien. ““Not just a lateral move”: Residential decisions and the reproduction of urban inequality.” City & Community, vol. 19, no. 3, 2020, pp. 451-488, Web.
Hirsch, Jameson K., et al. “Perceived stress and suicidal behaviors in college students: Conditional indirect effects of depressive symptoms and mental health stigma.” Stigma and Health, vol. 4, no. 1, 2019, p. 98, Web.
Iman, Stevenson. “How Joe Budden Became the Howard Stern of Hip-Hop”. The New York Times, Web.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The complete tales & poems of Edgar Allan Poe, Web.