IRJC
International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 11, November 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
DIAL V FOR VIOLENCE: READING KAROLY KISFALUDI’S THE
INVISIBLE WOUND AS A FIT SOURCE TO UNDERSTAND THE
CATHARTIC REPERCUSSIONS IN A PATIENT
KOYEL CHAKRABARTY*
* Assistant Professor of English, Appejay Stya University,
Palwal Road, Sohna.
ABSTRACT
The role of catharsis in healing, cleansing, rumination and transforming experiences is quite
common in the history of psycho-somatic treatment and has been used in cultural healing
practices, literature, drama, religion, medicine, and psychological treatment. The term
„catharsis,‟ which has been defined by Aristotle as "purging of the spirit of morbid and base
ideas or emotions by witnessing the playing out of such emotions or ideas on stage", is generally
accompanied by the emotions of pity and fear aroused in the minds of the audience. Catharsis is
a feeling of calm disposition of the self after the release of tension and fear in a person suffering
from a prolonged psycho-somasis. Literature, a mirror of the society, is a classic ground to study
the phenomenon of catharsis plying in characters under different abnormal psycho-social
circumstances and thus appreciate a patient‟s psyche and the treatment required. This paper takes
Karoly Kisfaludi‟s short story The Invisible Wound and analyses it as a fit case study to measure
the effect of catharsis in a person thereby leading him to insight and penance.
KEYWORDS: Catharsis, Psycho-somatic, Literature, Psychology
______________________________________________________________________________
1. INTRODUCTION
“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. The third law of Newton, if deeply
scrutinized, can be studied in the psycho-physical context at varying degrees. Every human deed
has an effect on the doer. Any deed that creates a reaction in the mind or body is important to
analyze as it can create a lot of vulnerable reactions in the person involved in the act. The
intensity of the reaction— psychological or physical— depends on the nature of the act, the
programming of the mind in the lines of desire, hate, morality and ethical values. A person who
commits a crime knowingly is more susceptible to undergo a higher intensity of psycho-somatic
trauma sooner or later, than one who has committed a mistake unknowingly and repents after the
deed is done. A small deed may give rise to a havoc traumatic surge in a person whereas a big
act may have little effect on a habitual performer. Whatever may be the nature of the act, the
human id contradicts with the human ego thereby giving rise to vicarious sets of emotions in a
human soul which leads to psycho-somatic disorder in people at various instances of their lives.
Catharsis in this case can be a medical procedure that may serve as a catalyst in bringing poise
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International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 11, November 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
and calm of mind thereby releasing the accumulated heated feelings, tension and unrest paving
the sufferer towards insight and realization.
The role of catharsis in healing, cleansing, rumination and transforming experiences is quite
common in the history of psycho-somatic treatment and has been used in cultural healing
practices, literature, drama, religion, medicine, and psychological treatment. The term
„catharsis,‟ which has been defined by Aristotle as "purging of the spirit of morbid and base
ideas or emotions by witnessing the playing out of such emotions or ideas on stage"1 is generally
accompanied by the emotions of pity and fear aroused in the minds of the audience. Catharsis is
a feeling of calm disposition of the self after the release of tension and fear in a person suffering
from a prolonged psycho-somasis. Breuer and Freud described catharsis as an involuntary,
instinctive body process, for example crying.2 Schultz and Schultz followed the psychodynamic
tradition and defined catharsis as "the process of reducing or eliminating a complex by recalling
it to conscious awareness and allowing it to be expressed"3 The American Psychological
Association also associates catharsis with the psychodynamic theory and defines it as "the
discharge of affects connected to traumatic events that had previously been repressed by bringing
these events back into consciousness and re-experiencing them" 4
Literature, a mirror of the society, is a classic ground to study the phenomenon of catharsis
plying in characters under different abnormal psycho-social circumstances and thus paves a way
to appreciate a patient‟s psyche and the treatment required. Scheff defines catharsis as the release
of any of the four basic emotions through physical reactions to stimulus. The repressed emotions
like grief, anger, fear, and embarrassment find physical manifestations through catharsis with the
outlet of the emotions like crying, laughter, cold chills and frisson respectively. Outcome
measures associated with catharsis include a sense of control over the release of emotion, a
clarity of thought after release, and a generally pleasant sense of well-being during and after
catharsis has taken place.5
It is interesting that Literature talks about instances in lives of the characters very much as a
representation of the reality. In fact, the psychological reactions in one‟s mind are thoroughly
represented in literature in form of dialogues, actions or soliloquies. The characters portrayed in
a literary piece often find similar projections in human beings in real life and this makes
literature more acceptable and closer to the heart. Through literature cases can be studied in
comparison to reality and thus, it automatically becomes a potent source of study of
psychological derivations. The situations that the characters face are interesting and can serve as
case studies to provide an insight into different psychological estimations as they equally
undergo the release of emotions of pity, embarrassment or fear through the emotions of crying,
laughter, cold chills and frisson, and laughter respectively.6 The idea of catharsis in medicine is
similar to that of literature. It means 'purging', 'purification', although in a medical sense this
implies a physical release, for example, expectoration of the sputa implies healing of cold. 7 This
paper takes Karoly Kisfaludi‟s short story The Invisible Wound and analyses it as a fit case study
to measure the effect of catharsis in a person thereby leading him to insight and penance.
