The Schopenhauer Cure

A Novel

Irvin D. Yalom

To my community of older buddies who grace me with their friendship, share life`s

inexorable diminishments and losses, and continue to sustain me with their wisdom and

dedication to the life of the mind: Robert Berger, Murray Bilmes, Martel Bryant, Dagfinn

Føllesdahl, Joseph Frank, Van Harvey, Julius Kaplan, Herbert Kotz, Morton Lieberman,

Walter Sokel, Saul Spiro, and Larry Zaroff.

36

_________________________

Where are there

any real

monogamists? We

all live for a

time and, most

of us, always,

in polygamy.

And since every

man needs many

women, there is

nothing fairer

than to make it

incumbent upon

him to provide

for many women.

This will

reduce woman to

her true and

natural

position as a

subordinate

being.

_________________________

Pam opened the next meeting. «I`ve got something to announce

today.»

All heads turned toward her.

«Today is confession time. Go ahead, Tony.»

Tony bolted upright, stared at Pam for a long moment, then

leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. If

he had been wearing a fedora, he would have pushed it down over

his face.

Pam, surmising that Tony had no intention of commenting,

continued in her clear bold voice, «Tony and I have been sexually

involved for a while, and it`s hard for me to keep coming here and

be silent about it.»

After a short charged silence came stuttered questions:

«Why?» «What started this?» «How long?» «How could you?»

«Where is it going?»

Quickly, coolly, Pam responded, «It`s been going on for

several weeks. I don`t know about the future, don`t know what

started it; it wasn`t premeditated but just happened one evening

after a meeting.»

«You going to join us today, Tony?» Rebecca asked gently.

Tony slowly opened his eyes. «It`s all news to me.»

«News? You saying that this is not true?»

«No. I mean confession day. This ‘go ahead, Tony`—

thatwas news to me.»

«You don`t look happy about it,” said Stuart.

Tony turned to address Pam: «I mean, I was over at your

place last night. Being intimate, you know. Intimacy—how many

time have I heard here that broads are more sensitive and want

more intimacy than plain old sexual intimacy? So why not be

intimate enough to talk to me, to run this ‘confession day` by me

first?»

«Sorry,” Pam said, without sounding sorry, «things weren`t

sitting right with me. After you left I was up much of the night

brooding and thinking about the group, and I realized time was too

short—we`ve got only six more meeting left. Am I counting right,

Julius?»

«Right. Six more meetings.»

«Well, it just hit me how much I was betraying you, Julius.

And my contract here with everyone else. And betraying myself,

too.»

«I never put it all together,” said Bonnie, «but I`ve had a

feeling that something wasn`t right the last several meetings.

You`ve been different, Pam. I remember Rebecca sensing that

more than once. You rarely talk about your own issues—I have no

idea what`s going on between you and John or whether your ex–husband`s in the picture or not. Mostly what you`ve been doing is

attacking Philip.»

«And Tony, you too,” added Gill. «Now that I think about it,

you`ve been real different. You`ve been hiding out. I`ve missed the

old free–swinging Tony.»

«I`ve got some thoughts here,” said Julius. «First, something

Pam touched off with her use of the wordcontract. I know this is

repetitious, but it bears repeating for any of you who may be in a

group in the future»—Julius glanced at Philip—«or even lead a

group. Theonly contract any of us have is to do our best to explore

our relationship with everyone in the group. The danger of an out–of–group relationship is thatit jeopardizes the therapy work. How

does it do that?Because people in a tight relationship will often

value that relationship more than the therapy work. Look, it`s

precisely what`s happened here: not only have Pam and Tony

hidden their own relationship—that`s understandable—but as a

result of their personal involvement they`ve backed off from their

therapy work here.»

«Until today,” said Pam.

«Absolutely, until today—and I applaud what you`ve done,

and applaud your decision to bring it to the group. You know what

my question`s going to be for both you and Tony:why now ?

You`ve known each other in the group about two and a half years.

Yetnow things change. Why? What happened a few weeks ago that

prompted the decision to get together sexually?»

Pam turned to Tony, raising her eyebrows, cueing him to

answer. He complied. «Gentlemen first? My turn again? No

problem; I know exactly what changed: Pam crooked her finger

and signaled ‘okay.` I`ve had a perpetual hard–on for her since we

started, and if she`d crooked her finger six months ago or two

years ago I would`ve come then too. Call me ‘Mister Available.`”

«Hey, that`s the Tony I know and love,” said Gill.

