Playful Guides to the Transactional Analysis Grid


It's possible to find plenty of playful (and therefore illuminating) guides to the transactional analysis grid within children's stories and fables. Some people have warned that to describe these guides will trivialise and diminish the Hare hypothesis. I disagree. If certain people can't explore their savage little animal within, using childlike guides then they're not the kind of people who are likely to be able to enjoy the hypothesis in the first place. The Hare hypothesis doesn't go down well with rigid, unplayful people.
One place where the four life-scripts first appeared in many British people's lives was in Rainbow, the popular children's TV programme of the 1980s. In Rainbow we had George, the gentle pink hippo (Hippie), always too stoned to do anything for himself, needing constant guidance. Then we had Zippy (Punk), half drunk and mouthing off quick loud complaints all the time. Next we had Bungle (Happy Hardcore), the overtly bouncy, empathetic bear: the annoying one who was always trying to butt in to help. Lastly there was Geoffrey, the balanced, cool, hostile strength, who played the role of firm leader.
No wonder the programme became so popular among young people in the Eighties. We could say that it left a lasting mark on them: the 'mark of the beast'.
There are many guides to the transactional analysis grid in children's stories. The Wind in the Willows is possibly the most loved, with doleful Mole (thoughtful earthy Hippie who appears first in the book); rebellious, petulant Toad (posh Punk); hearty Ratty and stern Badger (who leads the storming of Toad Hall and appears last in the book). Although Kenneth Grahame used Toad's pomposity to add a vulgar, funny tone to the book, he could easily have obtained the same effect by making any of the other main characters more self-important.
J.K. Rowling used a Friendly Strength for this purpose in the Harry Potter myth. Remember the self-important Gilderoy Lockhart?
Interestingly Ms Rowling also uses a quaternity in the crest of Hogwarts with the Lion, Eagle, Snake and Badger. No extreme atavistic guide however emerges from the school of wizardry, perhaps because of the large number of characters involved. Kenneth Grahame on the other hand squeezed his psyche into four main roles on the River Bank, hence the blatant unavoidable guide.

As Alan Bennett points out in his book, Writing Home, the Wind in the Willows, '...special charm lies in the characters.' * Mr Toad's own weak tantrums were based on Kenneth Grahame's son's extreme outbursts. The tantrums were written down in fiction and returned to the child as a gentle goad to outgrow them. Sadly however, his son was to return to the Riverbank in the form of Port Medow in 1920. It was here he commited suicide by a railway line which, Alan Bennett tells us, is symbolically Toad's intrument of destruction.
In fact, it is the Train and the Riverbank which afford Toad's escape from prison. They are his two magical gateways to freedom. Both lead him to states of inner calm and relief. Perhaps Grahame's son was subconsciously drawn to both in a desperate bid to find freedom from his own anguish. It's ironic - or perhaps synchronistic in the Jungian sense - that having written The Wind in the Willows for his son, both father and son should return to it in such a tragic manner.

The four life-scripts can also be traced back in time to the four humours of the Medieval period. The grid below gives a guide to these humours treated as a mandala:

Unfortunately the quadrant of 'Melancholy' took on a slight change in Victorian times to mean depression. We'll stick to the original meaning as used in the more distant past.
The four Medieval humours can be studied in the light of chaotic youth culture. Melancholy humour tends to be played out by a lot of aging Hippie-to-the-core types. It is the main humour we can view within New Age, social circles. Watch out for it next time you're down at your local wholefood, alternativey style of shop.
Bilious humour is the favourite of post-Punk culture, best seen in video footage of Rick, out of the comedy, the 'Young Ones'. It's funny to note that the two most popular characters out of this comedy happened to be Rick, the politco student punker and Neil, the depressed, apologetic Hippie. The biggest gags were obtained by playing off the differences between these two characters. The other two actors remained more neutral although the portrayal of Vivian seemed like a weak attempt to portray a thuggish hostile strength.
Americans have recently found a resurgence of Punk through the cartoon heroes, Beavis and Butthead. Bilious humour is characterised by a great deal of sniggering and these two characters certainly take sniggering to the point of sounding surreal.
Post-Rave culture provides us with the opportunity to study phlegmatic humour in a big way. We're talking of the kind of humour shown by the party animal, Mr Fezziwig, out of Dickens's Christmas Carol. In modern times old-school House encourages a feeling of lion-like nobility while happy hardcore has a humour which appears much more animated. Happy hardcore face contortionists are particularly interesting to study in light of this idea.

Atavistic scenes appeal to younger revelers and no doubt this will prove to be the breeding ground for the next major youth current. Young people are always the first to tap into the growth of social chaos along with receptive mystics, lovers, creative musicians, campy personalities, compulsive clubbers, artists, street types and all the 'shamanistic' or off-kilter elements of society. An intensification of social chaos excites them rather than scares them. They know that chaotic situations, whether they celebrate pleasure or pain, should not be rejected or thought of as being somehow regressive. Such people are humorous and open to change. They understand Gnosis as experiential knowledge learnt through letting their personal body be taken by the greater social body of the Hare. This feels good and is a necessary part of leading a healthy life.

If you're mad enough to be reading this site you'll likely have wakened from extensive clubbing in the past only to realise with a shock that you're not quite sure if it's getting dark or actually getting light outside your window. That's the doorway we're looking for. Hare's love the twilight, especially in March.

* - Writing Home, Alan Bennett, 1994. Mr Bennett adapted The Wind in the Willows for the stage in the late 1980s. (I bought my own copy of Writing Home from Oban Library for just forty pence; a sturdy 1st edition. It's amazing the bargains you pick up in library sales.)

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