The Cruelty of Children

Agression and cruelty in childhood throughout the dissection of Géza Csáth’s novels

Abstract

Where does aggression come from? Is it an adaptive behaviour form as a product of evolution, such as Darwin or Lorenz thought? Or is it rather the sexual drive, which sometimes makes humans behave aggressively, according to Sigmund Freud’s assumption? Or is it caused by learned behaviours, just like the social learning analysis says. In my writing I investigate the matter of the “childhood innocence” through Géza Csáth’s short stories, in whose works the motives of psychoanalysis often appear, called “A kis Emma” and “Anyagyilkosság”. In his works he shows examples in which aggression is showed in an exaggerated way. In the study I would like to explore the part of the psychology that is about aggression and the theory of psychoanalysis, by using the characters and stories created by Csáth, that may help to understand the possible reasons for the actions of the main characters.