Freud Assigment

Peter Martin

Frued

6/26/2011

The “Three Case Histories” book by Sigmund Freud points out three cases in which each character has certain issues that cause them to act differently than normal. The first case that is brought up is that of the Rat Man. The Rat Man has obsessions and behaviors that change the way one would normally act out of fear that something bad would happen to his father and fiancée. This is just one example of a problem many people have, that people can become so over obsessed with something that begins to control the way they think, act, and live. In the case of the Rat Man, it is the fear that is based off a story he once heard, about rats burrowing into ones anus. The Rat Man has an irrational fear that this will happen to his fiancée or dead father. I believe that people have fears similar to that of the Rat Man cause them to act differently so that they can protect against these fears so they do not come true.

The second case mentioned is that of Dr. Schreber, a man who suffered from mental illness where he eventually came to think that God was turning him from a man to a woman. These delusions are not uncommon among people, even those that are seemingly sane. People begin to believe that fictional things are the truth and it affects the way they live. For example, there are people who religiously follow a band and their music and it gets to the point where it is a cult following and they let it rule their life. These people will think that the band is telling them to do things, and almost worship them as though they are a God. This is also true with movies, and television shows, among many other things.

The case of the Wolf Man is about a Russian man who had a dream about white wolves with the tails of a fox being outside of his window as a young boy. This dream scared him, he was eventually able to go back to sleep, but the dream affected him for the rest of his life. This fear of wolves is an example of any number of common fears that some people will develop in life that grow and affect their life in a very impactful way. While Sergei Pankejeff feared wolves on the outside, this is traced back to the dream, which is most likely a metaphor for when he saw his parents having sex. Though this is definitely an uncomfortable subject, seeing the act of ones parents having sex can cause very serious mental issues. Although it is not a life or death subject, it can affect how a person develops mentally, and sexually.

These three cases are all related to sex, even though the Rat Man and the Wolf Man have obsessions and fears about their respective animals, they are still related to sexual encounters or experiences. Though all of these stories are related to sex, their “lessons” can be applied almost universally, having an obsession or fear can alter the way one views the world. Many people have similar obsessions and fears, and they let them control their lives. If there is one lesson to be learned from Freud’s book, it is to not let things like this control the way you think act and live.