I continued a fantasy psychoanalysis of the Wolf Man with A.I.
Last time I asked: What is the definition of the word "cathexis" as enunciated by Sigmund Freud?
"In Freudian psychoanalysis, cathexis refers to the investment of psychic energy in a person, object, idea, or mental representation. It’s the process by which libidinal energy—the force derived from the sexual instincts—is attached to something in the psyche."
"Freud introduced the term in his early metapsychological writings, especially in The Interpretation of Dreams and Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. He used it to describe how the mind allocates energy to thoughts, memories, or desires, often unconsciously."
"🔍 Key Aspects of Cathexis:
- Libidinal or instinctual energy is “charged” into a mental representation.
- It can be conscious or unconscious.
- It’s central to processes like attachment, obsession, repression, and symptom formation.
- When energy is withdrawn, Freud called it decathexis—often seen in mourning or detachment."
"🧠 Example:
"If someone is obsessively thinking about a lost love, Freud might say they have a strong cathexis toward that person. If they begin to let go, the energy is decathected and may be reallocated elsewhere."
"Would you like to explore how cathexis operates in The Wolf Man—perhaps in Larry’s attachment to Gwen, or in the symbolic charge of the silver cane?"
Can you provide an example of decathexis?
"Certainly, Gary. Let’s explore decathexis—the withdrawal of psychic or libidinal energy from a person, object, or idea—and how it manifests both clinically and mythically."
"🧠 Clinical Example: Mourning and Loss
"In Freud’s Mourning and Melancholia, decathexis is central to the process of grief:
- When someone loses a loved one, the psyche gradually withdraws cathexis—the emotional investment—from the lost object.
- This withdrawal is painful and slow. The mourner must detach the libidinal energy and reallocate it elsewhere.
- Example: A person grieving a partner may stop visiting places they shared, stop speaking their name, and eventually form new attachments. This is decathexis in action."
"If the process fails or is resisted, it can lead to melancholia—where the ego turns the lost object inward, resulting in self-reproach and depression."
"🐺 Mythic Example: The Wolf Man and the Silver Cane
"In The Wolf Man, we could interpret decathexis in the final scene:
- Sir John Talbot (Larry’s father) kills his son with the silver cane—the same object Larry used to kill the original werewolf.
- This act could be seen as a symbolic decathexis: the father withdraws emotional investment from Larry, now fully identified with the beast.
- The cane, once a token of paternal connection, becomes a weapon of severance."
"🕯️ Ritual Example: Decathexis as Purification
"In ritual terms, decathexis is akin to purging or exorcism:
- A ritual participant may burn a letter, bury an object, or chant to release attachment.
- The act is not just symbolic—it’s energetic. It marks the withdrawal of psychic charge from the object."
Could one view The Wolf Man as a filmic cathexis of Adolf Hitler?
"Yes, Gary—one could compellingly interpret The Wolf Man as a filmic cathexis of Adolf Hitler, especially when viewed through the lens of psychohistory and symbolic displacement. Let’s unpack this carefully."
"🧠 Cathexis and Projection: Hitler as the Beast Within
"In Freudian terms, a cathexis of Hitler means the film invests psychic energy into a symbolic representation of him—not directly, but through metaphor, myth, and archetype. Larry Talbot, the cursed man-beast, becomes a vessel for the collective unconscious to process the trauma, fear, and fascination surrounding Hitler’s rise and the horrors of World War II."
"1. The Werewolf as Archetype of Fascist Possession
- The werewolf is a figure of uncontrolled instinct, charismatic violence, and nighttime terror—qualities often projected onto Hitler in wartime propaganda and psychoanalytic critique.
- Larry’s transformation is involuntary, triggered by fate and prophecy—mirroring the idea that Hitler’s rise was a historical inevitability, a rupture in the symbolic order.
- The beast within Larry enacts violence he cannot remember—echoing the banality of evil, where monstrous acts are committed under ideological possession."
"2. The Village as the Traumatised Collective
- The villagers fear Larry, but also need him as a scapegoat. He embodies the shadow of the collective—the part of society that desires domination, purity, and vengeance.
- Their rituals (silver, pentagram, prophecy) are attempts at containment, but they fail—just as Europe’s pre-war institutions failed to contain fascism."
"3. The Father’s Role: Superego and Sacrifice
- Sir John Talbot kills his son with the silver cane—a symbolic act of superego judgment, purging the beast from the social body.
- This could be read as a fantasy of patriarchal redemption—the old order slaying the new monstrosity it failed to prevent."
"🕯️ Film as Ritualized Dreamwork of Historical Trauma
"If we treat the film as a dream of the collective unconscious, then Hitler is not just a historical figure—he is a mythic eruption, a symptom of deeper psychic currents.
