Chapter 18 ugly duckling complex

"The Ugly Duckling" is another famous story in "Andersen's Fairy Tales", which has a wide spread, and few people with a little cultural knowledge do not know the story of "The Ugly Duckling and the White Swan". One summer, a group of ducklings hatched from duck eggs, and what finally emerged from a particularly large egg was a very big and ugly duckling.The mother duck didn't know that it was a gosling hatched from a goose egg, but she felt that all the children were not like it. This big and ugly little duck was bullied by all the chickens and ducks in the farm. Everyone pecked at it, squeezed it, and played with it. It didn't know where to hide.Even his brothers and sisters began to hate him, and even the mother duck wanted him to stay away.One day, the female keeper kicked the ugly duckling, and it flapped its wings and flew away over the short hedge.

When it came to the swamp where the wild ducks lived, it was discriminated against by the wild ducks. Bad luck followed it inextricably. When winter came, the ugly duckling was frozen and fainted in a frozen lake. A farmer picked it up at home and gave it to his wife, and the duckling slowly regained consciousness.The children tried to tease the duckling, but he was frightened when he saw them, and jumped into a milk jug in a panic, splashing the milk everywhere.The hostess screamed, and the ugly duckling became more anxious, and flew into the butter basin, and then into the flour bucket, and when it flew out, it looked very ugly.The mistress yelled to beat it with clubs, and the children ran to catch it.It quickly ran outside and got into the bushes.

In this way, it escaped the sad winter in the reeds of the swamp. When spring came, its wings suddenly stretched out, beating much more powerfully than before, and it could fly to high places.At this time, it found itself in a garden, three beautiful white swans floating lightly on the water.The little duck recognized them, and felt a pang of pain in his heart. He decided to fly to those noble birds. He would rather be pecked to death by them than other animals pecked and bit him. He didn't want to live through the terrible winter any more. . When it swam toward them, they swam toward them.kill me!The duckling yelled and bowed his head, waiting for the painful end.

However, it saw its own reflection on the clear water. Unexpectedly, it was no longer a clumsy ugly duckling, but a graceful white swan.Three white swans swam over and smoothed its feathers with their beaks.The children cried out: Here is a new swan, the most beautiful of the flock. The white swans congratulated it, and it stretched its beautiful neck, deeply moved.It thought, when I was an ugly duckling, who would have thought that one day I would be so lucky? The protagonist of "The Ugly Duckling" is naturally an ugly duckling, just like the animal characters in other fairy tales, this is undoubtedly a story where animals are compared to people.So, is the ugly duckling a boy or a girl?

"Andersen's Fairy Tales" once wrote that it is a male duck, so the ugly duckling can naturally be regarded as a symbol of a boy.However, this statement does not attract much attention from readers, and the story of the ugly duckling rarely reminds him that it is a drake.Especially when it becomes a white swan, readers often regard it as a girl's story, because ducklings and swans are easier to read in image. It is easy to remind people of women, and in fairy tales, they are also mostly symbols of women. This should not be a far-fetched fabrication.Art is to find a metaphorical correspondence in the inevitable connection of images.Ducks, especially swans, are closer to women in people's artistic imagination.

Here, it is all right for us to regard the ugly duckling who turns into a white swan as a girl. In fairy tales such as "Snow White" and "Cinderella", what we see directly are human stories, and it is relatively easy to see through the human social relations and family structures implied in these stories. And in the novel, we must use metaphors to see clearly that the mermaid world under the sea is still a symbol of human society. When we dissect the social and family situation of the little mermaid, we will undoubtedly have a more thorough vision than dissecting Snow White and Cinderella. .However, the daughter of the sea finally merged with the prince and the entire human society in a human form, so the anthropomorphic techniques here do not overshadow the readers too much.

In "The Ugly Duckling", it is the world of ducks.People may simply see that the ugly duckling turning into a white swan is a metaphor for a life story, but don't go into more specific comparisons. In fact, whether the author is conscious or not, when he wrote "The Ugly Duckling", he still specified the family and social environment of the little girl or boy very specifically. We first saw that all ducklings have no father, and this ugly duckling hatched from a goose egg left in the nest naturally has no father either. Obviously, it is farther away from its father than other ducklings.

A duckling hatched as a goose egg left in a duck nest is naturally far away from its biological mother. The mother duck that hatched it is just a foster mother, or can be regarded as a stepmother. In this seemingly inconspicuous narrative, we see that the little protagonist shares the same childhood family environment as Snow White and Cinderella. They have no fatherly love, and what they face is only a stepmother who lacks maternal love. As a duck, the ugly duckling's childhood family environment is difficult to attract readers' attention and study; however, the influence of art is implied, when a symbol is implied in the story, whether consciously or not, it will arouse your inner association Resonate with.

