Analysis of the personality traits present in “the Grinch” from Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”
Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is one of the quintessential Christmas stories in the English-speaking world. It chronicles the story of the Grinch, a green, greedy, cantankerous character who hates the Christmas season and, ostensibly, everything that the Christmas season stands for. On its face, it seems to be a tale about the meaning of Christmas, and the Christmas season, transformed into a fairytale-like format so that children can easily grasp the issues at play in the text. However, upon closer examination, the story of the Grinch contains a vast number of social and psychological clues about the true mental state of the titular character. Dr. Seuss was well-known for involving far more than simplistic characterizations in his works, and without a doubt, there are aspects of his Christmas tale that can be explained using both Maslow’s theories on motivation and Freud and Jung’s theories on personality, the unconscious mind, and psychoanalysis.
Although many of Freud and Jung’s theories on psychoanalysis, psychotherapies, and personality formation have been debunked and replaced with more up-to-date psychological theories, one of the mainstays of Freudian psychological theory has held true over the years: Freud proposed that incidents that happen during an individual’s childhood have a strong impact on the development of their personality as an adult (Macdonald, 2002). In the film adaptation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” the Grinch is mocked incessantly in school for his attempt at giving one of the popular Whos a Christmas gift. It is this early humiliation during Christmas-time that originally encourages the Grinch to begin hating Christmas. Because Freud postulated that much of the human personality and much of human psychology is driven by unconscious actions, that early humiliation at the hands of his peers during Christmas-time was incredibly toxic to the budding psyche of the Grinch.
Although the past of the Grinch is not explored within the text of the book, utilizing Freud’s theory on child development is extremely effective for the film adaptation of the story. Because Freud’s theory on childhood development is so well-known it has been accepted into popular culture as a cultural meme, the audience can easily recognize the Grinch as a trope. This trope of “traumatic childhood experience” is commonly used in literature and film to explain the behavior of individuals which might otherwise be considered out of the ordinary, unusual, or unnecessary. It also serves the purpose of humanizing an otherwise unlikable character: for instance, in the case of the Grinch, it gives the movie version of the Grinch a softer, more relatable side. The audience will sympathize with him because they have seen and understood his pain and humiliation, a side of the Grinch that is not seen in the textual or original version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
In the textual version of the story, no background is given on the Grinch. Dr. Seuss writes, “The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason./It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right./It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight./But I think that the most likely reason of all/May have been that his heart was two sizes too small” (Seuss, 1985). All of these, save the last reason, seem trivial when considering the amount of distaste and hatred that the Grinch seems to have for the Whos, their society, and Christmas in the philosophical and practical senses.
One possible explanation for this extreme reaction to something so mundane and innocuous like Christmas-time is Freud’s theory of psychological projection. In the theory of psychological projection, the individual rejects the faults that he or she sees in him or herself and sees them instead in the people surrounding that individual (Macmillan, 1997). One excellent example of this is when a cheating spouse begins to accuse his or her spouse of cheating, seeing signs and symptoms of cheating at every turn (Macmillan, 1997). The Grinch projects his disappointment in his own situation by hatching a plan and then predicting the Whos will feel extreme disappointment when he finally carries out the plan. There is no evidence that the Whos will feel any disappointment at all-- no characterization of the Whos has shown them to be easily disappointed or morose-- so this disappointment is a creation from within the mind of the Grinch himself.
The Grinch displays a number of frightening and disturbing personality traits, but perhaps the worst of the displayed personality traits are his tendencies towards destruction and malice. The Grinch wishes to destroy Christmas for the Whos, to ensure that their happiness is turned into sadness. He even seems to be enticed by the idea that the Whos will feel extreme sadness at the loss of their presents (Seuss, 1985). Seuss writes: “‘They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!/They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do! The all the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!’/‘That's a noise,’ grinned the Grinch,/‘That I simply must hear!’” (Seuss, 1985). This apparent pleasure at the pain of others is one of the hallmarks of a sadistic personality as described by Freud (Macdonald, 2002). This is also indicative of a very active death instinct, or instinct for destruction and mayhem (and, potentially, even his own death and destruction).
