Meta: Guilt and Shame, Dean Winchester Style

[i_speak_tongue]

I read some meta the other day that attempted to explain away Sam and Dean’s differences by claiming that Dean feels guilt, which is healthy, while Sam feels shame, which isn’t. As if these two things don’t go together like PB and J. As if the levels of guilt that Dean feels can be considered healthy at all. Anyway, instead of critiquing that

Comments

[anactoria]

Bit late to the party on this one (I just discovered spn_heavymeta, there goes my evening...), but this is a great piece of meta, and thanks so much for posting it. ♥

I haven't read the post you're responding to, but the Sam=shame, Dean=guilt idea is something that's occurred to me in the past. It seems a little black and white for such a complicated situation, though, and you've really nailed the nuances of that here. And also, it's so difficult to separate the two, anyway. I'm no psychologist, but I'm sure I've read things about how people internalise their actions into their self-perception as far as they confirm it -- which would certainly seem to make sense for Dean and his violence and associated self-loathing.

I do have a slightly different reading of this:

This is a huge source of inner conflict for Dean right now, because his guilt and his shame are at odds. His feelings of guilt and responsibility led him to take on the Mark of Cain. But now, his shame-of being more destructive than helpful, of being only of use as a weapon, as a tool for violence-is only being reinforced by what the MoC is doing to him.

I feel like they're actually working together--harmfully--here. Dean taking on the MoC may have been an immediate reaction to something he felt guilty about, but I think his sense of himself as no more than a tool/weapon is also a contributor to his making decisions like that. I'm sure he's eventually going to be hit with a shedload of guilt over whatever he ends up doing under its influence, but in terms of what it's doing to him, it doesn't matter, because that's already what he is: poison, a blunt instrument, a failure. IDK, maybe that's just the same thing from a slightly different perspective -- anyway, just my two pence worth. Thanks again for such a thought-provoking post! :)