The ugly duckling grew up in a family without a father or a biological mother, which was already a very difficult childhood environment. Because of its ugly appearance, it was discriminated against and ridiculed by its brothers and sisters. No matter how inadvertently this stroke appears in the story, it is compared to a child's childhood family environment: it is a discriminated member among many brothers and sisters.This is undoubtedly a particularly important life situation for a child.Under the discrimination of his brothers and sisters, the ugly duckling is naturally dejected and has no laughter at all.

Then we saw that the mother (naturally the adoptive mother) discriminated against it more and more, and was more and more ashamed of it.This is nothing less than a catastrophe for a child who already has low self-esteem. Its low self-esteem and hopelessness can be imagined. Next, we also saw that the ugly duckling was discriminated against by the whole society. All the chickens and ducks came to peck it, squeeze it, and play with it. In this way, the living situation of our little hero is quite difficult. The reason why the ugly duckling suffers from discrimination inside and outside the family is because of "ugliness".It is discriminated against because of its ugliness; being discriminated against makes it more inferior, and the result of lower self-esteem is to become uglier.This ugly child in the eyes of others is doubly ugly in his own eyes.It survived in such a trembling, self-ashamed, and lingering manner that it was finally kicked out of the fence by the breeder, and began a miserable wandering career.

While wandering, it was discriminated against by wild ducks, and survived the severe cold and long winter in the wandering. However, one day, it showed the noble and beautiful original image of the white swan. It was a complete surprise to itself, and it was universally admired and welcomed for it. When it stretches its snow-white feathers and stretches its beautiful long neck, we can't help but think of the common pattern in many fairy tales: a noble prince or princess falls to the bottom of society through hardships, and the truth comes out after all the ups and downs. Reveal the original noble identity again. The ugly duckling turns into a white swan, but repeats this very common story logic. "The Ugly Duckling", like "Snow White" and "Cinderella", are also famous fairy tales that are widely circulated.As far as the beauty of the story is concerned, it seems inferior to "Snow White", "Cinderella" and "Snow White". A beautiful white swan; however, its social impact is much more pervasive. Apparently more people call themselves "ugly ducklings" than Snow White, Cinderella or The Little Mermaid.we often hear Someone compares himself to an "ugly duckling", and we often hear people say that someone is "an ugly duckling turned into a swan". Snow White, Cinderella, and Daughter of the Sea are more like the beautiful characters in the story; while the ugly duckling is closer to life. The ugly duckling is closer to people than Snow White, Cinderella, and the Daughter of the Sea. The ugly duckling is a more common social phenomenon and character image.Perhaps because the ugly duckling can represent both boys and girls, without the limitation of gender; however, we say that there are actually more reasons here. First, perhaps because it uses animals to compare human stories.It is in this comparison that, on the one hand, it includes the family background of the ugly duckling losing its biological parents and being adopted by a stepmother, and at the same time it conceals it so that it is difficult to detect. In this way, people will be able to more broadly identify: we are not Snow White, we were not born in a palace; we are not Cinderella who was abused by his stepmother; The specific family background and childhood environment are concealed, and more people can enter the role of ugly duckling based on a certain aspect of connection. That is to say, the ugly duckling obviously has a more general symbolic meaning than Snow White, Cinderella, and the Little Mermaid. Second, the Ugly Duckling's experience of being discriminated against and being bullied since he was a child is obviously more tortuous and life-like than the childhoods of Snow White, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid. The mental trauma suffered by the ugly duckling is something that many people can experience in their own experience.When the ugly duckling was pecked, squeezed, and played with by chickens and ducks in the farm, children who have been bullied since childhood will definitely think of their own experiences.The Ugly Duckling was ridiculed and discriminated against by siblings and mothers, and it evoked many people's similar childhood experiences in a very life-like way. As a child with low self-esteem since childhood, the ugly duckling's psychology of being ashamed, hiding, and not daring to stand up has a lot of sympathizers; Childhood is much closer. Any episodes of low self-esteem in the family, at school, or in society during childhood, whether it is discrimination from siblings, neglect from classmates or teachers, or being bullied in society, may become the basis for entering the role of an ugly duckling. Third, the ugly duckling and the white swan are very childish animal images, symbols of great imagery, and symbols of success. It is the symbol of the ugly duckling and the white swan, which highly condenses life and becomes a representative language code of a character, a life, an experience, and a destiny. "Ugly duckling" has become an indispensable appellation when human beings describe life phenomena. The ugly duckling complex is especially easy to form in those children who lack family warmth since childhood, such as Cinderella's childhood living environment.However, many children who grow up in a normal family environment also develop an ugly duckling