On reading Du Bois and Freud, I realized
that there were certain correlations in their writings – very interesting
ones at that. Freud, in trying to understand society, uses a developmental
theory of the individual to explain the action of people in society. He classifies
the stages of this theory into three entities - the id, the ego and the super-ego.
This classification lends a hand in the understanding of the veil, which Du
Bois constantly refers to in his book (Souls of black folk). It has come to
my attention that one can indeed classify the society that reigned in Du Bois’
day with Freud’s theory – to some extent. But what exactly are the id, ego
and super-ego? We must go to Freud to find out.
Freud states that in the developmental
process, one must undergo three stages. The Id is the stage in a child where
s/he lives instinctually without any aid of reason. At this stage, the child
is forced to react on impulses. For example, if the child is hungry, s/he
would cry. If the child were tired, yet again s/he would cry. As the child
grows out of this stage, s/he begins to gain reason and intellect, and learns
how to make judgments for her/himself. At this stage, instead of crying for
want of food, the child learns to manipulate its environment, as it realizes
that there is a separation between itself and the world of its wants - accomplishing
this by learning other acts that exclude crying, to achieve its desires. The
last stage, and the one most intriguing to me, is the super-ego. Here the
child learns morals, and is taught right from wrong from his parents. In later
years, Freud added that the feeling of guilt is actually a product of this
stage. For here one’s guilt is brought to life by the suppression of the death
instinct (the aggression, which Freud claims is part of every individual)
into the internal of the individual. Freud says ‘his aggressiveness…is
directed towards his own ego’ (p84). The suppression of this instinct
further interjects a feeling of discontent in the individual and breeds consciousness,
which ultimately acts as his/her superego – guilt. This guilt imposed on man
by society, restricts his/her ego from obeying his/her natural instincts,
which are received from the id, thus causing unhappiness in the individual.
It is almost as if at this stage of development, society has put a watchdog
in the innards of man to keep him in check in its (society’s) absence. So
whether in contact with people or not, one is always under the chains of society
for one always succumbs to its ideals of right and wrong. Freud puts it this
way
Civilization…obtains mastery over the individual’s dangerous
desire for aggression by weakening and disarming it and by setting up an agency
within him to watch over it, like a garrison in a conquered city (p84).
How does all this explain Du Bois’
veil and the relations between black and white? Let me first bring to light
the issue of double consciousness. Du Bois says of it
It is a peculiar sensation, this double
consciousness, the sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes
of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in
amused contempt and pity (p5).
I would like
to ask you the reader to forsake your previous forethoughts on this issue
and join me to look at this differently. First of all let us look at the black
man as being the Id in Du Bois’ society.
‘The white folk of Altamaha voted
John a good boy’(p187). It is noticeable
in Du Bois’ book, and it is also common knowledge that the whites of that
day addressed the black male as ‘boy’. He was never a man responsible for
his own actions, for he knew nothing. He was as good as a five-year-old needing
guidance. He was a lesser man, no not even that, he was just a boy. A boy
who, due to his lack of knowledge of right and wrong, lived instinctually
– very much like the child in the stage of the id. This was the white man’s
perception of the Negro in society, and it had grave effects on the black
male.
Following my previous postulation that
the black man is the Id, I propose that the white man is in essence the superego
of the black man, or should I say, as Freud explains, the part of the ego,
which is superior to the rest of the ego in man. He suggests that in a child
the parental authority instills the superego. Viewing the black male as a
child, the white man takes his position as the parent and begins to instill
his ideals as superego over the black man. He ‘bends’ the death instinct in
the black man towards his own ego, making him question his actions, and thus
gains power, psychologically, over him.
As
I said above, the view of the black man as the id, in society, is the white
man’s. In reality, the black man, is himself a man. A man who, through the
chains of slavery, has been emasculated and forced to see himself the lesser
man, but who still knows within himself that he is a man. This ‘knowing’ that
he is a man and the fact that he is subjugated in the white man’s world causes
this double consciousness that Du Bois talks about. For the black man in his
own right knows that he is not being treated right, and he instinctively directs
his aggression towards the white man. But what does the white man do? He uses
this as an opportunity to teach the black man about the rules of society.
