Have you ever been in the presence of a person who serves the purpose of a faithful follower of a narcissist, even when it means causing pain to other people? These types of people are commonly known as “flying monkeys” in the field of narcissistic abuse, which is not to mean that these are actual winged monkeys, though it would certainly give zest to the tale.
To be honest, flying monkeys are simply unknowing humans who have been used by narcissists to do their dirty work, think of them as the narcissist’s minions who communicate falsehoods and amplify the overall malice. However, the primary concern remains as to why do flying monkeys believe the narcissist? Are these people simply gullible, or do they derive some perverse thrill from being part of the said drama? Allow me to take you on a journey of inquiry into this strange phenomenon.
Who Are the Flying Monkeys?
Before we investigate what makes these people believe the narcissist as well as what makes them do these things, we should first consider who the flying monkeys really are. Flying monkeys are generally people that are part of the narcissist’s close friendship base family members, friends, and even colleagues who the narcissist has tapped to become their accomplices.
The concept of flying monkeys is borrowed from the classic “Wizard of Oz” where the Wicked Witch employed her flying monkeys to perform malicious tasks on her behalf. In a similar way, it would not be too much to say that narcissists will use their flying monkeys to attack and harass their targeted victims. However, unlike their fictional counterparts from the land of Oz, the flying monkeys are not monsters but simply unsuspecting beings who carry out a very real and concrete series of destructiveness against somebody else.
But what causes them to fall for the narcissist’s tricks? As it turns out there are several reasons and they never do the flying monkey any good. Right away we can say that these individuals mostly know the narcissist from the time they were young, fell into their manipulative network, and would probably succumb to the task because they are familiar with either certain responsibilities set by the employer or simply love this individual.
Let’s dive into why do flying monkeys believe the narcissists?
List: Key Reasons Why Flying Monkeys Believe Narcissists
- Naivety: It is not uncommon to find flying monkeys who are completely oblivious to the fact that they are being used or taken for a ride and have absolute confidence in the Narcissists.
- Desire for Drama: Some individuals simply relish being part of all the juicy mess and enjoy the stupidity, twists, and turns of the scheming narrative as it might be.
- Insecurity: Narcissists prey on these people like beasts who are insecure, weak, or are certainly easy on morbid manipulation.
- Manipulation: Potential flying monkeys are systematically poisoned and tagged for exploitation with time as narcissists lies start sprouting faster than the truth.
- Shared Narcissistic Traits: It can also be noted that some flying monkeys may demonstrate narcissistic tendencies that keep them glued to narcissists as they mirror their behavior.
- Charisma of the Narcissist: Finally, the grand naivety of the charismatic Narcissist can make them difficult to shake off, and might even mesmerize the flying monkeys as they are hooked into his or her web of control.
1. Flying Monkeys Believe The Narcissist Due To Lack of Awareness
One of the simplest explanations is a lack of awareness regarding the narcissistic verbal abuse. Few flying monkeys genuinely have no clue that they are taking part in narcissistic abuse. Sounds strange to say the least, since you might think that people can spot toxic behaviors anywhere, but it is very hard to spot them when narcissists are experts in the area of deception.
They present their victims as if they were the villains, thus painting themselves as the unhappy, misunderstood heroes. In this scenario, the following monkeys are seen as well-meaning but clueless individuals who swallow their lies right down. These individuals are not evil; they are just 100% naïve and innocent who have not yet realized the reality of the scenarios in which they become embroiled.
Imagine your neighbor Fred, for instance, someone who believes he is helping his friend by confronting you about how terrible you have been, while he has no notion of the heap of lies he has been fed by the narcissist. Fred is not aware that he is being used like a pawn in the narcissist’s umpteenth game of chess.
The narcissist has expertly manipulated and conditioned Fred into believing some fictitious sad stories not meant for his ears; unbeknownst to him, there is a more significant, darker, and disturbing reality underneath it all.
2. A Craving for Drama
Then there are the group of individuals who are aware of what is going on, oh yes, they know all about the lies but they just cannot resist the thirst for drama and the desire to be entertained. This group of flying monkeys is similar to those people who eat, sleep, and breathe the world of reality TV, and who exist on chaos.
The thrill of having lived the perfect life is spent like a soap opera with all the crying, backstabbing, and flamboyant outbursts, and nothing stirs up the day like sagging into another person’s life and shaking things up in a sweeping manner. They may suspect that the narcissist has demolished the truth, but they are prepared to shut their minds to this.
The reason? Because, to them, the engagement and excitement that comes with being in the encumbered space is more than emancipating than the decorum of honesty and ethics. It is the thrill of being a close friend, behaving like a stage performer, and assisting in the drama production, and escaping the pain of monotony in the daily activities of life.
3. Insecurity and Vulnerability
People who are narcissists do not choose their flying monkeys at random. Rather, they select people who are already vulnerable in some way. Narcissists target individuals with deep-seated insecurities, negative self-esteem, and histories of unresolved traumas, and these individuals become ideal victims.
The narcissist conducts a recruitment analysis, preying on their targets and spotting potential victims who are easy to manipulate into doing their bidding from the start. The reason for this is that susceptible individuals are more likely to accept the narcissist’s false notions of greatness and grandeur at face value and therefore be led along the garden path.
These people typically see in the narcissist someone who is supposedly bestowing them acceptance and protection, albeit one that is conditional and poisonous in the end.
Let’s be honest, most of us know that one member of the friend group who may have insecurity issues. They are the kind of people who are easy, especially to be influenced by people dangling before them promises of love, admiration, or belonging.
