Review
So far we've looked at "A Misfortune" to see self-delusion and orchestrating self-demise (unconsciously or not) as part of The Irrational Mind.
In "Enemies" we see how ego-driven anger or self-righteous certitude results in the death of empathy and a form of insanity, perhaps the form of insanity: solipsism.
Today we examine a cipher or nobody who tries to fill the void with celebrity and image, but the more she tries to fill the void with these foolish errands the more empty she becomes. We call this part of The Irrational Mind something called impoverishment through subsitution.
Introduction
Olga is an archetype, a type of person who has existed since the beginning of time and will always exist. There are many words to describe her particular archetype. Here are some, but not all:
cipher
zero
nonentity
leech
parasiste
Energy Vampire (or simply Vampire)
sycophant (also known as a "butt kisser")
belch
wannabe
ne'er-do-well
narcissist
fraud
charlatan
downer
nincompoop
BSer
BS artist
- Why does Olga seem to be selling her husband to her celebrity friends? What is the irony of her marrying what she detests, a non-celebrity? What is her motivation in marrying such a “nonentity”? Control, not being threatened, manipulation. She feels powerless around the people she worships so she needs to reverse the role.
- “Let me shake your honest hand.” What does this mean? Olga is refreshed by her husband’s honesty and simplicity, an antidote to the BS that is her life? And yet her attitude toward her husband seems condescending and contemptuous.
- How does Olga treat her husband like a dog or a pet? See 86. She mocks her husband to his face while in the presence of her lover and she does not see the moral bankruptcy of her actions.
- How has Olga sacrificed her life for the Chanel No. Five Moment? Why are such moments addictive? See 87. "But her talents showed themselves in nothing so clearly as in her faculty for quickly becoming acquainted and on intimate terms with celebrated people. . . . She adored celebrated people, was proud of them, dreamed of them every night. She craved for them, and never could satisfy her craving."
- Olga’s most salient talent is that of being a sycophant. Explain. See 87. She’s also a parasite and a vampire. See 88.
- What evidence is there that not only is Olga a BSer, her whole life is BS? See for example page 90 in which we read “And the more incomprehensible he [Ryabovsky] talked, the more readily Olga understood him.” Also see page 92, the opening lines of Part IV. Also see the dialogue between Olga and her lover on page 95. They sound like teenagers engaging in pseudo-romantic drivel. “I will die if you don’t love me. I will jump off a bridge and plunge to my death!” It’s all BS.
- By Part III it becomes clear that the husband Dymov is little more than a eunuch and a servant. Explain. See page 94 in which we see that Dymov is sending money to his wife so she can go on trips and have affairs and Dymov doesn’t even know it because he is so honest and simple he cannot imagine his wife doing such a thing.
- This flattery society seems like a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals feeding each other’s narcissism.
- To rationalize her adultery, Olga indulges in adolescent, dramatic soliloquies. Explain. See 93. “My husband is nothing but a dream.”
- “The man crushes me with his magnanimity,” Olga complains of her husband. What began as a sincere expression becomes a trophy, for Olga is proud of her syntax and vocabulary, so much that the original emotion is lost. She is too caught up in her vanity and narcissism to experience a real emotion. See 100.
- How can we argue that Olga is partly responsible for her husband's death or not? Did her behavior contribute to his emotional dissolution perhaps?
The Story Shows the Linke Between BS and Narcissism
The story is about the dangers of being a B.S. Artist or a BE-ESSER
- BE-ESSERS are often too intoxicated by their own BS and fail to see that others are not as impressed with it as they are. In other words, they suffer from an inflated self-esteem that has no correspondence to reality, what we call a narcissist.
- BE-ESSERS often feel that they’re “superior BS” ability gives them license to do anything so that they have no boundaries.
- BE-ESSERS can’t stop BSing even when the situation demands it.
- BE-ESSERS tend to dig themselves into a deeper and deeper hole as they continue BSing.
- BE-ESSERS are more concerned with image than substance. They cannot tolerate people having the “wrong impression” of them.
- BE-ESSERS create a fictional persona that is so addicting they don’t know how to be real anymore and live the rest of their lives as compulsive liars.
- BE-ESSERS can’t achieve intimacy because their whole life is a performance act.
- BE-ESSERS are good at drumming up feelings of self-righteousness even when they are grossly wrong. In other words, they end up believing their own BS.
- BE-ESSERS spend so much time puffing themselves up that they have too much pride to admit when they’re wrong.
- BE-ESSERS rationalize their lies by justifying the means with the end.
See the book On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt in which he says that bullshit is worse than lying, that bullshit is defined by pretentiousness, misrepresentation and all the insidious things we use to puff ourselves up such as false modesty, sycophantism, omission of certain facts, slight exaggeration, etc. Write these characteristics on the board.
Sample A Introduction, Transition, and Thesis
Show how a narcissist must be punished to be awakened from his narcissistic ways. Then transition to your thesis.
Recently, my gardner Francisco told me that one of his customers, John, espied his neighbor walking his dog to dump crap on his lawn. For six months this victim of having his front lawn being used as a dog dumping ground saved the dog crap in a huge plastic garden bag. When the bag was stuffed, John walked to the culprit's front lawn and dumped 3 months' of accrued crap on the lawn.
Since then, the guilty party does not even walk his dog in front of his neighbor's house. Not only does he live in fear of his neighbor, he suffers the ignominy of knowing his disgusting, insidious violation of neighborly etiquette has been exposed.
After Francisco shared this story with me, I felt bathed in warmth. My wife noticed a glow in my demeanor and said I looked "different," before asking me why I was so happy.
"Because," I answered, "a filthy narcissist has been put in his place and perhaps now he'll think again before leaving dog crap on someone's lawn."
Another person who leaves her crap everywhere she goes is that pathetic narcissist Olga and other characters from Chekhov's collection who are quintessential embodiments of the Irrational Mind, evidenced by narcissism, self-delusion, ego-driven anger, and solipsism.
Class Activity
Write about a narcisssit who "spreads his crap" around, metaphorically speaking, and transition this example to Olga.
Who said revenge--even the mere story of revenge and its vicarious effects--is not a holy gift from the gods? Francisco's story is indeed delicious, a morsel sweeter than any pumpkin pie I will eat tomorrow.
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