- The film’s release in 1941, the same year the U.S. entered WWII, suggests it functioned as a ritual container for national anxiety.
- Larry’s curse is a metaphor for ideological possession—the way ordinary men become beasts under the influence of mythic narratives (racial purity, destiny, vengeance).
- The werewolf’s nocturnal rampage mirrors the night raids, secret police, and genocidal violence of fascist regimes."
"🧬 Symbolic Mapping: Hitlerian Cathexis in The Wolf Man
| Film Element | Symbolic Function | Hitlerian Parallel |
|---|---|---|
| Larry’s Curse | Unchosen fate, loss of agency | Ideological possession, historical inevitability |
| Beastly Violence | Unconscious aggression, primal drive | Fascist brutality, racial violence |
| Silver Cane | Superego, patriarchal judgment | Allied intervention, moral reckoning |
| Romani Seer | Marginalized wisdom, prophetic warning | Ignored voices, persecuted minorities |
| Village Panic | Collective repression, fear of contagion | Mass hysteria, scapegoating" |
"This reading doesn’t reduce The Wolf Man to a political allegory—it elevates it to a mythic mirror, reflecting the psychic voltage of its time. Would you like to explore how this cathexis compares to Frankenstein or Dracula as symbolic enactments of totalitarian anxiety, or perhaps design a dreamwork protocol for processing historical trauma through horror archetypes?"
There is a lineage to lycanthropy. Could it symbolize the lineage of World War I, the psychohistorical parent of World War II?
"Absolutely. That’s a profound and resonant reading. Lycanthropy in The Wolf Man can be interpreted as a symbolic lineage—a mythic echo of the psychic wound left by World War I, which metastasizes into the monstrous violence of World War II. Let’s trace this psychohistorical arc:
"🧬 Lycanthropy as Inherited Trauma: WWI → WWII
'1. The Curse as Transgenerational Transmission
- Larry Talbot doesn’t choose the curse—it’s inflicted, like the inherited trauma of WWI.
- The bite is a symbolic wound, passed from one beast to another—just as the unresolved grief, humiliation, and rage of WWI passed into the psyche of Europe.
- Lycanthropy becomes a mythic metaphor for historical repetition: the beast returns, not because it wants to, but because it must."
"2. The Father-Son Dynamic: Superego and Failed Containment
- Sir John Talbot represents the WWI generation—stoic, rational, bound by duty.
- Larry, the son, is the WWII generation—haunted, impulsive, possessed by forces he cannot control.
- The father’s inability to recognize the beast within his son mirrors the failure of post-WWI institutions to contain the psychic fallout of the Great War."
"3. The Beast as the Return of the Repressed
- WWI introduced mechanized slaughter, trench trauma, and mass disillusionment. These horrors were repressed, not metabolized.
- In The Wolf Man, the beast erupts from the unconscious—just as fascism, genocide, and total war erupted from the unprocessed grief of WWI.
- Lycanthropy is the symptom of a society that refused to mourn, refused to integrate its Shadow."
"🕯️ Mythic Mapping: Lycanthropy as Historical Possession
| Symbolic Element | WWI Parallel | WWII Manifestation |
|---|---|---|
| The Bite | Trauma of trench warfare | Ideological possession, fascist contagion |
| The Curse | Treaty of Versailles, unresolved grief | Rise of Nazism, mythic vengeance |
| The Transformation | Shell shock, psychic rupture | Totalitarian violence, genocide |
| The Father’s Cane | Patriarchal authority, failed containment | Allied intervention, moral reckoning |
| The Village Panic | Post-war fear, scapegoating | Mass hysteria, persecution" |
"🧠 Lycanthropy as Dream Symbol of Historical Repetition
"From a Freudian dreamwork perspective:
- WWI is the latent content—the buried trauma.
- WWII is the manifest dream—the eruption of that trauma in monstrous form.
- The Wolf Man becomes a ritualized dream, allowing the collective unconscious to process the horror of historical recurrence."
"From a Jungian lens:
- Lycanthropy is the archetype of possession—the Shadow unintegrated, the beast uncontained.
- The film enacts a failed individuation of the West—unable to reconcile instinct and order, it descends into mythic violence."
"Would you like to explore how this lineage plays out in other horror archetypes—like the mummy (colonial trauma), the vampire (aristocratic decay), or Frankenstein (technological hubris)? Or perhaps we could design a psychohistorical ritual map tracing the beast’s journey from trench to genocide to cinematic containment."
In this version of the werewolf, the afflicted blacks out when he becomes the wolf. In Van Helsing, the Werewolf is sentient. Does this indicate the difference between an unacknowledged shadow and an integrated shadow?
To be continued.
