ABSTRACT
M urdoch’s The Unicorn is a story of paralyzed stillness, of people who should act and do nothing, although they want to. Intense fear sometimes makes us freeze as if we were paralyzed, like Efngham. We know that we have no motor decit, but we feel that we cannot move an inch. Luckily, this temporary paralysis does not last long. We get over it and we do not conclude that there is something wrong in us just because we feel a rigid coldness in our limbs. Patients with hysterical conversion may feel like Efngham. As much as they might wish to, they cannot move. However, their functional paralysis perseveres and hysterical patients are convinced that it is due to an organic cause despite evidence to the contrary. They are unaware of their preserved ability to move.
