The Presentation of Enmeshment in “The Symphony of the Dead”

The Presentation of Enmeshment in The Symphony of the Dead

This paper attempts at exploring the concept of enmeshment in Abbas Maroufi’s outstanding novel, “The Symphony of the Dead”. Defined and developed by Salvador Minuchin, an Argentinian contemporary psychiatrist, enmeshment refers to the condition in which a family system has weak and poor boundaries among the family members. As a feature which is associated with the structural family therapy, enmeshment is defined as a dysfunctional characteristic which compromises and destroys the individualistic role of the family members resulting in trauma, anxiety and the sense of guilt. This concept is to be identified and analyzed in the relationship between two brothers of Urkhanis, a traditional family living in northern part of Iran in the aftermath of the Second World War. Observing the relationships, encounters, actions and interactions and behaviors of Aydeen and Urhan in the course of the story reveals the unhealthy connections of emotions which exist between them which tragically ends in the murder of one by the other.