From the Pleasure Principle to the Reality Principle: Pinocchio's Psychological Journey

From the Pleasure Principle to the Reality Principle: Pinocchio's Psychological Journey by Mark I. West Before analyzing Pinocchio's psychological development, one must specify which Pinocchio is being put on the couch, for, as several critics have pointed out, there are two Pinocchios. The first Pinocchio was created by Carlo Collodi in the 1880s. The other Pinocchio was created by Disney in the late 1930s. While they share several surface characteristics, their personalities differ in significant ways. Collodi' s Pinocchio is a more forceful, willful, and mischievous character than the Disney creation. The two Pinocchios also take different paths toward psychological maturity. In the Disney film, Pinocchio's psychological development is guided by Jiminy Cricket, a character who is loosely based on a minor figure in Collodi 's book. In addition to being Pinocchio's constant companion, Jiminy Cricket serves as Pinocchio's moral mentor. He informs Pinocchio of his moral obligations, gently criticizes him when he misbehaves, and praises him when he behaves properly. Jiminy Cricket, in other words, can be seen as a personified superego. Jiminy Cricket continues to take care of his charge until Pinocchio's own superego is firmly established. This change occurs during the film's conclusion. Soon after Pinocchio is turned into a real boy, Jiminy Cricket tells Pinocchio to "always let your conscience be your guide." Pinocchio responds by saying, "Yes, sir, I will!" Collodi 's Pinocchio, unlike his Disney counterpart, has no omnipresent adviser to guide him. Although he encounters a number of characters who give him moralistic advice, he generally regards their words of wisdom as worthless poppycock. Still, he does mature over the course of the book. Initially he is an impulsive and lazy brat, but he becomes a patient and hard-working boy. This transformation, however, does not occur simply because Pinocchio has internalized a rigid superego. The process that Collodi uses to account for Pinocchio's transformation is more complex. In order to explain this process, it is helpful to refer to Freud's thoughts on the relationship between what he calls the pleasure principle and the reality principle. Freud defines the pleasure principle as the instinctual drive to achieve pleasure and avoid unpleasure. This principle, according to Freud, can be used to describe the mental activity of very young children. He argues that this is why young children demand that their needs and wants be gratified immediately. Eventually, however, children learn that the pursuit of pleasure can sometimes have unpleasurable consequences. They learn that unless they take the external world into consideration, their attempts to achieve pleasure are likely to fail. Freud suggests that this discovery leads to the formation of the reality principle. He elaborates on this idea in Beyond the Pleasure Principle: Under the influence of the ego's instincts of self-preservation, the pleasure principle is replaced by the reality principle. This latter principle does not abandon the intention of ultimately obtaining pleasure, but it nevertheless demands and carries into effect the postponement of satisfaction, the abandonment of a number of possibilities of gaining satisfaction and the temporary toleration of unpleasure as a step on the long indirect road to pleasure. (10) In the beginning of Collodi 's book, Pinocchio behaves in accordance with the pleasure principle. Not only does he demand food and entertainment, but he also enjoys acting out his aggressive impulses. One of the first things that he does after coming into being is kick Geppetto in the nose. When Geppetto or anyone else suggests that he do anything that he views as being unpleasurable, such as attending school, he steadfastly refuses. Both Geppetto and the talking cricket tell him that he is misbehaving, but their criticisms do not cause him to act differently. Throughout the first six chapters, he impulsively pursues pleasure without giving any serious thought to the consequences of his actions. Pinocchio's behavior starts to change in the seventh chapter. This change is not the result of a moral awakening on the part of Pinocchio. Rather, it is tied to Pinocchio's growing awareness of the external world. After a fruitless search for food, he discovers that he needs 112 the help of others if he...