Karoly Kisfaludi‟s short story, The Invisible Wound is a thriller that keeps one engrossed till its
last sentence. The story is not only interesting for its plot but also for its style of presentation.
The story is important for analysis as it highlights a very crucial aspect of catharsis that is
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violence. We have already found in real life how a person undergoes a cathartic revelation
through the feelings of crying, fear, laughter but we very interestingly find in this story how a
person takes violence as a means of cathartic revelation. The story tells us of a gentleman who
suffers from the pangs of an invisible wound on his hand and finds it impossible to survive with
the pain. He visits the doctor once and again with the same problem and get the invisible wound
operated but the pain oscillates back within few weeks. Finally, we find him disclose the truth
behind such a strange disease which is purely psychological and moral in nature.
The plot of the story revolves around a patient whose name is not revealed. We only come to
know that he is a man of noble disposition, educated and is wealthy enough to maintain a
promising estate. The story starts in a doctor‟s clinic where this gentleman comes in, with his
right hand tied in a sling, suffering from tremendous pain in his hand. The doctor who is a
perfect gentleman and is endowed with professional ethics, refuses to operate his wound despite
the former‟s request as he fails to detect any scar or mark of injury in the patient‟s hand that was
causing him unbearable pain. The fact that the patient was experiencing unbearable pain for an
invisible wound makes the readers curious. He explains:
“I haven‟t been able to sleep for a week. There is some trouble with my right
hand. I cannot make out what it is. It may be cancer or some other terrible disease.
At first it did not bother me much, but lately it began to burn. I have not had a
moment‟s relief. It pains me terribly. The pain increases hourly becoming more
and more agonizing and unbearable. I have come to town to consult you. If I have
to bear it another hour, I shall go mad. I want you to burn it out or cut it out. or do
something with it” (1).
It is interesting that the patient wants not just a cure for his wound but a considerable amount of
blood loss from his hand; this he demands would bring him relief. His desperateness to create
violence on his healthy hand is indeed a psychological repercussion of some hidden feelings that
he tries to give vent to through such a violent action. Here fear and pain are elements that the
protagonist of the story expects, which can provide him with the cathartic relief. Despite several
consultations with the doctor, the protagonist turns a deaf ear and insists on for an operation. The
doctor finding him desperate operates his mysterious wound cutting out a chunk of flesh and a
good amount of blood from his body.
“The stranger took the operation stoically and was helpful with his directions. His
hand never even trembled and when the round spot had been carved out he sighed
a sign of happy relief, as if a load had been taken of his shoulders” (5)
It is important to analyse the reaction of the patient after the operation as we see him relieved not
of pain only but of a load. This is where the psychological interventions are necessary to
understand the psyche of the patient.
““You don‟t feel any pain now?” asked the surgeon.
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International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 11, November 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
“Not the least,” he said with a smile. “It is as if the pain had been cut off and the slight
irritation caused by the cutting seems like a cool breeze after a hot spell. Just let the blood run. It
soothes me”” (6)
Here the conversation between the doctor and the patient exposes certain aspects of the cathartic
effect that the patient experiences. Here tears are replaced by blood. It is apt to mention the
hydraulic model of emotions and venting theory in this case as blood is used as a hydraulic force
that when given vent to brings peace, calm, releases tension and heat of body and mind.