complex.Inquiring into the childhood life and life experience of such people, we can find that some seemingly simple reasons may be the channel of the ugly duckling complex. One, for example, if a child is not good-looking since childhood, or is thin, or fat, or has an ugly face, it may form a deep inferiority complex. This kind of self-ashamedness tortures the child like a dark cloud in the young mind, and sometimes it even becomes the biggest inferiority complex.The child will live like an ugly duckling with his head bowed and humiliated. In the future life, he will either be depressed and become a loser; Second, children seldom have the ability to correctly judge the appearance of people. Many children not only have low self-esteem in clothing but also in appearance just because of poor clothing.For many children, clothing often equals looks. Poor clothing, or because the family is poor; or because there are many brothers and sisters, he can only wear old clothes; or it is a way of discipline from the mother; no matter what the reason is, it will form an inferiority complex in the child's heart.This is a very naive and ridiculous thing for many adults, but it is an extremely gloomy page for many children in their childhood. For a child, when he sees other children dressed far more colorfully and beautifully than himself, the deep envy and irresistible inferiority complex can only be truly experienced when he returns to his childhood heart. Even in an adult society, clothing can affect people's psychology and affect how others feel and evaluate themselves. Third, the reason why a child has an inferiority complex in appearance may be due to the harsh judgment of the parents and the wrong judgment; it may also be the unique discrimination against this child because the parents prefer other children. In the eyes of children, the evaluation of parents is everything.When the mother duck says that the ugly duckling is ugly, it will definitely feel ashamed. Parents' evaluation of their children's lack of love may often cause fatal harm to children in an imperceptible way. Fourth, the repulsive ridicule of the elder sister and elder brother also causes the child's inferiority complex.When this kind of rejection and ridicule falls on the appearance, then the appearance that his brothers and sisters dislike is the ugliness in his own eyes. Here, we once again see the importance of appearance to young minds. Many girls who grow up to be quite beautiful have had childhood with low self-esteem.Some may be surprised to find that they are good-looking in the evaluation of others when they are in their teens.Some people don't realize that they are beautiful until they are in their twenties from the appreciation and admiration of others. "Girl's Eighteen Changes", there are naturally developmental changes here, and unattractive girls may look good; but the more reason is that they mistakenly think that they are ugly since childhood. Ugliness or beauty is one of the important reasons why children have low self-esteem or self-confidence. Fifth, it is also possible that a child is not ugly, but he has some behavioral defects, such as stuttering, urgency, etc., which may cause strong inferiority complex. Stuttering often elicits laughter in class when answering questions, and students laugh at raising their hand to use the bathroom during class, making the child feel like a misbehaving duckling flying from the butter pan to the flour bucket , forming an ugly duckling complex in mocking laughter. Sixth, if the appearance has not painfully entangled the child's heart, he seems to have grown up in a normal environment. From the perspective of outsiders, he does not lack fatherly and motherly love, and he is far away from the fate of Cinderella; however , There will still be some factors that affect the child's psychology. Those seemingly normal neglect and neglect from parents may cause children to feel inferior. It may also be that the parents have a little preference for other brothers and sisters; it may also be that the parents are more dissatisfied and accused of him; maybe the parents are more willing to take other children out to visit relatives and friends; these very homely things fall into the heart of a sensitive child , may cause the unique inferiority complex of the ugly duckling. When the world buzzes and whirls, no one pays attention to a child's melancholy.When he sat there alone playing with the dolls, everything seemed to be normal, but his heart was already suffering like an ugly duckling. He thinks he is ugly. Seventh, when a child is discriminated against because of a low family background, low self-esteem casts a new ugliness. In the young mind, the inferiority complex of a poor family and the inferiority complex of an ugly appearance are interlinked. Eighth, any inferiority complex in learning and intelligence may pervade a person's childhood, which is also the inferiority complex of the ugly duckling. It may even be just that his physique is poor, which also makes him feel ashamed: the ugly duckling complex created on the playground and the classroom system make him feel ashamed. The inferiority complex created is the same, and it will make a child huddle in a corner and cannot hold his head up. Above, the attitude of parents, the relationship between brothers and sisters, the appearance and development since childhood, the wealth of the family, the quality of clothing, the level of learning ability, and all kinds of inferiority complex may form the ugly duckling complex in the hearts of young children. Some inferiority complex may be unreasonable in the eyes of adults; however, it grabs the hearts of children. The ugly duckling complex is a widespread complex. In a sense, we live in an ocean of ugly duckling complexes. The "Individual Psychology" created by the Austrian psychologist Adler believes that the main motivation of people is to strive for the ultimate