And it is this weakness that the narcissists take advantage of and groom these individuals to use as their flying monkeys; they send them to do their dirty work and carry out their malicious agendas unquestioningly and loyally. These people become unwilling agents of narcissistic mayhem, isolated from the world instead of standing up for the victim.
4. Grooming and Manipulation
When there’s one thing that narcissists do not lack in, it’s patience. The process of grooming flying monkeys can take a long time, months if not years. In this time, the narcissist provides the flying monkeys with a diverse range of lies about the victim.
They only feed the flying monkeys with the narcissist’s take on the reality of the victim in the beginning and slowly but surely reel them into the web of lies of the narcissist. The flying monkeys are painted such a strong picture of the narcissist’s version of the story which makes them hold onto this delusion with absolute fervor.
As soon as the Narcissist is ready to cut ties with the victim entirely, the flying monkeys are already so far in with the narcissists that they become aggressive in defending or supporting them even when the facts or reality are screaming otherwise.
Now, and delve into something that happens to anyone who has been away from a particular place of work for long enough.
A person is and has people feeding negative characters about a particular person in the office for months on end. bits of information that contain more than just mild phrases have been coming to the worker’s ears and that made the already existing negative perception the worker has of her former colleague worse.
For instance, comments regarding Jane, who has not done anything in any way to offend the aggrieved worker tend to ring in the ears of the worker as “Oh! Did you hear what Jane has done? It is very unlikely that one cooperative staff or user will win the act and the functioning history with angry character for property toward alone or toward another civil workers out there to work with.”
With this gradual process of hearing, it dawns on that if agentia is confronted with her willfully misleaders she may require that he may further conduct himself as that if identified by people, and the worker who was really a capable human being is then morally or simply destructively killed to be truly named in this type of situation.
5. Narcissistic Tendencies
Today, there is a lot that is true about the people who are against each other. There are some of them that represent the people well, to put it plainly. Some persons, like individuals too obsessed with oneself, are people who want to appear on the stage, get wry fellow members, or get drench of admiring audience on the little stage before which their audience gathers.
What does the last group of flying monkeys do in this regard? They participate in the whole process not because thereof, but because they not only engage in the process that they enjoy but also allow these actions to destroy a particular person’s self-confidence and dignity.
In addition, as it is not about the whether these monkeys are not aware of the presence, or they are insecure enough, rather it is about using the insecurities of others to earn the sympathy of others and gain some specific psychological advantage. However, consequently, cashing in further and further unite with these types of claims and ride on the back of the narcissist; fly into the rage and, change.
These flying monkeys possess the same traits of narcissism as the other people they imitate and use in the same manner. They seem to be completely devoid of pity, they hyper more morals and they seem to have a somewhat skewed sense of self. In a way, like people of the same kind come together, these are Minions, who nakedly feed the Narcissist or ride behind them.
6. The Narcissist’s Spell
Lastly, it is very important to state that the power of attraction possessed by narcissists should not be underrated. People suffering from narcissism are one of the most wonderful and beautiful people one would ever meet in their lives.
They have an almost magical ability to make people feel special, like they belong, like they aren’t mere individuals instead of a special club that has only the best of the best type of persons that are. The other side of this charm has its attractive power in the beginning but unfortunately, at the end, it also has its adverse impacts.
Narcissism Charm is full of such force that attracts “flying monkeys” in great numbers. When an individual is under the wing of the narcissist, that individual may feel that he or she cannot escape even when it comes to doubts regarding the man they may falsify themselves around.
Though, when put into the position of subservience, these individuals may feel ambivalent about their duty to the narcissist. Wisdom as such is neglected and some
Charismatic narcissists have this remarkable ability to produce an exquisite feeling of fidelity and loyalty as they lead people to perform all kinds of undertakings that they are inclined to carry out.
Most likely, those breathtaking flying monkeys don’t even notice the tremendous damage they are subjected to until that moment has already passed. At this time, they are chained up so much by the lies and deceit of the narcissist that there is literally no way back into the healthy world of truth.
Conclusion: Breaking Free from the Flying Monkey Trap
The harmfulness of flying monkeys and their endless support for narcissists are crucial to understand by victims of narcissistic abuse. These poor innocents may be characterized as extremely naïve, attention-seeking drama kings or queens, vulnerable fools, or as people who are really brainwashed into believing falsehoods; whatever the reason behind flying monkeys’ involvement in the narcissist’s schemes, these are nevertheless significant and play an important part in the covering veil of mist that envelops the undead of the narcissist.
It is crucial to remember and realize that the people’s flying monkeys are the victims in this blame game, as they are the active turbans of the cosmos of abuse which are twisted/inclined in that direction whether they are conscious of it.
If you are or were the typical narcissist’s victim and you found yourself harassed by the flying monkeys, please be assured that it has nothing to do with you. Whether there are classic or more complex narcissistic attacks, narcissists are experts at creating an army to counter their valuable voices of reason and such efforts to ensure that their target remains in doubt and in anguish.
However, if you precisely understand the behaviors and reasons of flying monkeys, you will lessen the chances of being victimized by their lies. Additionally, they can also be reminders that despite the fact that the flying monkeys, by their nature, seem to be ferociously devoted to the narcissists they serve, they are first and foremost manipulated and controlled by those flying monkeys are simply doing the bidding of somebody else in this case, the narcissist himself or herself.
Like the spell used by the Wicked Witch of the West, once the spell is broken, both you and the flying monkeys will find liberation to live as free individuals without the one’s control over the other. So, remember that breaking free is possible, and you can embark on the path of healing and reclaiming your power.