Generally, tears carry away the negativity of feelings in a cathartic moment and bring in insight.
The hydraulic model of emotions uses the analogy of the fluid flowing through a system. The
American Psychological Association opines that emotional distress, if not expressed, gets stored
and can create pressure in the system, therefore 'venting' emotions should decrease tension and
consequentially the negative psychological experience and symptoms. The greater the expression
of negative emotions, the greater the relief should be. But in this case, tears are docile elements
that cannot stop his tremendous burning sensation. He tells of a burning sensation that is cooled
with the flow of blood. Here burning, as we come to know at the end of the story is
psychological purgation. In religious perceptions release of negative feelings are done with fire,
water, sacrifice, washing etc. Here we find the protagonist sacrificing his blood and skin first and
then using heated charcoal to get relief. Heat of unrest and guilt that made him unstable could
only be cooled by another doze of violence on him so as to match the original violence that he
had committed on his loving wife. The methods of cathartic release that he adopts are thus
medically, religiously, spiritually and psychometrically pliable.
The protagonist experiences a hellish situation in his life after becoming skeptic towards his wife
and kills her only on the basis of false assumption of infidelity. Like Browning‟s heroes, in his
poems, this man is also a patient of obsessive disorder syndrome that takes a unique shape this
time leading to murder and repentance. This becomes clearer when he returns to the doctor only
after three weeks with a similar complaint of tremendous pain in his hand on the same place. He
complains:
“You didn‟t cut it deep enough,” he groaned. “The pain returned; it is even worse
than before. I am almost done for. I didn‟t want to trouble you again, so I just bore
it, but I cant bear it any longer. You must operate it again”(7).
The doctor repeats the same process letting him some peace but this time he does not seem
satisfied or much relieved. He assures the doctor, “You needn‟t be surprised if I am back again in
a month,” (7). This statement of his clears all suspicion about his supposed insanity. He is as
sane as any intelligent normal person, perhaps more than others, only with the fault of hubris in
him. He is a man of moral disposition and realizes that the invisible would is nothing but
psychological outcome of his guilt and pain. However, the traumatic part is that he cannot get rid
of it. He implicitly explains the doctor, “It is as sure there is God in heaven,” and it is He who is
just in giving him this pain. The moral or spiritual fervor of the story becomes clear. The original
mystery unravels in the end when after one month and three weeks time, he writes a letter to the
doctor unfolding his heart thus, making clear of all his agonies.
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“Dear doctor: I do not want to leave you in any doubt as to the origin of my
trouble, and do not care to carry the secret of it into my grave, or perhaps
elsewhere. I wish to acquaint you with the history of my terrible illness. It has
returned three times now and do not intend to go on struggling against it any
longer. I am only able to write this letter by placing a burning coal on the spot as
an antidote against the hellish flames that burn it within (8).
The language of the letter is quite significant as it not only reveals the story behind his terrible
illness but also admits that he is undergoing a hellish experience. He feels the fire of hell burning
in the wound which actually represents his mind full of culpability. It is interesting that the
disease which a reader or a doctor may feel strange or mysterious is actually terrible for him. He
confesses of being a murderer himself and describes his innocent wife very much loving and
beautiful in drastic contrast to himself. He calls himself a fool who had tried to find unhappiness
in his happy life and had made it really hellish. “Man is foolish enough to seek misery in the
midst of his greatest happiness” (8). The psychological disorder is very much prominent when he
describes him as cynic and disbeliever. “The poison had taken effect in my soul and had eaten
itself through every vein of my body” (10). Here the poison is of disbelief which had
overshadowed his mind about his wife. The protagonist actually felt unsecured internally about
his nuptial relationship and thus suspected pretence in his innocent wife. He strangles his wife
out of rage and mistrust, disregarding her love for him and takes her as an imposter and an
infidel lady. Later on, when he finds out his fault and her innocence, he becomes unstable.
