The Joy of Pain (32 page)

Exploring the reasons why we feel
schadenfreude
over misfortunes such as what happened to Tiger Woods was the purpose of this book. However, as I have noted in earlier chapters, my focus on
schadenfreude
is not meant to overplay this reaction to another person's suffering—as natural and common a human emotion as I think it is.

Let's start with Homer Simpson, who is clearly prone to feeling
schadenfreude
when Ned Flanders fails. It is Homer's pleasure at seeing Ned's “Leftorium” do poorly that prompts Lisa to define the emotion for Homer. Toward the end of the episode, however, Homer has had his fill of feeling good when his friend is
suffering, and he suddenly feels terrible for Ned who is about to lose all this property and savings “for a pig and poke.”
²⁸
Homer begins to cry over Ned's troubles and is weighed down with guilt over his earlier wishing for Ned's failure and over his pleasure when this did indeed happen. He leaps into action to save the business. He calls everyone he knows who is left-handed and urges them to go to the store to buy something. Soon it seems that all of Springfield are making their way to the store. In an ending echoing the final scene of Frank Capra's
It's a Wonderful Life,
when the townspeople of Bedford Falls come to the aid of George Bailey, the citizens of Springfield buy everything from can openers to accountant ledgers, all designed for the left-handed. Homer and Ned are now bosom buddies:

NED
: Homer, affordable tract housing made us neighbors … you made us friends.

HOMER
: To Ned Flanders, the richest left-handed man in town.
²⁹

The ended closes with Ned's son leading everyone in the song “Put on a Happy Face.” It is a heartening ending without a trace of envy or
schadenfreude
. The inspired writers of this popular and long-lasting show surely knew that
schadenfreude
should neither be the whole story nor be the way to bring it to a close.

I ended
Chapter 2
with the example of Bertie Wooster taking delicate pleasure in the knowledge that Constable Oates had to stand guard in the cold rain outside Bertie's window. No one had thought to tell Oates that Bertie was no longer a suspect in the theft of the cow creamer and no longer needed to be guarded. The thought of this caused Bertie to sigh contentedly and provided “a curiously mellow sense of happiness.” Even so, few readers would accuse Bertie of being a sadist. Oates had treated Bertie abominably and, in the comic spirit of the novel, he richly deserved a few hours of discomfort. Until this point, Bertie had been imposed upon and mistreated by friends and foes alike and had suffered humiliations and physical injuries, all as he strove to satisfy the wishes of family and friends. Furthermore, he only experienced full contentment when he also knew that he had succeeded in actually helping them. He managed things so that his Aunt Dahlia could keep her cherished cook, his uncle could get a prized cow creamer, and a friend could acquire the
permission to marry the girl of his dreams. The title of the novel,
The Code of the Woosters,
refers to the Woosters' credo to “never let a pal down”—largely the reason why Bertie gets enmeshed in these unpleasant situations. The end of a perfect day contains but a dusting of
schadenfreude
, adding a little spice to the knowledge that his friends and family have what they want.

And yet
schadenfreude
may almost always have a perverse feel to it, precisely because it is a feeling prompted by another's
suffering
. Our capacity to feel
schadenfreude
speaks to a side of human nature about which most of us are uneasy. For good reason, if we dwell for a moment on the appeal of humilitainment and on the insidious path from envy, to anti-Semitism, and then to pleasure in genocide. This is why the title of this book includes the word “dark.”

While writing this book, I requested daily Google alerts signaling any story on the electronic media where the word
schadenfreude
was used. I averaged around two to three or so examples per day, and it was rare to find people admitting the feeling without an excuse. People would say, “I know I shouldn't have felt it but …” or “I have to admit that I couldn't help feeling …” Maybe this is one reason why there is no word for
schadenfreude
in English. It is a feeling that recoils from giving itself a label.
³⁰

But I agree with philosophers John Portmann and Aaron Ben-Ze'ev that the emotion need not be demonized.
³¹
I was struck by readers' reactions to a lighthearted column posted on the
Chronicle of Higher Education
Web site by a professor of English writing under the pseudonym “Alice Fenton.” The column entitled “The Pleasures of Seeing the Deserving Fail” began by stating the delights of successful teaching, but then noted that, equally pleasurable although “much less discussed, are a series of what might be called negative victories.”
³²
Fenton described several variants, ranging from the irksome student who drops out to the student who fails but thoroughly deserves it. In other words, some students are simply hard to like.

She was wise not to give her real name. A passionate reaction quickly arose from many readers. Of the 101 comments I scanned, over half (52) were unambiguously critical and, of these, 32 were scathing.

• I want to take a shower after reading this piece. What's bad is that it's filled with pettiness and
schadenfreude
.

• What a horrid little essay.

• … to take pleasure in the ignorance, messed-up life, or dwindling life opportunities of a young person? That is a form of evil.

• She sounds like a bit of a sadist to me, taking pleasure in others' shortfalls. Shame on you, Alice …!

• Fenton's approach is simple-minded and hateful.

• What a sad, spiteful harpy.

• This essay is the product of a warped mind.

