Stage Three: Psychosis - Entering the Land of the Unconscious: The Shadow
The house that Tyler takes Jack to serves as the now devastated symbol of his known self. It's dark, dank, dilapidated, desolate -- much like Jack's worldview which is now filtered through the perspective of his
Shadow. It's here that Jack's repressed rage, shame, pain, fear, shame and other negative emotions begin to exercise themselves. In the case of
Fight Club we also see a cultural component, which is not necessarily going to play a role in every schizophrenic breakdown.
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The first step is taken towards self-realization {individuation} when you meet your 'shadow'. This is so called because it is the 'dark' side of your psyche, the parts of yourself that you have not previously brought into the light of consciousness. It is, for this reason, the 'primitive' (undeveloped or underdeveloped) side of your personality. It is also the 'negative' side of your personality, insofar as it is the opposite of whatever you have hitherto regarded as making a positive contribution to your well being.
In dreams your shadow may be represented either by some figure of the same sex as yourself (an elder brother or sister, your best friend, or some alien or primitive person) or by a person who represents your opposite (and of the same sex). A clear example of this in literature is Robert Louis Stevenson's 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mt Hyde', in which Mr Hyde may be seen as Dr Jekyll's unconscious shadow, leading a separate and altogether different life from the conscious part of the personality. The werewolf motif features in the same way in literature (e.g. Hermann Hesse's 'Steppenwolf') and in folklore. In pre-literate societies this 'other' side of the individual's personality was sometimes depicted as a 'bush-soul', having its own separate body - usually that of an animal or tree in the nearby bush or forest. (It should be noted that in such preliterate society the bush or forest or other wide or desert places surrounding the human settlement were powerful symbols of anti-anomianism, that is, of everything that constituted a threat to the established law and order in the human community. There is an obvious parallel here to the way the dark forces of the unconscious may be felt as a threat to the ordered life of the conscious ego).
Source: Myths, Dreams and Symbols: The Shadow
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The basement of this new residence is filled with water. Water is a symbol of the unconscious so it's quite fitting that Jack's new basement would be overun with water, much as he has become overwhelmed with contents which have flooded upwards from the unconscious.
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Water is a common symbol of the unconscious. In baptism a person is plunged into water and is said to be 'born again' when he or she rises out of the water. This symbolizes the descent of consciousness into the unconscious and the resulting new and fuller life.
The same applies to stories of a great flood which destroys the face of the earth and the recedes, leaving one pure human being (e.g Noah in the Jewish - Christian tradition; Markandeya in the Hindu tradition). If we take this as a symbol of individuation, what is destroyed by the flood-waters (the unconscious) is the persona, that makeshift self-image with which we start our adult life. This partial self must be desolved to make way for the appearance of the whole self {represented by Noah or Markandeya}.
In some cultures there are myths of a diver who plunges to the bottom of the sea and brings up treasure. The water, again, may be seen as a symbol for the unconscious, and the treasure as the new self one finds when previously unused psychic resources are given appropriate expression in one's conscious life.
Source: Myths, Dreams and Symbols: The Shadow
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The first task Jack faces is to come into relationship with this disowned and projected part of himself, and ultimately, gain mastery over it.
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In order to reach the second stage of individuation you must resist two temptations. First, you must avoid projecting your shadow on to other people. Your shadow, because it is your dark side, may be quite frightening, and you may even see it as something evil. You may therfore want to disown it; and one way of doing this is to make believe it is the property of someone else. On a collective level this is what leads to racism and the persecution of 'non-believers' (which in this context means people whose beliefs are different from our own). These are both examples of the 'them-and-us' syndrome, where we unload our 'dark' side on to some other group, which then becomes the scapegoat that carries the blame for everything that is wrong in our lives or our society. Commenting on Jesus's command to 'Love your enemy', Jung remarks: 'But what if I should discover that that very enemy himself is within me, that I myself am the enemy who must be loved - what then?'
The answer is that you must learn to integrate the dark side of yourself, which means accepting it and allowing it to proper expression under the control of your conscious mind. It will then cease to be dark and terrifying and hostile; instead, it will enhance the quality of your life, advance your personal development and increase your happiness.
The second temptation to be resisted is that of suppressing the shadow, which means putting it back into the cellars of the unconscious and locking thye doors on it. (If Cinderella never realized her shadow, she would still be locked behind the closed doors which represents her unconscious desires to be free). Says Jung: 'Mere suppression of the Shadow is as little a remedy as beheading would be for a headache.' Whatever pain or unease your shadow may cause you, it consists of precisely those parts of your total self that you need to utilize if you are to achieve full personal growth. To suppress the shadow is merely to go back to square one; and sooner or later you will be forced to come to terms with this 'dark' side of yourself.
Source: Myths, Dreams and Symbols: The Shadow
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Near the end of the film, Tyler comments to Jack, "I will carry you kicking and screaming, and in the end -- you will thank me for it." He's correct. There is much that a relationship with our own
Shadow can teach us. However there is also a danger in becoming possessed by your
Shadow because you may then begin to act out your inner fears and rage upon the exterior world. This is precisely what Jack does and we can learn a little something from the error of his ways. Alternatively, you may be continually assualted by your shadow in your inner world and will need to overcome those forces so that you can live peacefully and fearfully as appropriate.
Individuals who have experienced a fragmentation crisis seem to also experience a great deal of shadow material on a personal, cultural, historic and even, cosmic level.
See also: .