"Leaking Hearts": A big basis for happiness in life is to have a healthy personality

Edgar Allan Poe, a 19th-century American poet, novelist and literary critic, was an important member of the American Romantic period, whose representative works include "The Black Cat" and "The Collapse of Usher House". "Leaking Hearts" is his terrifying short story, showing the reader the psychological activities of the perpetrator before and after the crime.

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The protagonist of the novel, "I", lives with the old man, who has nothing wrong with "me", and "I" also love the old man, but "I" can't stand the old man's light blue, filmed eagle eyes. As soon as the old man glanced at "me" with eagle eyes, "I" was covered in hair, so I gradually made up my mind to kill the old man so that I would never see that eye again.

In order to kill the old man, "I" often peeked at him in the middle of the night while he was asleep, in order to figure out how to kill him. During the day, however, he was still angry, greeting him and talking intimately with him. When it was time to do it, the real horror came, and here we look at the original description:

I yelled, opened the trapdoor on the light, and stepped into the room with an arrow. He let out a scream—only one scream. Suddenly, I dragged him to the floor, pushed down the bed, and pressed it against him. Seeing that it was all over, I smiled happily. Who knows, the muffled heartbeat has been ringing for half a day. But it didn't make me angry; across the wall, the sound couldn't be heard. Then it finally stopped ringing. The old man is dead. I moved out of bed and looked at the corpse. But no, he gasped, not even. I reached out and pressed my hand to his heart and held it for a long time. Don't jump at all. Not even a breath. That eye will never be torturing again. ”

The depiction of the above murder scene cannot be described as unfinished, uncivilized, and incoherent. From dragging it to the floor and pushing down the big bed, to looking at the corpse and reaching out to touch the heart, this series of actions can reflect the speed, decisiveness and calmness of the killer. And the result of finally killing the old man is also very much in line with the expectations of the murderer. Who knows, the old man is dead, but the pressure and illusion accumulated in the murderer's heart refuse to dissipate, making the murderer's heart jump and fidget.

Because the neighbor heard the old man's screams at night and called the police, the police came to inspect and investigate. At first, the murderer was still calm and self-assured, and his face did not change color, and he talked and laughed with several policemen, but as the conversation progressed, the killer's emotions became more and more excited, his expression and movements became more and more unnatural, and he tried to hide his inner madness and uneasiness by exaggerating dances, moving chairs, and other actions. Finally, the murderer was unable to control the intense hallucinations and auditory sensations that appeared on his part, and then confessed to the crime of killing, as described in the original text:

- "Badass! I lost my voice and screamed, "Stop loading garlic!" I'm recruiting! - Pry open the floor! - Here, here! - His hateful heart is beating! ”

If a person loses his mind, cannot control his own words and behavior, and is no longer bound by law and morality, it is difficult to be regarded as an ordinary healthy person anymore. The perpetrators in "Leaking Hearts" realize that they want to commit crimes, but the consumption of psychological energy cannot be suppressed and restricted by the desires and impulses of the original self, and the original self blindly pursues satisfaction without being constrained by ethics and morality, which leads to irreparable murder. The imperfection of personality has also led to this result to a large extent.

Leaving aside the novel, psychology has an academic definition of the relevant characteristics of sound personality, and believes that it can be defined from five dimensions whether a person's personality is sound and psychologically healthy - sense of responsibility, personality (introverted), personality quality (good and evil), emotional stability, and openness of mind. The standard of sound personality is inseparable from love, patience, tolerance, optimism, peace, moderation, humility, trustworthiness, self-examination and responsibility. The above criteria are only the ideal goal of a perfect personality, and in real life, I am afraid that no one can truly achieve perfection.

Nevertheless, we should also understand and recognize the relevant standards, constantly discover the characteristics in ourselves, and strive to improve ourselves and be a person who is physically and personally healthy.