Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
PhD Student, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran.
2
Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran.
3
Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Kashan University, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, Kashan, Iran.
Abstract
Individualistic psychology in literary criticism aims to uncover characters’ underlying psychological structures by examining the origins of their fears, traumas, suppressed desires, and emotional responses. This method links the human psyche and the literary text, offering insight into a character’s motivations and inner conflicts. A key concept in individualistic psychology is the inferiority complex, coined by Alfred Adler, who argues that such feelings stem from early childhood frustrations and unmet needs. According to Adler, when individuals feel unrecognized or devalued, they may develop chronic anxiety about the future, often manifesting through compensatory mechanisms, either constructive or destructive. The novel Al-Ashya’ Laysat fi Amakiniha (Things are not in their places) by Huda Hamed offers a compelling narrative framework for exploring themes of racial discrimination, social domination, and the hidden wounds inflicted by cultural traditions and societal expectations. Based on Adler's theory, this study analyzes the inferiority complex in the novel’s three main characters: Amal, a victim of social inequality and whose compensation from studying leads to destructive relationships; Mohsen, a "discouraged child" resulting from parental domination who moves from isolation to emotional-caregiving compensation; and Mani, who creates an imaginary persona through distancing and faces its collapse. The research findings reveal that these compensations are often unstable and rather than healing psychological wounds, often perpetuate feelings of worthlessness, frustration, and passivity. Therefore, the narrative simultaneously represents individual traumas and mirrors social and family pressures that shapes the characters' psychological and identity crises.
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