The Portrayal of Relationship Gaslighting in Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl: A Psychoanalytic Approach

المؤلف

Faculty of Languages and Translation, October 6 University, Egypt

المستخلص

Gaslighting is a psychological manipulation that involves a person or group making someone question his/her sanity, perception of reality, memories, or relationships with others. This paper explores how gaslighting can reveal the realities of emotional abuse in fiction, using it as a strategy to undermine the victim's self-esteem by convincing them that they are insane, making them constantly second-guess their own reality, lying to escape ‘reality twists’, directing emotions, and deceit. It can be particularly problematic when gaslighters are people with whom we have close relationships, such as parents and spouses, who are supposed to be our confidants and would never hurt us. Gone Girl (2012) by the American novelist Gillian Flynn investigates how parents can emotionally manipulate and wield influence over their children through gaslighting, and how those very children, in turn, experience gaslighting over their spouses or even themselves (self-gaslighting) by agreeing to the terms of their gaslighters or rationalizing their conduct. Amy, a gaslightee in the novel or movie, was forced on by her parents, dubbed "the tiger gaslighters," and by her spouse, Nick, termed "the Casanova gaslighter," who is forced on by Amy herself in mutual gaslighting. The concepts of the hidden antagonist, ‘Gaslight Culture’ and discursive gaslighting are also tackled. Amy's parents, her husband, Amy herself, and the media—all engage in gaslighting. The paper is based on Robin Stern's (2007) definition of gaslighting and its effects in her book The Gaslight Effect.

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