Psychological Analysis of the Character "Raghid Al-Zahran" in the Novel "Laila Al-Muliyar" based on Karen Horne's Personality Theory

Freud was the first psychoanalyst to present his ideas personally in literature. Following him, neo-Freudians such as Karen Horne explored human personality from different perspectives. In her theories, H addressed Freud's concept of basic anxiety by identifying three personality types: reclusive, aggressive, and affectionate. Ghada Al-Samman is a contemporary Lebanese novelist who has written about characters drawn from real life in her book "Laila Al-Muliyar." In this novel, the author employs indirect characterization through active dialogues, monologues, and actions. Raghid, the story's antagonist, exhibits traits such as mistrust of others, lack of affection and interest in people, cruel behavior, being easily dominated by others, a strong desire for success and attention, and a focus on his own interests. Among these traits, mistrust is particularly prominent. Raghid uses these characteristics as mechanisms to cope with his inner conflicts. The research method applied is qualitative content analysis. The research results indicate that dominance is a key trait al-Saman seeks to demonstrate to the antagonists in his story. These negative characters are cowardly patriots who, prioritizing their own safety and well-being, participate in destructive activities outside their homeland.
Introduction
Karen Horne was one of the neo-Freudians who proposed alternative theories in the field of personality psychology. Although she did not consider herself a non-Freudian and expanded upon Freud's theories, she de-emphasized the biological factors that Freud highlighted and instead emphasized the role of social and environmental influences. While neo-Freudians generally adhered to Freud's structural model of the mind, they introduced modifications. The primary goal of these reformers was to transform the traditional view of personality, which portrayed the mind as entirely rational and its activity as no longer governed by unconscious, irrational emotions and compulsive defense mechanisms. The novel Laila Al-Muliyar by Ghada Al-Samman is her third novel, published in 1986. The story is narrated in the first person by Khalil, the main protagonist. It centers on Khalil and his wife, Kefi, and is set in two locations: Beirut, where the story begins, and Geneva. The novel features numerous primary and secondary characters. Ghada Al-Samman employs the inner dialogue of each character, revealing their true nature. Among literary works, realist stories are considered particularly effective for exploring the complexities of characters.  These characters are modeled on the real personality types of the society, in addition to that, the author in such novels tries to describe the social, political, religious and cultural realities of the society through characterization and the events that happen to them; depicts Since Ghada Al-Samman portrays different strata of society in the novel Laila Al-Muliyar, such as the rich, the poor, the intellectuals, and the fighters, and tries to examine the effects of immigration on their soul and spirit. The correspondence of these characters with psychological theories, which deals with human personality, has good results. After reading Laila Al-Muliyar's novel and according to Karen Horne's theory of personality types, it can be concluded that there is a striking similarity between Raghid al-Zahran's character in Laila Al-Muliyar's novel and the superior personality type studied by Karen Horne.
Methodology
The current study is interdisciplinary in nature. Information was collected through library research and analyzed using a descriptive-analytical method. The focus is on Karen Horney's concept of the dominant or aggressive personality type, which is compared to the character of Raghid Al-Zahran, who is the antagonist and foil to the story's hero. By examining selected samples from the novel, the study aims to explore the author's intent in creating this character.
Results and Discussion
Raghid Al-Zahran is the antagonist and one of the main characters in Laila Al-Muliyar's novel. According to Karen Horne's theory of neurosis, he exhibits traits of the supremacist type. Ghada Al-Samman describes Raghid Al-Zahran's physical characteristics as short and obese. His most prominent psychological traits include greed for gold, hatred toward humans and all living creatures, and a thirst for power and domination over others. He is also characterized by a disregard for others' consent, hypocrisy, deception, and a lack of trust in people.
These components correspond to the six axes of aggression according to Horne's perspective: 1. Mistrust of others 2. Lack of love and affection toward others 3. Cruel behavior 4. Dominance over others 5. Strong need for success and superiority 6. Originality, interests, and exploitation of others in harmony.
The presence of Raghid's character in Laila Al-Muliyar's story is with descriptions of his physical and psychological appearance. The author portrays Raghid's intense fear of the people around him and his environment using an internal dialogue. Another characteristic of superior personalities is the lack of love and affection towards other people. In addition to mistrusting others, this neurotic personality type has no love or interest in communicating with people and creating deep social relationships.
As we observe in Raghid's character, he is indifferent to the misery and suffering of others. In a part of Nasim's novel, Raghid's servant asks him to help a man named Sriuddin. However, despite Nadim's description of Sriuddin's condition, Raghid al-Zahran shows no humanitarian concern. Raghid has amassed his wealth through selling weapons and planning to ignite the Lebanese civil war. He is both a patriot and a cruel person.
Conclusion
Examining the story of Laila Al-Muliyar reveals that the traits of a dominant (aggressive) individual are clearly embodied in the character of Raghid Al-Zahran, who serves as the story's antagonist. The author employs characterization techniques, including tagged and active dialogue, as well as the protagonist's actions, to develop Raghid Al-Zahran's personality traits.
Due to mental complexes as well as the stabilization of basic anxiety in this character, he constantly tries to bring others under his control. The only people who approve and admire him are around him. However, Raghid's nervous behavior is depicted in the story, he is very afraid of others gaining power against him.