Linus loves his blankie, Isaac loves his monkey

How children learn to love via their relationships with objects

Juni writes “that object relations begin as soon as the infant can emote” (Juni 1986: 430).  According to drive theory, individuals are driven to meet biological needs.  The most basic of these needs is hunger; when infants experience hunger and then receive food to meet that biological drive, they learn that satisfaction and consequently alternate emotions can be tied to objects outside of the individual (Juni 1986: 430).  As the child develops, he learns to associate a variety of objects with fulfilling needs that may be social, emotional, or psychological, and not just biological (Juni 1986: 430).  Thus, the child begins to associate a variety of objects with emotional responses in relation to how these objects fulfill a number of needs. 

 

Pictured above: One of Charles Schulz’s early Peanuts strips, featuring Linus with his blanket. Lucy explains to Charlie Brown that the blanket provides Linus with a sense of “security and happiness.”

Through this process, we can understand how and why children can feel “love” toward certain objects.  The classic case is from Charles Schulz’s comic strip, Peanuts: Linus is rarely seen without his blankie.  For Linus, the blanket represents a form of emotional security and stability.  As long as he has his blanket, he is comfortable enough to face many challenges.  In fact, in many of the later Peanuts strips, Linus is the voice of wisdom and reason, often shedding insight on topics that one would generally attribute to a sort of older-and-wiser grandparent figure.  For instance, when the Peanuts gang is wrapped up in the material aspects of Christmas, hoping for the perfect pageant and lots of gifts, Charlie Brown laments that no one knows what Christmas is all about.  Cue Linus explaining the pagan beginnings, Christian reappropriation, and the association with joy and thankfulness.  In The Charlie Brown Christmas film, Linus recites from Luke to quote the Biblical explanation of the meaning of Christmas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA).  (Whether or not you believe this explanation is irrelevant.  What is important is that Linus does not get wrapped up in the material aspect of the holiday – a time when most children are focused on receiving new toys and presents.  Rather, he recites his beliefs about the spiritual significance of the holiday, as one would expect from an adult.)

Pictured above: One of Charles Schulz’s classic Peanuts strips, featuring Linus with his blanket, as he demonstrates his wisdom and explains the meaning of Christmas.

 

 My own experience with children’s love of objects pertains to my nephew.  Because I nicknamed him “Monkey,” I like to buy him monkey-themed gifts.  For his second birthday, I gave him a stuffed monkey.  Upon opening the gift, he promptly hugged it and told the stuffed monkey he loved it, without being prodded to do so by any of the adults in the room.  He loves to carry around stuffed animals or dolls, and his favorite is his monkey.  Perhaps the monkey gives Isaac a sense of “security and happiness,” meeting some sort of emotional or psychological need, like Linus’ blanket.  Isaac is too young to explain what the monkey means to him, but his expression of love toward the monkey, through the gesture of hugging it, the need for its companionship, and his verbal admonition of “I love you,” demonstrate that he clearly feels a form of affect for the stuffed animal.

 

Pictured above: Isaac expressing love for his stuffed monkey.

Bibliography:

Juni, Samuel

1986   The Role of the Object in Drive Cathexis and Psychosexual Development. The Journal of Psychology 126(4): 429–442.