«Welcome back.»

«It`s not hard to figure out why you`ve been different,

Tony,” said Rebecca. «You`re getting it on with Pam, and you

didn`t want to do anything to screw it up. It`s reasonable. So you

hide out, cautious about showing any of your not–so–nice parts.»

«The jungle part, you mean?» said Tony. «Maybe, maybe

not—it`s not all that simple.»

«Meaning?» asked Rebecca.

«Meaning the ‘not–so–nice part` is a turn–on for Pam. But I

don`t want to get into that.»

«Why not?»

«Come on, Rebecca, it`s obvious. Why are you putting me

on the spot? If I keep talking like this, I can kiss my relationship

with Pam good–bye.»

«You sure?» persisted Rebecca.

«What do you think? I figure her bringing it up at all in the

group says it`s a done deal, that she`s made up her mind. It`s

getting warm here—hot seat`s getting hot.»

Julius repeated his question to Pam about the timing of her

affair with Tony, to which Pam was uncharacteristically tentative.

«I can`t get perspective on it. I`m too close. I do know that there

wasn`t any forethought, no planning—it was an impulsive act. We

were having coffee after a meeting, just the two of us, because all

you guys went off in your own direction. He invited me to get

some dinner—he`s done that often, but this time I suggested he

come to my place and have some homemade soup. He did, and

things got out of hand. Why that day and not earlier? I can`t say.

We`ve hung out together in the past: I`ve talked to Tony about

literature, given him books to read, encouraged him to go back to

school, and he`s taught me about woodwork and helped me build a

TV stand, a small table. You`ve all known that. Why it got sexual

now? I don`t know.»

«Are you okay about trying to find out? I know it`s not easy

to talk about something so intimate in the presence of a lover,” said

Julius.

«I`ve come here resolved to work today.»

«Good, here`s the question: think back to the group—what

were the important things going on when this began?»

«Since I returned from India, two things have loomed large.

Your health is number one. I once read a crackpot article stating

that people pair in groups in the unconscious hope their offspring

will provide a new leader, but that`s far out. Julius, I don`t know

about how your illness might have prompted me to get more

involved with Tony. Maybe the fear of the group ending caused me

to seek a more personal permanent bond; maybe I irrationally

thought this might keep the group continuing after the year. I`m

guessing.»

«Groups,” said Julius, «are like people: they don`t want to

die. Perhaps your relationship with Tonywas a convoluted way to

keep it alive. All therapy groups try to continue, to have regular

reunions—but they rarely do so. Like I`ve said many times here,

the group is not life;it`s a dress rehearsal for life. We`ve all got to

find a way to transfer what we learn here to our life in the real

world. End of lecture.

«But, Pam,” Julius continued, «you mentionedtwo things

loom large: one was my health and the other was...”

«It`s Philip. I`ve been preoccupied with him. I hate that he`s

here. You`ve said that his presence may ultimately be a boon to

me, and I trust you, but so far he`s been nothing but a blight, with

maybe one exception; I`m so caught up in my hatred for him that

my preoccupation with Earl and John has vanished. And I don`t

think it`s coming back.»

«So,” Julius persisted, «so Philip looms large. Is it possible

that Philip`s presence plays some role in the timing of your affair

with Tony?»

«Anything`s possible.»

«Any hunches?»

Pam shook her head. «I don`t see it. I`d vote for sheer

horniness. I haven`t been with a man for months. That`s rare for

me. I think it`s no more complicated than that.»

«Reactions?» Julius scanned the room.

Stuart jumped in, his keen, orderly mind clicking. «There`s

more than conflict between Pam and Philip—there`s a lot of

competition. Maybe I`m stretching it, but here`s my theory: Pam

always had a key place, a central position, in the group—the

professor, the erudite one, the one who took Tony in hand to

educate him. So, what happens? She goes away for a few weeks

and returns to find Philip squatting in her place. I think this was

disorienting.» Stuart turned to Pam. «Whatever other grievances

you had about him from fifteen years ago got compounded.»

«And the connection to Tony?» asked Julius.

«Well, that might have been one way of competing. If my

recollections are right, it was around then that Pam and Philip both

tried to give you comforting gifts. Philip passed out that story

about the ship stopping at an island, and I remember Tony got

really caught up in the discussion.» He turned to Pam. «Maybe that

was threatening to you; maybe you didn`t want to lose your

influence over Tony.»

