Introduction
The chilling novel You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor is unique in that the sinisterly brilliant character of Dr. Gregory is subconsciously obsessed to the point of fanaticism with alienating himself from all relationships and memories to attain the supreme view of logical personality. As a prominent researcher engaged in the study of the manipulation of memory and perception, Dr. Gregory posits that it is only when one gets rid of the sentimental prerogative of people, places, and the past that coldly logical analysis can be attained. Nevertheless, Cranor’s insinuation of obligatory emotional repression as expressed in his book’s character sketches and touching emotional storyline indicates the ideology is too pricey to maintain. Quite the opposite, text analysis, as shown by the depiction of Charlie, one of Dr. Gregory’s patients, shows that Freudo-Marxism can cause alienation between people and their connections. Through the transformation of Charlie’s increasing isolation from social groups and those close to him as a consequence of adopting Dr. Gregory’s steps, the novel illustrates the issue of promoting purity of intellect over empathy.
Charlie assumes the doctor’s attitude toward the world after he goes through with Dr. G’s memory-enhancing treatment, which is more and more cold and calculated. One example is the time when, after a session with Doctor Gregory, Charlie states about his coworker Annie that ” her never-ending, pointless child stories were draining and time-wasting to be amused by” (Cranor 189). In other words, Dr. Gregory’s theory of coldness as a route to deeper thought is directly cited here by Charlie. Nevertheless, the change in attitude has personal effects that come to the surface straight away, as seen when the narrator confronts the main character with the fact that he views her as an “inconvenience” (Cranor 195). The text achieves the isolation that follows from Dr. Gregory’s ideas by showing Charlie trying to work in an intentionally detached relationship with his closest work colleague.
The emotional aloneness of Charlie becomes heartbreaking and stronger when he sends Clara away, his longtime partner, who is painfully cold and logically reasoning with him. In a chilling scene, he remarks to a devastated Clara, using clinical language evocative of Dr. Gregory himself: “As I see it, you are no longer intellectually rigorous. You have no intellectual depth and no curiosity to stimulate me (Cranor 349), although it would be highly irrational to keep our relationship alive.” The sharp, unemotional remark is perhaps the best demonstration of Charlie’s transformation into an absolute Dr. Gregory’s follower, considering all people, including those that were special to him, such as Clara, as mere bodies to be treated rationally and with thorough control. The chilling text then deals with the sad outcome of Charlie musing that “emotions should not be allowed to be part of reasoning” ( Croner 351). CONTNEUV 89 The second part of the poignant description is the brandishing of Charlie in a cold-hearted way of shearing off what is likely the strongest personal relationship in his life, assuming it was to end due to the doctor’s analysis in a detached logical way, which continues to illustrate the breaking interpersonal impact of Dr. Gregory’s dangerous teachings. Like with Annie, Charlie’s coworker, disengagement under pressure leads employees to not only feel isolated and dissatisfied but also have the opposite effect on the promised clarity. In depicting his struggles up so close, Cranor’s novel induces the readers to ponder any worldview that diminishes empathy while exaggerating intellectual power, for in the process, the relationships that were the dearest part of Charlie’s life, have splintered.
Conclusion
Thus, in the detailed uncovering of Charlie’s shocking transformation into Dr. Gregory’s faith through emotionless rationalism in You Feel It Just Below the Ribs, the profound harm inflicted on one’s ties in the name of intellect and ideological purity is tribally explored. While Charlie’s withdrawal into his cocoon of analysis makes it harder for him to interact with people, even his longtime girlfriend Clara, his logic-based principles and codes of the novel lead the readers to examine whether anything is above a human being’s emotions. Even though Cranor’s text provides a nuanced and heartbreaking account of Charlie’s inner turmoil as he strives to reconcile the emerging rational aspects of himself with the innate human yearnings for love and belonging, the text suggests that the interpersonal problems that arise from excessive and pathological emotional detachment are potentially dangerous and that the outcome is problematically posed as the solution to By taking an in-depth look at Charlie’s terrible collapse, the novel is tinted with a somber mood by dramatizing his ultimate failure as a brilliant yet tormented mind. Taken by the delusion of absolute intellectual control and order, Charlie opts to abandon the imperfect or real love between humans in a flawed and messy world in favor of fake superiority, ultimately yielding the consequences of supreme loneliness and despair—a warning from Crane to us that connection is to be valued over isolation.
Works Cited
Cranor, Jeffrey, and Janina Matthewson. You Feel It Just below the Ribs. HarperCollins, 2021.
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