Evening star., 1927-09-18
OF GEORGE X. PRATT, NJ. d.

persuaded with Scant coaxlnE to
inform a receptive world just
why it Is that men fail in life. Il
failure is not due to an inadequate
spirit of service and cooperation,
then =. Saust be caused by lack OF
faith" And L. rerchance, neither ol
these seems plausible, it is no trick
at all to throw, the blame onto INSULT
cient pep" or lack of the instinct OF
the "go-getter."
Unfortunately for the man who is
failure, beaten, broken and discour
aged. there is meager comfort to be
extracted from platitudes. What he
needs is less glowing generalitieS and
more cold. specific facts if he is to
stage a successful comeback or if he
is to help others avoid the pitfalls
that engulfed him.
Among the specific causes for fail
ures in life certain types of wives
stand well toward the top of the list.
Not all wives. by any means, but GER
tain ones. The wife, for example,
who, being aware of an intellectual or
a cultural disparity between her en-
dowments and those of her husband,
consequently is jealous of the factors
that have contributed to his success.
Not a few men have been prevented
from accomplishing what potentially
they were capable of because they
sincerely loved q wife of this kind.
Jealousy need not expess itself solely
in terms of hatred against some indi-
Vidual whom we suspect of weaving
from us the affections of loved one.
An occupation. a hobby. a special in
terest, may become the object of just
as malignant jealousy as ever was
aroused against the passing fancy of
a philandering husband.
Jealousy. as viewed by the psychl-
artist, is primarily the admission of a
feeling of infcriority on the part of
the person who displays it. This feel
ing Of inferiority may or may not be
justified by the facts of the case, but
for several reasons the persons who
experience it are unsure of the irwin
cibility OF their own equipments of
personality. good looks or intelligence,
especially if it comes to the necessity
for testing these against competitor.
Interlocked also with jealousy is
usually found a Illustration of the de-
termination each human being has to
dominate or 10 exert power over some
other person. Thus the jealous indi-
viduGl, because of an inadequacy or
mismanagement of part OF his men,
tai equipment. has been unable to con-
troll, us much as he would like to,
some one else whose interests or af.
fcctions have become important or
essential to his well being. When
this urge TO dominate has been
thwarted in one attempt, it is human
nature not to give up, but to seek
success in another venture and with
different weapons.
1t would be a mistake, however, to
regard this so-called will to power"
as always undesirable. To some ex-
tent. every one OF us every day has
numerous of our actions motivated by
this device, technically known as a
mental mechanism" None of us is
wholly immune to its appeal, and Nea-
sonably used it helps in the legiti-
mate promotion OF our self.confidence
and our advancement in life.
X x X
THE wife who secretly is burdened
with a conviction of inferiority
that makes her dubious of her hold on
her husband senses in various of his
interests outside the home a threat
to that hold. She may herself be
without average business acumen and
yet resent his facility at managing
complicated affairs at the Office She |
may possess a shy and difficult per- |
tonality IN contrast to his buoyant, |
affable one, and in consequence dis. |
like to meet strangers or attend social |
functions. In such instances she is /
likely to dislike her husbands popu.
larity. Because its very success sym.
bolizes something she has not been
enabled to parallel.
So it happens that a wife of this |
kind land they are not few, thwarted |
in her determination to WELD power /
by conventional means, resorts con. |
eSf,fn ,cIx
old device of the weak. She realizes-I
perhaps from childhood experience, |
perhaps by instinct-that in the strug- |
gle for power the strong get their |
own way by force, while the weak OBJ |
tain it by strategy. AS q result, the |
Jealousy OF her husbands friends and |
activities apparently is dispelled, for |
she has seen that it is unsuitable to |
meet her needs. In it's place she sub |
stitutes the use Of disease symptoms |
as instruments in the warfare, and |
with these success at last is attained. |
Assuming that the husband sin. |
cerely loves her, wife Of the kind |
under dissection has an infallible |
weapon in symptoms of heart dis. |
ease" nervousness" gastric disor-
ders and literally a hundred and one
other forms of physical complaints. |
BY means Of them she can play on |
tender sympathies in the struggle for |
power until, to avoid further emo. |
tional pain, her husband gives in.
Once he yields he is lost. The role |
Of an invalid has won 10 battles of |
this kind to every one gained by nag
ging or by displays Of frank jealousy. |
And the tragedy of 1t all is that the |
deeper the husbands love for his |
wife, the more ruinous will become |
this hold on his affections.
1t matters little that when symp. |
toms Of disease are displayed for the |
purpose mentioned, the most compe- |
tent medical examination seldom finds |
for them any physical cause. No one |
but the psychiatrist and the persons
directly involved has an accurate con- |
cept OF how painful or terrifying such |
symptoms can be made to appear
when situation arises that requires |
their influence to gain for the "in. |
valid" her own way.
So It is that business affairs, social |
functions, endships-anything, in |
fact. that might constitute a menace |
to the wife's ability to dominate-are
one by one relegated by the husband |
to places in his life subordinate to the |
demands of her Illness"
But in thus resolutely placing be. |
hind him or forgetting" his hopes |
and ambitions, the pursuit of which |
satisfied his own legitimate needs for !