Self-Actualization and Ideal Self in the Novel "The Fig Tree of Temples" from Horney's Perspective

Psychological critique of personality is one of the new researches in the field of storytelling. Ahmad Mahmood (1310-1381) in the novel “The Fig Tree of Temples” by addressing new writing styles including 1-Anti-heroic description 2- Difference in characterization 3- Flow of mind-body 4-Uncertainty 5-Smooth Reality and imagination, and the description of the person's minds, has produced different effects and approached psychoanalytic novels. One of the new psychoanalytic theories for describing personality is Karen Horney's theory. He is one of the post-war psychoanalysts who emphasized the role of the community in influencing people's behavior by introducing the theory of "triple personality types" and "self-ideal", such as Adler. The analysis of the behavior of the characters of “The Fig Tree of Temples”, which is influenced by the community, and is subject to anxiety and internal stress, can be adapted to Horney's theory. Hence, in this article, after discussing various aspects of Horney's theory, the author explores the "current, real, and self-ideal triple virtues" component in one of the novel characters, "Faramarz", who played the most important role in the events of the story. Following the confrontation with the "present self", the mentioned character has suffered a fundamental conflict with destructive factors such as contempt, neglect, violence, and impunity, and is in ideological captivity of the ideal self and its consequences: i.e. nervous expectations, pride and nervous needs and his anxiety, anger, and depression increase more and more.