Anagnorisis upturns his world and he finds himself at the pit of the dungeon horrible fighting
with his negative self that had forced him to commit such a blunder. He realizes the cause of his
pain and deliberates very clearly in his letter that while she died, “One drop of blood oozed
through her lips and dropped on my hand—you know the spot.” Further in his confession he
acknowledges his sin and decides to commit suicide, which is again a sin if considered from the
Christian view point.
“Exactly one week after the burial a stinging pain visited the spot on my hand
where the drop of blood fell on that terrible night. The rest you know. I know it is
nothing but auto-suggestion, but I cannot rid myself out of it. I am going to join
her and will try to obtain her pardon” (12).
The story is a classic example of how a psychologically sick person takes refuge of violence and
death to get his tension released. The protagonist, who is an egoist and know-all of his state of
mind, burns in anguish unable to get his crime nullified. The psychological purgation that starts
after the commitment of murder builds in the heat till the plot reaches the climax where we
finally get to know about the wound. The rising action arouses pity and fear in the readers and
they too get a release of tension after the mystery is unveiled. The pain has given him insight and
violence—bloodshed or death, whatever it may be— is the path that he takes for obtaining relief.
The Invisible Wound is a fit case for analyzing violence as a means of cathartic relief which can
give better understanding of a patient psychology suffering from wound, pain and guilty
consciousness. It also leads us to a safe conclusion that there is a vivid connection between the
psyche and the some help can be rendered if the violent technique is applied with measure and
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International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 11, November 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
condition differing from case to case with certain precautions. Had the protagonist been exposed
to a counselor or police and received his punishment through other means, then he may would
have been relieved differently. But the act of suppression and superiority complex holds him
from doing so and he suffers terribly till he confesses his crime through a letter to the doctor. In
fact, in a way, the writing of the confession letter is the greatest cathartic relief that he
experiences and attains the insight which is nothing but saintly. Here like any tragic hero, he
looks like an inverted saint who after realizing the crux of life embraces hardship and penance.
Jemmer argues that traumatic experience, if repeatedly relived in catharsis, can be relearned and
become harmful.8 This is what we experience in the story. Excessive release of the cathartic
emotion, continuous exposure to physical violence and logically rationalizing each effect in mind
that linked to a same cause, that is, the murder which he had committed, had increased the
protagonist‟s tendency to delve deep in himself and apprehend the deep-seated guilt which thus
took an exaggerated shape. This might have forced him to develop a suicidal motive which he
refers to commit in the end.
Even though the method of catharsis is not used so frequently to cure a patient in present
centuries, it still can be used for understanding the problem of the patient and thus suggest
further advanced cure. Catharsis, which is very much linked with literature, has a special role to
play in society as it itself becomes a means or catalyst for cathartic release in the readers through
laughter, sorrow, pains and tears. With the flow of the emotions of pity and fear, a reader who
was associating himself with the character gets purged off and starts his life afresh. He gains an
insight just as a character gains an insight at the end of any literary text. For medical practitioners
literature serves as a fit resource to add insight into different characters and help them use
catharsis or any other mode of counseling accordingly in real life. This paper by analyzing
Karoly Kisfaludi‟s short story The Invisible Wound tries to decipher the means and modes of
cathartic release in a patient and brings light to the fact how literature can serve as potent
resource for examining patients in real lives.
References
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2. Breuer, J., Freud, S. (1974). Studies on hysteria. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
3. Schultz, D. P., Schultz, S. E. (2004). A history of modern psychology (8th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth/Thompson.
4. American Psychological Association.(2007). Dictionary of Psychology. Washington, DC: Author.
Print.
5. Scheff, T.J. (2001). Catharsis in healing, ritual, and drama. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.com.
6. Lerner, Janet M. 1985. “Structured Improvisation Counseling: A Study Of The Use Of Ritual And
Drama In Homogeneous And Multicultural Settings.” The First National Symposium on Doctoral
Research and Social Work Practice The Ohio State University: 1985:6
7. Powell, Esta. Catharsis in Psychology and Beyond: A Historic Overview.
Refer: http://primal-page.com/cathar.htm
8. Jemmer, P. (2006). Abreaction - catharsis: Stirring dull roots with spring rain. European Journal of
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9. Kisfaludi, Karoly. The Invisible Wound http://ravenessence.tripod.com/
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