Paranoia Case

Paranoia

In the short story " Man Descending " from Guy Vanderhaage , the author shows us the psychological descent of the protagonist, Ed, who has lost faith in himself in response to the inevitable aging of mankind. Vanderhaage shows us how it is the feeling of paranoia from the problems of Ed's life that makes him vulnerable and confused that prevents the possibility of his epiphany and transformation from descent to ascent.

Ed's first encounters the feeling of paranoia when he talks about approaching the age of thirty. The protagonist tries to explain how his wife "does not understand that I am a man descending ". He makes a reference of an infant prodigy from Germany that does many incredible things when he was at a young age. However at the age of 4, the infant prodigy was dead, most likely crushed by expectations. The author then uses his wife, Victoria, to tell him to get a job to show the contrast of the child's expectations with his wife's expectations of him, showing us that as a response to aging , Ed has concluded that he has " already reached a particular node, and can only descend " and any further expectations would most likely crush him.

However, Ed's failure to meet Victoria's expectation only contributes to the stress that makes him feel more uncomfortable. The feeling of uneasiness is a disguised form of paranoia that confuses and discourages Ed to continue trying to be a better man. The author shows this to us through the character of Ed when he tries to hide from his wife, whom has "hopes" for the future and is, forced to go to a New Years Party that he didn't want to attend. The author shows us that Victoria tries to be the conjugate force that prevents him from descending through her expectations and aspirations in hopes for a better future. Unfortunately for Ed, the failure to satisfy Victoria's expectations has only strengthened his belief in response to his own age that a " Man descending is propelled by inertia; the only initiative left in him is whether or not he decides to enjoy the passing scene "

Finally, Ed's failure to meet Victoria's expectations has ultimately caused the downfall of their marriage. Ed's reluctance to approach his marriage with the "open-armed camaraderie" has leaded the paranoia of cuckoldry and the descent of his self-confidence. This is shown when Ed decides to lie about getting a job and makes his irate wife complain about how "when [Ed] is going to begin to tell the truth." The author shows us that Ed believes that his descent has caused him to "feel entirely disassociated from what I do. It's a malady of the modern age" and encourages him to start a fight with Howard. This has led Victoria to lose faith in Ed and the breakup of their marriage further exemplified when Victoria believes that