New-York tribune., 1919-12-22
Books

Our attitude toward Fl. third and the
carving knife turns out to have been all
wrong. Floyd Dell, who wrote "Were
You Ever Child ?" one OF the most en-
tightening books on education which we
have ever read, points out that no
Frcudian could possibly approve our
policy of non-interference. Mr.. Dell
says that we should have used force to
the utmost
"Psychoanalytically speaking,' he
writes, 81 think you were wrong about
i. third and the carving knife There
is really no Freudian reason why. when
ne came carrying it into the parlor, you
should not have gone over to him and,
after short struggle taken it away
from him by main force. Of course, that
would have made him mad. But what
harm would that have done? Unless.
of course, you had previously represented
yourself to him as a Divine and Perfect
Being. In that case his new conception
of you as big bully would have had to
struggle with his other carefully I'M
planted and nourished emotions-and
his sense of the injustice of your be-
havior might have been 'repressed.'
"But you know quite we'll that YOU
are not a Divine and Perfect Being, and,
if you consider it for moment from
the child's point of view, you will con-
ccde that his emotional opinion of YOU
under such circumstances, highly colored
as it is, has its Justification When you
yourself want something very much
(whether you are entitled to it or not)
and when some one (howcver righteous
ly) keeps you from getting it, how do
you feel? But You know that you live
in world in which such things happen.
II. third has still to learn it, and if he
learns it at his fathers knee he is Just
that much ahead. The boys at school
will teach it to him, anyway The fact
is, parents are unwilling that their chill
dren should hate them, however briefly.
healthily and harmlessy.
"The Victorian parent spanked his off
spring and commanded them to love
him any way. The modern parent re
trans from spanking for good rea-
sons) and hopes the child will love him.
The Freudlan parent does not mind if
his children do hate him once or twice
day, so long as they are not ashamed
n ~
father in an enraged struggle to keen
possession Of the precious carving knife
he IS expressing and not repressing his
emotions. And so long as he has done his
lose. What a child doesn't like is to
have to struggle with big bully that he
mustn't for mysterious reasons even
try to lick The privilege Of fighting
with ones father even if it does Incl
dentally involve getting licked, is all
that healthy child asks for Never
fear, the time will come when he can
HEX you: and awaiting that happy time
will give him an Incentive for growing
up. Quite possibly you don't want him
10 grow up; but that Is only another Of
the we'll known weaknesses of parents."
One of the merriest trick books of the
season is Oliver Herfords "This Giddv
Globe" (Doran). 1t is full of pictures
and puns and poems. The geography of
the world is treated briefly and in an
entirely new manner Thus we learn
in Chapter 33 on Monaco that "Monaco
is the center of the spinning industry of
The world" The question of latitude
and longitude is stated more clearly
than ever before. For any enjoyable
degree of latitude" writes Mr.. Herford
"the Londoner must go to Paris, Vienna,
or Budapest and other capitals. which