“It is true that victims of this kind of cruelty, especially when they are children, cannot allow themselves to feel their justified rage and anger completely for too long. Such extreme emotions are terrifying to experience, to a degree that most adults have entirely forgotten and never understand. In the next few days, I will republish an essay of mine from several years ago that recounts how I relived certain of those emotions myself. You will see how frightening and disorienting the experience is. But there is another reason the victim cannot fully experience and give voice to his anger — and that is his certain knowledge, conveyed by parents, teachers, the government and everyone else in a position of authority, that displays of such emotions are not permitted. If you go ahead and reveal how angry you are in defiance of the prohibition, you will be severely punished for your transgression.” (05/10/08)