«Thanks, Stuart, mighty enlightening,” shot back Pam.

«Your point is that to compete with this zombie I have to fuck all

the guys in the group! That`s your view of women`s abilities?»

«That`sgoing to encourage feedback,” said Gill, «and that

zombie crack is out of line. I prefer Philip`s even–mindedness over

hysterical name–calling any day! Pam, you are one angry lady. Can

you be anything else but mad?»

«Those are strong feelings, Gill. What`s happening?» asked

Julius.

«I think I see a lot of my wife in this new angry Pam, and

I`m determined not to let any vicious stuff pass—from either of

them.»

Then Gill added, «And there`s something else. I think I`m

miffed at continuing to be so invisible to Pam.» He turned to her.

«I`m being personal and upfront with you; I`ve let you know what

I`m feeling about you, I tell you how I see you as the chief justice,

but nothing registers—I still don`t matter. You only got eyes for

Philip...and Tony. And I think I`m giving you important stuff—

and here`s another piece: I think I know why your John bailed

out:it wasn`t because he was a coward; it was because of your

rage. ”

Pam, lost in thought, remained silent.

«There are lots of powerful feelings coming out. Let`s keep

looking at them and try to understand them. Ideas?» asked Julius.

«I admire Pam`s honesty today,” said Bonnie, «and I can

understand how raw she feels. I also appreciate Gill taking her on.

That`s an amazing change for you, Gill, and I applaud it, but

sometimes I wish you`d let Philip defend himself. I don`t

understand why he doesn`t.» She turned to Philip. «Why don`t

you?»

Philip shook his head and remained silent.

«If he won`t speak, I`ll answer for him,” said Pam. «He`s

following instructions from Arthur Schopenhauer.» She took a note

from her purse, scanned it, and read:

• Speak without emotion.

• Don`t be spontaneous.

• Remain independent of others.

• Think of yourself as living in a town in which you have the

only watch that keeps time—it will serve you well.

• To disregard is to win regard.

Philip nodded appreciatively and replied, «I approve

of your reading material. Sounds like pretty good advice to

me.»

«What`s going on?» asked Stuart.

«Doing a little browsing in Schopenhauer,” said

Pam, holding up her notes.

After a silence, Rebecca broke the impasse. «Tony,

where are you? What`s going on with you?»

«Hard for me to talk today,” said Tony, shaking his

head. «I feel tied up, like I`m frozen solid.»

To everyone`s surprise, Philip responded, «I think I

understand your bind, Tony. It`s like Julius said, you`re

caught between two conflicting requirements: you`re

expected to work in the group by freely expressing

yourself, and at the same time you`re trying to honor your

allegiance to Pam.»

«Yep, I see that,” Tony replied, «but seeing is not

enough, doesn`t free me up. But still, thanks. And here`s

one back to you. What you just said a minute ago—you

know, supporting Julius`s point—well, that`s a first for

you—I mean not challenging him—a big change, man.»

«Understanding, you say, is not enough. What else is

needed?» Philip asked.

Tony shook his head. «This ain`t easy today.»

«I think I know what would help,” said Julius,

turning toward Tony. «You and Pam are avoiding one

another, not expressing your feelings. Maybe you`re saving

it to talk about later. I know it`s awkward, but can you

make a start on doing it here? Perhaps try talking to each

other, not to us.»

Tony took a deep breath and turned to Pam. «I don`t

feel good about this, feel off balance. I`m pissed at the way

all this played out. I can`t get my mind around why not a

phone call to me first, to talk it over, get me on board for

today?»

«Sorry. But we both knew this had to come out

sometime. We talked about that.»

«That`s it? That`s all you got to say? And what about

tonight? Are we still on?»

«It would be too awkward to see you. The rules here

are to talk about all relationships, and I want to honor my

contract with the group. I can`t go on with this; maybe after

the group ends—”

«You have a most convenient and flexible

relationship to contracts,” interrupted Philip, showing

uncharacteristic signs of agitation. «You honor them when

it suits you. When I discuss honoring my past social

contract with you, you revile me. Yet you break the rules of

the group, you play secret games, you use Tony

capriciously.»

«Who are you to speak of contracts?» Pam shot back

loudly. «What about the contract between teacher and

student?»

Philip looked at his watch, stood up, and announced,

«Six o`clock. I have fulfilled my time obligations.» He left

the room muttering, «Enough wallowing in muck today.»

It was the first time anyone other than Julius had

ever ended a meeting.