Fenton's honesty swiftly alienated her from over half of those responding—despite other passages in the article that emphasized the many joys she got from teaching, such as when the faltering student blossoms after much effort on both sides. There was no sense that the cases of
schadenfreude
were the prevalent part of her experience. Nor was she arguing that the emotion should be nourished. Rather, she was being unapologetically candid about the full range of emotions she felt as a college teacher, a profession that seems increasingly undervalued. For her troubles, many commenters, using rhetoric perhaps sharpened by the mostly unsigned nature of the postings, concluded that she was either a disturbed, hateful person or an embittered burn-out—and an incompetent teacher—or a blend of all of the above.

She had her strong supporters. This was my favorite:

Oh, for the love of Pete. Why is everyone so snippy? I thought this was a funny essay at a stressful time of term. I glory in the success of my students; I don't gloat or wish their failures, but I certainly recognize some of the scenarios “Alice” describes, and she's not asking us to let loose daily with our negative emotions, but simply allowing us a minute or two to sheepishly admit to one another that we do sometimes have petty feelings, and that it's perfectly natural.
³³

Fenton herself was unprepared for the responses she received, especially the hateful ones. After all, her experiences of
schadenfreude
were rare, and she was careful to start her comments by emphasizing the reasons to celebrate teaching. I saw no reason to disbelieve her. In fact, I thought that her admission of occasional
schadenfreude
gave her greater overall credibility. In another
column in which she responded to the criticism, Fenton summed up her own defense well:

To be human is to be unpleasant as well as pleasant. … Anger, dislike, weariness,
schadenfreude
: Those are all, for me, parts of human experience. That does not mean those emotions rule people, but it does mean they are there sometimes.
³⁴

Yes,
schadenfreude
is there—sometimes—and perhaps more in gray hues rather than in darkest black. In fact, most instances of
schadenfreude
may occur in quickly passing traces. These traces originate from the stories we choose to read as we surf the internet or from the gossip we overhear. If we are watching a golf match,
schadenfreude
will be part of the ebb and flow of the event, depending on whether we want a particular golfer to do well or poorly. Tiger Woods sends his ball into the water:
schadenfreude
—if we don't like him. A politician from an opposing party commits an embarrassing gaffe as election night approaches:
schadenfreude
. We see that a player for a rival basketball team that we detest gets injured: a mild rush of
schadenfreude
because the team will suffer—but sympathy for the player as well. A person whom we envy at work comes back from a vacation with an extra roll of fat around her middle or the hairline of a rival is receding surprisingly quickly:
schadenfreude
. Most of us, like Bertie Wooster, are basically good-natured and rarely wish severe problems on others, but we are not above taking pleasure in mild misfortunes when they are deserved. It is the rare person who acts on these fantasies, however. We rely on fate or acts of God. When the desired misfortunes fail to happen, we simply feel secret disappointment. A recently coined word for this feeling is
glückschmerz
—but that is another story.
³⁵

 

1
. From
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/7F23.html
, retrieved April 5, 2010. I take this example from Powell, C. A. J., Smith, R. H., & Schurtz, D. R. (2008), Pleasure in an envied person's gain, in R. H. Smith (Ed.),
Envy: Theory and research
(pp. 148–164), New York: Oxford University Press.

2
. From
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/schadenfreude
, retrieved May 24, 2012.

3
. Howard, R. (Director) (1995),
Apollo 13
[film], Los Angeles: Image Entertainment. The film is an adaptation of real events. I do not claim actual knowledge of Jim Lovell's or Alan Shepard's behavior and feelings.

4
. See
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-05-06/news/christian-right-leader-george-rekers-takes-vacation-with-rent-boy/
, retrieved May 16, 2010.

5
. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/opinion/16rich.html
, retrieved May 16, 2010.

6
. Ibid.

7
. See
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/05/rekers_on_the_record.php
, retrieved May 16, 2010;
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-05-06/news/christian-right-leader-george-rekers-takes-vacation-with-rent-boy/1
, retrieved May 28, 2010;
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/05/george_rekers_is_a_homosexual_says_escort.php
, retrieved May 28, 2010; and
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2010/05/more_on_george.php
, retrieved May 28, 2010.

8
. See
http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/the-age-of-schadenfreude/
, retrieved December 17, 2011.

9
. See
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2005/march-05/reality-check.html
, retrieved January 12, 2011.

10
. Steinbeck, J. (2008),
The grapes of wrath
, New York: Penguin. This novel was first published in 1939, p. 349.

11
. de Waal, F. B. M. (2009),
The age of empathy: Nature's lessons for a kinder society
, New York: Harmony Books; Keltner, D. (2009),
Born to be good: The science of a meaningful life,
New York: W. W. Norton; McCullough, M. E. (2008),
Beyond revenge: The evolution of the forgiveness instinct
, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

12
. Baer, R. A. (Ed.) (2005),
Mindfulness-based treatment approaches: Clinician's guide to evidence base and applications
, New York: Academic; Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2008),
Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth
, New York: Wiley-Blackwell; Emmons, R. (2007),
Thanks! How the new science of gratitude can make you happier
, New York: Houghton Miffin Harcourt; Seligman, M. E. P. (2011),
Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being
, New York: Free Press.

13
. See
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/1inaug.htm
, retrieved August 1, 2012.

 

1
. Cited in Heider, F. (1958),
The psychology of interpersonal relations
, New York: John Wiley & Sons, p. 285.