Lipton’s Journal/December 8, 1954/35
Psychoanalysis, liberalism, etc. etc., are ways to reduce men to zombies. Perhaps Bob’s[1] anger at lobotomies comes from the unconscious fear that with all his good will and his courage, perhaps he is making zombies of his patients too. Is psychoanalysis perhaps no more than an ideational lobotomieslobotomy to sever man completely from his deeper world, and leave him marooned, will-less, and adjusted (anger less) in the dead world of society. The sterile land of relating, of conformity, of proportion—what is it worth to lose one’s anger if we remember that anger is only the side result of frustrated vision. Children’s anger is always violent, for children have visions destroyed every instant of their existence.
note
- ↑ A prominent Baltimore psychoanalyst and writer, Robert Lindner (1914 – 1956) became acquainted with Mailer after reading Lindner’s 1952 sharp critique of current psychoanalytic practice, Prescription for Rebellion (1952), published by Mailer’s publisher, Rinehart. The letter, which contained both praise and criticism for Lindner’s ideas, led to a close friendship over the next four years, including many visits and the sharing of work, including Lipton’s. See extended note on entry 56.