He tells him that he is still a child living by instincts, and, that in order
to be treated with any respect, he must not exhibit that facet of his character
for it is unacceptable in society; thus forcing him into silent complacency.
But this is in effect hypocrisy and I will get to that in a moment.:
Why
does the black man even consider the white man’s perception of the situation
to be remotely accurate? Think about this question if you will, what is the
end of the black man if not to survive in the white man’s world? What is his
destiny if not to be accepted as a man in the society that he is in? He is in fact forced to obey the white man’s rule of his world and
to become infected with this superego. This superego begins the reign of the
double consciousness. The black man is torn between obeying his instincts
and obeying the rule of the world around him. He is torn between trying to
be himself and trying to be someone else he hopes to become. He strives to
be first
an American (then), a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two
unreconciled
strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body…(pg 5).
Due to the chasm between the superego and the id, he always finds a veil in his path whenever he tries to venture further. But I did talk about hypocrisy before so let me elaborate.
We have considered what happened to the aggressive instinct of the black man, what about that of the white man? It is interesting to note that most of his aggressive instinct is not turned into his innards. It is in fact turned towards the black man. I shall introduce the concept of the artificial Negro. Someone has commented that the white man requires a black man to dispense his aggression unto. If he does not have the actual thing (the Negro), it is said that he will create it for want of something to pour his anger upon, hence the term artificial Negro. What does the black man do for the white man? He is in fact the recipient of the death instinct of the white man. And the white man sadly does to him what would be considered as ‘savage’ if done by a black man. It can be seen all to clearly in the story ‘Going to Meet The Man’. The excitement of the whites at the lynching and castration of the black man was horrific to digest and almost inhuman – but they did not see it that way; in their own eyes, they were justified. One has only to reverse the colors in the story to see the spurious nature of that deliberation. If the whites had been the blacks and vice versa…need I say more?
Let us now examine this veil – the problem of the black man and for a time the assurance of superiority for the white man, the invisible wall that has claws so deep and so entrenched in society, that many generations have passed and could not escape its presence; but from whence did it come? The cause of the veil is this: the vast chasm that lies between the superego and the id. The feeling that a child is always lesser than the parent translates to this situation. The Negro is always lesser than the white, and, therefore, he cannot be given the same privileges. On the contrary, the latter must determine what the former is entitled to in society, and the latter not feeling emotionally inclined towards the former as a parent is to a child, leaves the former in an ugly situation. The veil that breaches this gulf is in fact a creation of that determination. This veil encases the Negro and makes life miserable, for due to the existence of the veil, he can never become more than what he is. The educated black man, tired of accepting this drivel, tried to lift this veil and felt strong opposition, for the veil having many years of construction, proved a tough adversary – and thus, was very hard to expel. In ‘The Coming of John’, for John Jones this spelt misery and confusion.
‘John…does it make everyone unhappy when they study and learn lots of things?’ said he smiling ‘I am afraid it does’, ‘and John are you glad you studied?’ ‘Yes’ came the answer slowly but positively (p197).
One can see the many defects with this society and the resultant suffering of not just one race, but of the two races. For if the black race advanced it would indeed be for the benefit of the two races as a people and as individuals. As the years have gone by, that statement has been proven true. Has the problem of the veil truthfully been solved, has its efforts been brought to naught? Has the ideal of the Negro been met? –
The
ideal of brotherhood, gained through the unifying ideal of race; the ideal
of fostering and developing the traits and talents of the Negro, not in opposition
to or contempt for the other races, but rather in large conformity to the
greater ideals of the American republic, in order that some day on American
soil two world races may give each to each those characteristics both so sadly
lack (p 11).
That thought douses a fresh wave of water over our thoughts; I believe we shall have to save it for another discussion though, for our objective has been completed at present.
Bibliography
1) Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk
2) Freud Sigmund, Civilization and its Discontents