Topical Guide 248
Mark Dorset
Art: Materials and Media: Papier-Mâché
IT WAS LUTHER who occasioned the first manifestation of Lorna’s interest in, and talent for, sculpture. For Lorna’s fourth birthday, Luther made her a papier-mâché duck. He painted the duck in lurid colors, colors that have never been seen on a real duck, colors that Luther supposed would please a four-year-old girl. It was a large duck, large for Lorna, who had to use both her chubby hands to hold it. After dinner, while Lorna’s parents and her Uncle Luther were still sitting at the dinner table, Lorna sat in the parlor, on the davenport, holding the duck.
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 2
Interpersonal Relationships: Sibling Rivalry
“That’s an ugly duck,” said Bertha. She had come into the parlor silently, and she stood in front of Lorna, looking down at her and her duck. Bertha had in the past year or so begun to think of the affections of Uncle Luther as hers, rightfully hers, only hers, in part because Luther had begun to call her “Little Lady” or “My Little Lady,” but also because she had determined, secretly, that she would marry Luther when she grew up. Now he had given Lorna a papier-mâché duck that he had made himself. Bertha snatched the duck from Lorna to look at it more closely.
“This is an extremely ugly duck,” she said. She looked at Lorna to see what effect she was having on her, and Lorna, who had been looking into her lap, lifted her head and looked up at Bertha, and it was one of those moments when Lorna’s elusive beauty shone. Bertha wanted to hurt her then, wanted to hurt Lorna immediately; the urge to hurt was so pressing that she couldn’t allow herself the time to design an injury, could only strike with the crudest sort of blow.Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 2
The following may have been the first use of the term sibling rivalry:
The response of a child to the new baby is a very good example of a frustrating situation commonly evoking aggressive behavior in the form of an assault on the baby or mother, or both. . . .
In regard to sibling rivalry, however, the aggressive response to the new baby is so typical that it is safe to say it is a common feature of family life. As seen in ‘control situations’ the aggressive act in its various forms is depicted so clearly that the dynamic process is worth describing.David M. Levy, “The Hostile Act,” first published in Psychological Review, 48, pp. 356–361 (New York, 1941)
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