The false self, this
Superman, is indifferent to abuse and punishment. This way, the child's
true self is shielded from the toddler's harsh reality.
This artificial, maladaptive separation between a vulnerable (but not
punishable) true self and a punishable (but invulnerable) false self is
an effective mechanism. It isolates the child from the unjust,
capricious, emotionally dangerous world that he occupies. But, at the
same time, it fosters in him a false sense of "nothing can happen to
me, because I am not here, I am not available to be punished, hence I
am immune to punishment".
The comfort of false immunity is also yielded by the narcissist's sense
of entitlement. In his grandiose delusions, the narcissist is sui
generis, a gift to humanity, a precious, fragile, object. Moreover, the
narcissist is convinced both that this uniqueness is immediately
discernible - and that it gives him special rights. The narcissist
feels that he is protected by some cosmological law pertaining to
"endangered species".
He is convinced that his future contribution to others - his firm, his
country, humanity - should and does exempt him from the mundane: daily
chores, boring jobs, recurrent tasks, personal exertion, orderly
investment of resources and efforts, laws and regulations, social
conventions, and so on.
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