good, and it can also become a struggle for self-esteem, thus becoming a compensation for inferiority complex.In his lifetime of psychological research, Adler has carried out quite emphatic research on human inferiority complex, and has also made quite remarkable discoveries.Adler believes that the characteristics of mental health are rationality, social interest and self-transcendence; while the characteristics of mental disorders are inferiority complex, worrying about gains and losses, and anxiety. Now, if we combine Adler's "Individual Psychology" with the story of "The Ugly Duckling", we will get a very clear and coherent train of thought. The ugly duckling in "Andersen's Fairy Tales" undoubtedly shows the characteristics of mental health and mental disorders from two aspects: it is full of inferiority complex, it is self-ashamed and anxious, and it shows various spirits in a discriminatory environment. However, it has been making an effort to surpass itself, from the breeding ground to the wild ducks, struggling in the icy lake through ups and downs, running away from the farmer's house, spending a long winter in the severe cold, and finally braved The danger of death swims to the swans, to strive for the high realm of life. Our ugly duckling struggles with the outside world in the conflict of "resisting" inferiority complex until it turns into a beautiful white swan.At that time, the inferiority complex will be fully compensated, and the life of the ugly duckling will become a life of striving for the best and self-respect. In this way, we can make a complete definition of the ugly duckling complex. Only inferiority complex is not an ugly duckling complex; fighting against inferiority complex and striving for the realm of perfection and self-esteem is the complete ugly duckling complex. The ugly duckling complex is a complex of "protesting" inferiority complex, overcoming discrimination, and pursuing success and nobility. The ugly duckling complex is quite a broad complex, but most people don't realize it. Even those who have read "The Ugly Duckling" rarely connect it with themselves seriously.Many people seem to have come from childhood to adulthood relatively smoothly, and some people have even been quite successful. When they look back on their lives since childhood, it seems that they are all joyful memories. It may be uncomfortable to omit the memories, but as long as you search for the motivation of your life, you will find that the ugly duckling complex is deeply hidden in many vigorous struggles in life. This is naturally directly related to the inferiority complex that began to be felt in childhood. There are some rules worth paying attention to when examining many characters with ugly duckling complex. First, if the inferiority complex caused by childhood life experience is relatively strong, and at the same time, there is not enough "protest" power to resist the inferiority complex in the mind, various mental disorders will appear. At this time, strong inferiority complex combined with worrying about gains and losses, uneasiness, timidity and cowardice, forging a failed life. Second, if you have a strong inferiority complex experience since childhood, and because of life reasons, you have enough psychological "protest" strength, then you will form a complete ugly duckling complex. The ugly duckling complex often shows the spirit of struggle. In the process of overcoming and compensating for his inferiority complex, he overcomes various difficulties on the road of life and pursues perfection and self-esteem. Those creative characters often have a strong inferiority experience and have enough psychological "protest" power. In this sense, much of human wonder is due to the experience and protest of inferiority. Third, the ugly duckling complex not only makes people explain how the ugly duckling successfully turned into a swan in his life's efforts, but at the same time, many partial successes in his life are the process of the ugly duckling turning into a swan. Some of these processes are gifts from life itself.For example, a girl who thought she was ugly since she was a child suddenly found herself beautiful one day, and she was very pleasantly surprised.When she finally confirmed this point after people's repeated evaluations and repeated self-scrutiny in front of the mirror, she would rub her eyes with excitement, which undoubtedly increased the girl's self-confidence.At this moment, it is the first time that the ugly duckling finds the joy of becoming a white swan on the reflection of the water surface. However, this joy never completes her life's pursuit, but only encourages her to start from now on, and pursue the perfection of life with more confidence. Fourth, strugglers driven by the ugly duckling complex often embody the characteristics of striving for the ultimate good and self-esteem in a very concrete way. Many women pursue endlessly in the struggle of life, demanding the best in their careers and the best in life.As entrepreneurs, as daughters, as wives, as mothers, as friends with others, they all want to be perfect.They are proving themselves in all aspects. They hope that their parents will finally say in their later years that she is their favorite child; she also hopes that her husband will think of herself as the most ideal wife;When her parents are proud of all the children of other people in the world, when her husband is satisfied with all the wives in the world, and her children are not envious of all the mothers in the world, She will feel heartfelt comfort. She will go the extra mile to get this compliment.In the process of pursuing the ultimate good and realizing self-esteem, he has shown great Great sacrifice, and this sacrifice gave her a sense of goodness in a higher sense. The ugly duckling complex is a complex that is both beautiful and full of life. Without the ugly duckling complex, our world would be much more withered.