The Psychology of Dexter - Bella DePaulo [57]
However, toward the end of their collaboration, the two theorists’ ideas began to diverge. Jung started to reject several basic tenets of Freudian theory, and this created a rift between the two that eventually terminated their collaborative relationship. One area where Jung disagreed with Freud was the emphasis on sexual instincts. Freud believed that repressed sexual impulses serve as the primary motivational force in our lives, whereas Jung felt Freud placed too much emphasis on sexual motives. A second area of disagreement, one more germane to the analysis of Dexter, was in regard to their differing opinions about what the unconscious is and how it should be dealt with. To illustrate their diverging perspectives, imagine that the dark side of your unconscious is like a monster hiding in the shadows underneath your bed. Freud believed that the only way to rid humanity of its dark side was to throw open the curtains and expose the monster to the sunlight of our conscious mind. Only by forcing the dark side to become conscious will we able to banish our evil impulses. For this reason, Freud’s therapy often relied on techniques that were designed to bore into the unconscious and extract repressed information, such as dream analysis or free association. Jung, on the other hand, felt that our dark side was just as much a part of our “authentic self” as the light side. Rather than banishing our inner monster, Jung felt we need to coax it out of its hiding place and invite it to join with the other elements of our psyche.
In sum, Freud perceived the unconscious as a reservoir of evil thoughts and motives. From this perspective, the human struggle is concerned with an attempt to dominate our dark side and eradicate its influence. Conversely, Jung believed the unconscious housed both good and bad aspects of our personality. Even though the unconscious can be a source of evil, Jung also believed it was the source for socially beneficial expression, including art and other creative endeavors. From this perspective, the human struggle is instead concerned with an attempt to coexist with our dark side.
Because Freud and Jung developed some of the most complex ideas regarding humankind’s dark side, their theories provide an excellent basis for the psychological analysis of Dexter’s struggles with his Dark Passenger, beginning with Jung’s theory in regard to archetypes.
Jungian Psychology
According to Jung, a major component of the human psyche belongs to the collective unconscious—a storehouse of primordial knowledge, experiences, and images that are shared by all members of the human race. This volume of knowledge is unconscious, meaning that we do not have direct access to its contents. However, the collective unconscious still manages to find its way into our lives by indirectly guiding our behavior.
Jung believed that this indirect influence of the collective unconscious was most evident in a culture’s art, imagery, myths, and stories. Some of Jung’s ideas originated from his observation that the art and myths of various groups of people share surprising similarities, despite dramatic differences in culture and language. Jung labeled these templates “archetypes” and described them as “a kind of readiness to produce, over and over again, the same or similar mythical ideas.”
When our human ancestors repeatedly endured the same experience,