|
Freud also elaborated a cultural-historical model of this complex, which he described in Totem and Taboo (1913). In this book, Freud greatly extended the idea of Oedipal man by hypothesizing an Oedipal origin of religion. Freud put his ideas very pithily, and I quote him here at some length. He began by postulating that the earliest stage of society consisted of “a violent and jealous father who keeps all the females for himself and drives away his sons as they grow up.” However,
one day the brothers who had been driven out came together, killed and devoured their father and so made an end to the patriarchal horde. United, they had the courage to do and succeeded in doing what would have been impossible for them individually.175 Freud explained the eating of the murdered father by declaring that in the act of devouring him they accomplished their identification with him and each one of them acquired a portion of his strength. The totem meal, which is perhaps mankind’s earliest festival, would thus be a repetition and commemoration of this memorable and criminal deed, which was the beginning of so many things—of social organization, of moral restrictions and of religion.176 Freud concluded his interpretation with a reference to motivation of an Oedipal type: After they had got rid of him, had satisfied their hatred and had put into effect their wish to identify themselves with him, the affection which had all this time been pushed under was bound to make itself felt. It did so in the form of remorse. A sense of guilt made its appearance, which coincided with the remorse felt by the whole group. The dead father became stronger than the living one had been…. They revoked their deed by forbidding the killing of the totem, the substitute for their father; and they renounced its fruits by resigning their claim to the women who had now been set free.177 This development in Totem and Taboo closely parallels Freud’s presentation of the Oedipus complex elsewhere-for example, in The Ego and the Id (1923a)—with, however, one interesting difference. In Freud’s discussion of the origin of religion in Totem and Taboo, there was relatively more concern with violence (i.e., the sons’ hatred of and rebellion against the father) than in his other Oedipal writings, where Freud placed heavier emphasis on the sexual link to the mother (the incest theme). Now central to Christian theology is the doctrine of original sin, the essential nature of which is rebellion against God. As we have seen, this theme of rebellion against God was an obsessive preoccupation of Freud’s; it is central in much of the literature in which he immersed himself. Intrinsic to such rebellion is the attempt to replace God in his role as ruler over human life. Lucifer leads an army of angels against God, hoping to take His place on the throne of Heaven. Adam and Eve disobey the Creator, after having been tempted with the promise, “You will be |