Page 28 - The Irony Board
P. 28
Into the Mind
Too much rain
Rusts open
Umbrellas
Into locked
Unwanted
Parasols.
In the case of protecting oneself by erecting a barrier against
distressing elements in the environment, it may not be possible to
remove the shield once the danger is past. Then the inflexible
instrument of salvation turns dysfunctional, preventing the proper
flow of neutral or even desired input. Gluckman presents this irony
in terms of an umbrella: it has been kept open for so long that the
rain has locked it; now that the sky has cleared, it cannot be folded
up to let the sunshine in. Neurotic behavior appears irrational in its
present rigidity, but logic must have been a factor in its genesis.
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