My Friend, the Unconscious

“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.” (Coelho, 1993, p. 34) This quotation is very much relevant to my personal life because I felt this exact current Coelho is talking about. It happened when I had passed my intermediate exams with a 54% score. I had to decide the field of study which was going to be my career in the future. I was a bit nervous, but still, somewhere in my mind, I was thinking of opt for English literature. Initially, the current of English literature was less powerful but as I consulted with the experts of literature in my social circle, I felt that current more intensely and consequently I decided to apply for literature in a couple of universities. As I dived into this field I found myself swept away to the fascinating shores of Psychoanalytic Criticism, something that I couldn't have even dreamt of even when I was applying for this career....

Bails with Jokes Saud Hanif Jokes are lenitives for our mental health because they reduce frustrations to some extent which are caused by desires that are considered immoral in our civilised society. Our mind sprouts various desires daily which are driven by our natural instincts. These are natural drives actually and the desires sprout from our biological self. But, sorry to say, we have another self which is bestowed to us by the civilised society in which we live. In the society our often desires, might be against any person we do  not like or about any forbidden activity, are considered as immoral. In order to avoid the immorality, we continuously deny (or repress) our desires and keep wearing a civilised attire in the society. This denial is, in a way, a self-denial. But as the intensity of an instinct behind any desire ascends, our mind starts searching for ways to satisfy the instinct along with keeping sanctity of society. One of the ways is making jokes by using wit as Dav...