Horney’s

Psychoanalytic Social
Theory of (Neurotic
Needs) on SILAS in
DVC.
Tamsa Pandya
Department of English
MKBU, Sem-4
  The psychoanalytic social theory of Karen Horney (pronounced Horn-eye)
was built on the assumption that social and cultural conditions, especially
childhood experiences, are largely responsible for shaping personality. People
who do not have their needs for love and affection satisfied during childhood
develop basic hostility toward their parents and, as a consequence, suffer from
basic anxiety.
 Horney theorized that people combat basic anxiety by adopting one
of three fundamental styles of relating to others:
 (1) Moving toward people,
(2) Moving against people, or
See, Anxiety and (3) Moving away from people.
Conflict that may
take the form of
either an idealized
self-image or self-
hatred. The idealized
(1) Neurotic search for glory,
self-image is (2) Neurotic claims, or
expressed as…….. (3) Neurotic pride.
Neurotic Trends
 Attempts to combat basic anxiety,
Neurotic Needs And a Defensive strategies.

 The neurotic need for affection and approval.

 The neurotic need to restrict one’s life within narrow borders
 The neurotic need for power.
  The neurotic need to exploit others.
  The neurotic need for social recognition or prestige
 The neurotic need for personal admiration.
 The neurotic need for ambition and personal achievement
Neurotic Needs which Indicate Silas’ Anxie
ty
 The attitude depending
on others, want to be lo
ved and accepted, being
punitive (like punishing/
 Psychological disorder t
blame himself) as well a
hat makes a person is l
s sacrificing their selves
ocked in the circle whic
and not individualistic.
h makes the behavior s
tressed and unproducti
 Failure to Fulfil the Neurotic Need for a Powerful Partner

“Silas had been tricked. The Silas feels anxiety becaus

brothers had lied, choosing e his partners have gone l
death instead of revealing th eaving Silas forever.
eir true secret. Silas did not
have the strength to call the
Teacher” (The Da Vinci
Code, 2003: 180)
Failure to Fulfil the Neurotic Need for Social Recognition or P
restige

 “He had left home when he was seven. His drunken

father, a burly dockworker, enraged by the arrival of an
albino son, beat his mother regularly, blaming her for
the boy's embarrassing condition. When the boy tried to
defend her, he too was badly beaten” (The Da Vinci
Code, 2003: 60)

 Silas tries to be important person for his mother, but

it is failed because he is badly beaten by his father.
The Causes of Silas’ Anxiety
Abandonment

Contempt

Deserted

Discrimination

Helpless

Too Much Responsibility

Rejection
 Abandonment
 “The boy fled home but found the st
Silas born as Albino.
reets of Marseilles
 Abused by his father.
equally unfriendly. His strange appe
 Left home and grew up on street. arance made him
 No one cares and friendly to him an outcast among the other young r
. unaways, and he
 Fear of violence (From his father)
was forced to live alone in the base
. ment of a
 Not even accepted in new world
dilapidated factory, eating stolen fru
too. it and raw fish
 All circumstances creates fear in
from the dock” (The Da Vinci Code,
slias that led him towards anxiet 2003: 60)
 Too Much Responsibility
 A responsibility is something that Bishop," the Teacher had told him, "I hav
should be done by someone who g e made all the arrangements. For my pla
ets the responsibility. n to succeed, you must allow Silas to ans
 Too much responsibility that is exp wer only to me for several days. (The Da
erienced by Silas and he has to do Vinci Code, 2003: 64)
what Teacher and the group Opus
Dei want. Silas feels that responsib
ility contradicts himself because h
e provides weapons to kill anyone
who obstructs the search mission
of keystone.
 Theory of Self
 However, in the neurotic individ
ual, the real self and the idealize
d self are separated. If individual
realizes the full potential state of
idealized-self, he particularly wo
uld respect real-self more than t
he idealized-self (Scultz, 2003).
 It is because idealized self is fun
damentally unconscious phenom
enon
 as he depends on the focus of th
e interest of other people.
 The image of idealized self alway
s immerses to remove the reality
(Horney, 1945) because the ideali
ze-self is indispensable and inval
uable for human growth and dev
elopment.
 Silas trying to be in state o
f idealized-self.
 Respect real-self more tha
n the idealized-self.
 An unconscious phenome
non.
 Disturbed and confusing c
haracter as he perform.
 My Outcome
 It gives good insights
personally for dealing
with people in future.  Link between
Human &literature

 Future scope
For inventive studies
 Better Poetic
(Spec. For Gender Studies)
justice
 Works Cited
 Altuny, Hilal. Prezi. 04 November 2004. PPT. 25 March 2021.
<https://prezi.com/yemc-tbzgxbu/karen-horney-and-
relational-theory/>.
 Setyavan, Yusuf. "Sila's anxiety in Dan Browns Da Vinci
Code." (2019): 74. PDF. 25 March 2021. <http://etheses.uin-
malang.ac.id/12342/1/13320094.pdf>.
 UB Michello Badillo. n.d. 25 March 2021.
<https://sites.google.com/site/ubmichellebadillo/theories-
of-personality/karen-horney-psychoanalytic-social-theory>.
THANKS