ABSTRACT
Using Odysseus as a starting point, this chapter underscores the importance of recognizing and honoring the realities of internal division, contradiction, and ambivalence in life to make space for the creative possibilities they yield. Next, it turns to the American soul, examining how a culture of unity that disregards complicated psychological realities—including those mentioned above—can become a one-sided negation of shadow. Surveying the settlers’ western expansion, the Civil War, the Monroe Doctrine, and the Cold War, the author points out that the United States, driven by puritanical and missionary ideals since its inception, has disowned its self-interest, imperialistic motives, and repeated acts of violence. The country has projected these onto others, including the British monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church, the Native tribes, Latin American regimes, Russia, and beyond. Seamlessly traveling through literature, depth psychology, history, and international policy, Zoja argues that an unchallenged belief in purity and exceptionalism is not only simplistic but also dangerous, as unconscious splitting and division always give way to violence.
