In chapter 2 of Freud’s text, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud tells us a story of a child’s game “disappearance and return” which becomes known as “fort da” to explain his idea of “pain/pleasant”. Freud observes an eighteen months old child who repeatedly throws a wooden reel, with a piece of string attach to it, away from him while saying the word “fort” (go away) and when he brings it back he would say “Da” (there). Freud believes the child’s action is a relief of anger for his mother who always leaves him alone. The child doesn’t want his mother to leave him and wants to be the master of the situation; so he replaces an object in place of people. He sends the object (her mother) away and brings it back whenever he wants to. Freud analyzes action saying “the answer will perhaps be forthcoming that the departure must be played as the necessary prelude to the joyful return.” The child gains happiness when he sees the toy return even though it would be unpleasant for him to throw it away in the first place. I think Freud is trying to explain that we are just like the child who appreciates things more after we experienced the pain of losing it while gaining happiness as the outcome of the painful process.
Similar to the story of “Allegory the Cave”, the prisoner has been brought up with the belief that the shadows are the only realities. However, after he is released from the cave and sees things in a more real and more correct way, he would appreciate the true reality more than any other people who have been brought up in this true reality. The cost of this different view was years of suffering in the cave, but he enjoys the outcome of the painful process for he gains happiness.
Freud is portraying a happiness that is attained after experiencing a painful process. We might think that this kind of happiness would be more realistic for we use to believe in “no pain, no gain”, however, are we really going to attain true happy with a painful and unpleasant process?
