Delphi
It is said that in the temple of Apollo in Delphi it is written that the sentence reads: Man, know yourself.
The harder thing in this world is to know yourself, but the harder thing to do than to know yourself is to be yourself.
Genius Ripley
American writer Patricia Highsmith's black crime novel "Genius Ripley" proves how hard it is to be yourself.
The protagonist of the book, Ripley, is a piano tuner who lives a life of poverty and unnoticed. But he, like most people, aspires to live the life of a rich man. He had also dreamed many times of getting rid of his identity.
The opportunity finally came, and a wealthy man took notice of him, though the reason was only to look at him more honestly and as a Princeton alumnus. Maybe this rich man will never know that this identity is fake.
The rich man sent him to Italy to find his son, who had been doing nothing all day, and asked to bring him back.
dick
If you just look at the temptations from a distance, you may just be secretly envious, but one day you walk into it, it is right in front of your eyes, beside you: drinking the best wine, looking at the most beautiful scenery, listening to your favorite music...
The self that tried to be locked in the basement by Ripley, hidden from people who did not want to be seen, was gradually awakened. The concept proposed by Freud in 1923's Self and Self refers to the idea that it is composed of all innate instinctive impulses, one of the most inaccessible and extremely primitive parts of personality. It includes the intrinsic drive of human instinct and the tendency to be repressed. Among them, all kinds of instinctive impulses do not understand any logic and morality, and are only governed by the "happiness principle" and blindly pursue satisfaction.
Ripley carefully suppressed his self-esteem being humiliated again and again by Dick. Eventually, a conflict breaks out on the yacht, in which Ripley kills Dick. Whether it was love or hate, or replacing it, Ripley's original self finally gained the upper hand and was satisfied.
Holding the dead Dick, he seems to be holding his imaginary self, a person he is looking forward to becoming, a projection of his ideal self.
The ego is the self in reality, the part that can be conscious. The function of the ego is to seek the satisfaction of the "original self" impulse, while at the same time being limited by the "superego" to protect the entire organism from harm. The ego follows the principles of reality. It's particularly busy and sometimes particularly tiring.
Everything in daily life is done by the "self", and if the completion is not done well, that is to say, there is no contradiction between the impulse of the "original self" and the limitation of the "superego", people will have symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
Ripley kills Dick after trying to please Dick and then pretends to be him and cheats on his legacy. In role-playing games, he contradicts and hesitates. He also wanted to find his beloved, give him the key, and open the heart lock. But Ripley couldn't do it, he loved himself too much, he wanted to be the ideal self too much. He was tired of Tom Ripley's identity.
He lied to everyone, but not Dick's friend Freddie. Freddie didn't look at Ripley at first, and every look of contempt, the contemptuous smile, stimulated Ripley's sensitive nerves. Later, Freddie discovers ripley's impersonation of Dick and is killed by Ripley.
Ripley disguises the whole incident as the story of Dick killing his friend Freddie, then being overwhelmed and eventually committing suicide. He once again deceived Dick's father and private investigator.
The two killings became proof of Ripley's complete victory. Unable to bear the condemnation of morality, he wanted to seal this dark self in his heart, but fate still made a joke with him: at the wrong time, he met the right person - the gentle Peter.
However, Ripley can't turn back, he can't be at ease with Tom Ripley, because people think he's Dick. He also can't live comfortably as Dick because he's Tom Ripley.
He said: I can't give my heart to others because my mind is dark, I have hidden demons, and I don't want people to see its ugliness. In the end, Ripley hesitated in order to protect himself, and in Peter's gentle whispers, little by little he lost his breath. Since then, it has also ruined the possibility of Ripley's happiness.
The author portrays this extremely inferior and sensitive Ripley, tormented by desire, fighting against demons, and finally being swallowed up by darkness.
He didn't really love anyone, including himself, he just loved an illusion he wanted to be.
How can a person who doesn't even love himself love others?
How can a person who doesn't even know who he is do?