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Articles: Literature | A Man of No Consequence
- Dr. Rajeshwar Mittapalli
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There is no gainsaying that Manorama’s love for him has a positive side to it, but to state that Subbaiah finally puts his complex behind him altogether and realises his self-worth because of it would be largely incorrect. In all probability Subbaiah will continue with his vacillation, indecisiveness and unfounded fears because, among other things, he is a moral coward, and has been so all his life. This is best established by the fact that he was not averse to accepting the bribe per se, but was terrified of the legal consequences and job security concerns. Adler himself has theorized that inferiority complex resolves itself if the sufferer has a developed social interest.
If one has sufficiently sharpened one’s grasp for the connections within the unity of each individual, one will easily understand how the inferiority feeling presses constantly towards its own resolution. The value and significance of this resolution rest totally in the existence and the degree of social interest which at times more strongly, at times less so, determines the fate, the failure, or the possibility for happiness of a person.7
Subbaiah’s involvement in society is peripheral. He is, in fact, an escapist who instinctually avoids human contact, desperately tries to erect a psychological wall against the demands of community life and is deeply apprehensive about people—yes, including the kindly Manorama—who try to reach out to him. Given this state of mind, he cannot hope to achieve happiness in life since, according to Adler, “true happiness is inseparable from the feeling of giving” and—
… everyone who is deeply unhappy, the neurotic and the desolate person stem from among those who were deprived in their younger years of being able to develop the feeling of community, the courage, the optimism, and the self-confidence that comes directly from the sense of belonging. This sense of belonging that cannot be denied anyone, against which there are no arguments, can only be won by being involved, by cooperating, and experiencing, and by being useful to others. Out of this emerges a lasting, genuine feeling of worthiness.8
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