The Christopher Bollas Reader

by Christopher Bollas

B is a student in a class. This can be as either a five-year-old or a twenty-five-year-old. The teacher, A. is knowledgeable and intense. Ordinarily, B is quite capable of representing his views coherently. But A does not permit this. He continually finds flaws in B’s arguments and attempts to present a coherent point of view. B becomes rather confused and perplexed. He is less articulate. The less articulate B is, the more aggressively coherent and knowledgeable A is. Gradually A assumes the total function of critical thought, as B simply provides the material for A’s superior thinking. This procedure is in the nature of an extractive introjection, since A takes into himself what was partly B’s ability, the capacity to think clearly and to put thoughts into words.

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