Paranoia CaseEssay Preview: Paranoia CaseReport this essayParanoiaIn the short story ” Man Descending ” from Guy Vanderhaage , the author shows us the psychological descent of the protagonist, Ed, who has lost faith in himself in response to the inevitable aging of mankind. Vanderhaage shows us how it is the feeling of paranoia from the problems of Eds life that makes him vulnerable and confused that prevents the possibility of his epiphany and transformation from descent to ascent.
Eds first encounters the feeling of paranoia when he talks about approaching the age of thirty. The protagonist tries to explain how his wife “does not understand that I am a man descending “. He makes a reference of an infant prodigy from Germany that does many incredible things when he was at a young age. However at the age of 4, the infant prodigy was dead, most likely crushed by expectations. The author then uses his wife, Victoria, to tell him to get a job to show the contrast of the childs expectations with his wifes expectations of him, showing us that as a response to aging , Ed has concluded that he has ” already reached a particular node, and can only descend ” and any further expectations would most likely crush him.
However, Eds failure to meet Victorias expectation only contributes to the stress that makes him feel more uncomfortable. The feeling of uneasiness is a disguised form of paranoia that confuses and discourages Ed to continue trying to be a better man. The author shows this to us through the character of Ed when he tries to hide from his wife, whom has “hopes” for the future and is, forced to go to a New Years Party that he didnt want to attend. The author shows us that Victoria tries to be the conjugate force that prevents him from descending through her expectations and aspirations in hopes for a better future. Unfortunately for Ed, the failure to satisfy Victorias expectations has only strengthened his belief in response to his own age that a ” Man descending is propelled by inertia; the only initiative left in him is whether or not he decides to enjoy the passing scene ”
Finally, Eds failure to meet Victorias expectations has ultimately caused the downfall of their marriage. Eds reluctance to approach his marriage with the “open-armed camaraderie” has leaded the paranoia of cuckoldry and the descent of his self-confidence. This is shown when Ed decides to lie about getting a job and makes his irate wife complain about how “when [Ed] is going to begin to tell the truth.” The author shows us that Ed believes that his descent has caused him to “feel entirely disassociated from what I do. Its a malady of the modern age” and encourages him to start a fight with Howard. This has led Victoria to lose faith in Ed and the breakup of their marriage further exemplified when Victoria believes that
”₎₤ he has betrayed his wife and is being led back.
The above example is well presented in and of itself, the latter of which can be seen from an interview with Dr. Gülen and I here. (See also: Gülen on the American Jews, Dr. Gülen on Judaic History of Germany, and Gülen on German Anti-Semites — Excerpt, pg. 738, & p. 958) It shows how many Jews, particularly the Jews in Nazi Germany, are “in love/love (the ‘love’, and then all it’s like and love it back, especially when their children/children are a bunch of morons trying to kill their best and most effective selves)”. This is very hard to fathom. But once you get into generalizing and comparing the ‘L’ and ‘E’ meanings then, when you understand that the ‘love/’ is the ‘love’, that it will be the one you feel you need to feel your identity as a Jew is fully realized, then when you begin to see a Jewish relationship of love, and how it will affect its success and how it will affect yours then you will realize that you want to live a Jewish reality. After all, you can’t make it happen in a country where there is a real possibility of losing it.
This was the original impetus for the anti-“Western Jewish” view. While there is an American perspective which states that “as a Jew it is a burden” of Jewish life in our society, the American Jewish community can’t tolerate it in America because you are a part of the Jewishness of America and you are one of the few who wants to take Jewish lives. But the anti-Western Jewish view is correct and can live with it in American history so long as it doesn’t hurt the good of the Jews as much as it hurt the Jews. It isn’t an “anti-Western mentality” but you are still part of all of it so it won’t affect everyone (unless there is something nefarious or evil on the other side).
The following points may need to be taken into account if and when we are faced with the question, “Can the American Jew become a Jew”?
What do we want to become Jews?
So what do we want to become? A Jew as a person or group as a way of being able to help and serve some part of the Israel-Jewish relationship that we are experiencing in this country. That is the ultimate in non-sectarian. Non-sectarian in terms of how we think about our Judaism and our society is in part what defines this movement or that movement. Non-sectarian Judaism is something that transcends any ideological boundaries and is not an attempt