MELANIE KLEIN- A SHORT ESSAY ABOUT ENVY AND GRATITUDE BOOK

Concepts that are frequently mentioned in the content of the book and I will talk about

• Internalized objects (introjected objects)
• Identifications
• Early fantasy creations
• Defense mechanisms
• Good breast, bad breast

Freud and Klein's views about impulse

According to Freud, the origin of impulses is based on the principle of pleasure, and the object that provides impulse satisfaction is not originally important. There is no internal or essential bond between the impulse and the object. He says that the impulse object acquires a special and imaginative meaning only by means of repetitive experiences. However, Klein says that the impulse depends on the internal objects via evolution. He also used the concept of instinct instead of impulse.

While the formation of the higher-self depends on external, social, and parental prohibitions according to Freud, Klein states that it is as a result of the developments of object relations.

a) What are internalized objects (introjected objects)?

According to Klein, the concept of internal object is a concept that is derived from relationships, especially in childhood, and shapes the emotional stability of the individual. The internal object is the representations created in the inner world by the people that the individual experiences in his/her relations with the external world. These representations have a significant impact on emotional development.

Finally, as a result of, the internal object can be divided into pieces of objects in the form of “all good” and “all bad”. This is one of the ways that the individual manages their internal conflicts and regulates their emotional experiences. This division reflects the complex and contradictory qualities of the internal object.

In Klein's theory, the experience of the object develops with the evolution of the object from the concrete internal object to a more abstract and symbolic status. During this development, the inner object begins to resemble the outer object, and both of them become more realistic. The most important thing is that psychological development is divided into two different self and object relations. The first is the paranoid-schizoid position, which is characterized by pieces of the divided object (and self). The second is the depressive position, which is the ability of the dual valence (feeling love and hatred for the same object), and is characterized by its integration of to see the good and bad aspects of the object in a whole object. Psychopathology shows the various features of the paranoid-schizoid position or depressive position, and the fixation in them. The child's perception of the world as good and bad comes from his own instinctive nature. It gives affection to the good object while giving aggression to the bad one. Objects are experienced by dividing them into good and bad one, not integrally, and this period is called the partial object relation. According to Klein, guilt feeling and conscience do not come from mastigophobia. It derives from the fact that the object of aggression is also an object of affection. In other words, the dual valence is the highest level reached by humans.

Defense mechanisms

Introjection, which was first used by Ferenczi, is a concept that has also been clarified by Freud. While it is a defense against the loss of an object according to Freud, introjection is a spiritual representation of instinctive activity in the oral period according to Klein, but this defense also works with anxiety against the inner world. Both Freud and Klein say that existence is innate bad and full of aggressive objects. Klein argues that this evil should be replaced by good, and there should be a defense to protect self and internal good objects.

Fantasy

According to Klein, all mental processes are grounded by ''unconscious fantasy'', and it accompanies spiritual functioning. However, Freud says that fantasy is intended to compensate an external obstruction, disappointment.

The relationship between good and bad breast and paranoid-schizoid depressive position

The baby associates the concept of mother only with nutrition, and this relationship causes anxiety because it is not under the control of the baby. Although the mother, that is, the breast, comes to the baby, and it is how comforting, satisfying, love, and feeling of gratitude, ts absence/loss triggers feelings of hunger, anger, fear, jealousy and envy.

In the paranoid-schizoid period, the baby distinguishes these two ambivalent experiences in its mind as "good breast" and "bad breast" in order to cope with feelings like envy, and have a mother who can meet its needs. While the baby feels destructive and bad feelings towards the bad breast, it glorifies the good breast. When the baby separates objects into “good” and “bad” by splitting defense mechanism, it can have a completely good mother and get rid of this anxiety for a while. In the process of healthy development, after a while this sharp distinction disappears, and the baby stops judging the world as totally good or totally bad. The baby begins to accept that both of the situations belong to the mother, and she/he may feel lack or fear from time to time, also she may sometimes have pleasure and enjoyable experiences. To be aware of the bad side of the mother and own reveals some fears, as well. This second process, which is experienced by the baby, is called the "depressive period".