Another important concept in Freudian psychology is the struggle between the ego and the id. The Grinch, as a character, had a very active id; the id, as the instinctual portion of the individual’s personality, is not consciously controlled by the individual. The ego and the super-ego are meant to keep the individual’s id in check (Macmillan, 1997). While the id is necessary, in Freudian analysis, to balance the ego and the superego, there are certainly downsides to having an overactive id, many of which the Grinch as a character demonstrates. The Grinch makes every attempt to stop Christmas from coming, which is an inherently illogical response to his dislike for Christmas. In addition, he has no concern for the problems that his actions will cause others. People and characters with overactive ids are often selfish and self-centered; the Grinch demonstrates all of these characteristics in spades (Seuss, 1985). The id is in control of basic and instinctive actions, which are certainly important, but allowing the id free reign causes the individual to act without care for others.
The Freudian analysis of the character of the Grinch suggests that the Grinch changes his mind at the end of the text as a result of a victory that his conscious mind has over his subconscious mind. He becomes able to control his consciousness and becomes aware of the pain he is causing others-- in this case, the Whos. This realization is very important in Freudian psychology.
Unlike Freudian psychoanalysis, Maslow was more concerned with the issues that the individual faces in the context of society at large. Maslow believed that it was impossible to remove the individual and his or her personality from his or her environment; this is why Maslow created his hierarchy of needs, in an effort to describe the ways in which the environment affects this individual and his or her psychology (Maslow, 2000).
In the case of the Grinch, the Grinch is relatively well-off on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. All of the Grinch’s basic needs seem to be taken care of; his physiological and safety needs are both met (Maslow, 2000). Where the Grinch’s life fails is in the love and belonging level of the hierarchy. The Grinch has no family, no friends, and no affection in his life; this has turned him into a miserly, cantankerous grouch. The Grinch has no personal contact in his life, and it has seriously affected him in a very negative manner (Seuss, 1985).
Maslow also introduces the idea of a Jonah tendency that many people exhibit in their personal lives (Maslow, 2000). The Jonah complex is an issue by which the individual avoids risks in some area of his or her life because of a fear of failure or a fear that he or she will fail to meet the standards he or she sets for him or herself (Maslow, 2000). The Grinch repeatedly shows this tendency by refusing to participate in the Christmas season with the Whos because of his fear that he will be rejected.
Maslow also suggests that the individual may have experiences that are epiphanies, that transcend what the self was capable of previously. He refers to these epiphanies as peak experiences, and he suggests that they may be highly transformative for the individual (Maslow, 2000). The Grinch has a peak experience on the summit of the mountain, when he hears the Whos singing and suddenly becomes aware of the true meaning of Christmas.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is an excellent children’s story about the true meaning of Christmas, but it is also fascinating in the context of studying human psychology. The Grinch exhibits a number of personality traits, some normal and some pathological, that make him an excellent psychological study.
References
Macdonald, K. 2002. Psychoanalysis in Its Death Throes: The Moral and Intellectual Legacy of a Pseudoscience. [online] Available at: http://www.csulb.edu/~kmacd/paper-CrewsFreud.html [Accessed: 18 Aug 2013].
Macmillan, M. 1997. Freud evaluated. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Maslow, A. 1973. Dominance, self-esteem, self-actualization: germinal papers of A.H. Maslow. Monterey, Calif.: Brooks/Cole Pub. Co.
Maslow, A. 2000. Classics in the History of Psychology -- A. H. Maslow (1943) A Theory of Human Motivation. [online] Available at: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm [Accessed: 18 Aug 2013].
Seuss. 1985. How the Grinch stole Christmas. New York: Random House.
Villarica, H. 2011. Maslow 2.0: A New and Improved Recipe for Happiness. The Atlantic, [online] August 17. Available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/08/maslow-20-a-new-and-improved-recipe-for-happiness/243486/#.TkvKIRv8USE.facebook.
