The Theme of Individuation in the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
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THE THEME OF INDIVIDUATION IN THE SHORT STORIES OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY By JOSEPH MICHAEL DeFALCO A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA June, 1961 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 3 1262 08666 374 6 TO MT WIFE PREFACE The existence of architectonic forms in literary creations presupposes a base point from which the artist proceeds in order to actuate his aesthetic formulations. This point would presumably lie in the realm of the conceptual and would correspond to some degree with the artist's intent. Hemingway's entire literary edifice rests on his openly avowed desire to translate factual data into fictive configura- tions which in turn re-create the essence of true-life experience. In effect he set for himself the task of capturing reality in a repre- sentative art form. The establishment of a referent implies much more than mere intent on the artist's part, for if he has fully committed himself to the inherent possibilities of his choice then he has at the same time selected the governing agency of his artistic productions. The problem then would remain of selecting the most suitable means by which the ends of this agency would best be served. In his short stories Hemingway structures the content upon the theme of individuation. His central characters constantly face contin- gent forces in life. Their attempts to reconcile the irrationality of these intrusions form the underlying motivation for action. Reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable demands feats of heroic magnitude at the individual level. Some of Hemingway's heroes fail, some succeed; others assimilate the irrational elements and emerge as a different kind of hero. For the latter, assimilation amounts to crucifixion, and several of iii . Hemingway's heroes follow the pattern of the crucified-god motif. Those who manage to face the irrational forces and who compromise with them become the "adjusted" ones. Those who cannot compromise or over- come these forces become moral cowards and are depicted as the alien- ated and isolated ones. An examination of Hemingway's short stories in the light of Carl Gustav Jung's psychoanalytic procedures reveals suggestive realms in Hemingway' s fiction hitherto submerged under the epithets of natural- ism and realism. Hemingway's artistry goes far beyond such generaliza- tions, and only a close examination of individual stories reveals its true range. In the short stories Hemingway has attempted to catalogue the progress of contemporary man in his strivings to somehow come to terms with a world which he cannot truly understand. Sometimes the focus is upon individual and local conflicts, but always the imagina- tive manipulations of symbolic materials project such conflicts beyond the immediate. To examine the interworkings of Hemingway's stories is to comprehend the complete mastery which Hemingway holds over his material In this study I have drawn more on the works of Jung as inform- ing agents than as rigid guides to force Hemingway's artistry into the mold of psychoanalysis. Jungian patterns of motifs and psychological insights offer rich possibilities for literary interpretation, and I have drawn upon them when needed. Joseph Campbell's work has provided illuminating insights, many of which could not be documented since they were peripheral rather than direct. Professor William Bysshe Stein's articles and some personal discussion were helpful. Professor Edwin M. Moseley, with whom I studied as an undergraduate, contributed much to my early and lasting insights into Hemingway' s fiction. The careful guidance and sympathy given me by my committee chairman, Professor Harry R. Warfel, needs to be acknowledged in other ways; without his critical acumen and kindly advice this study would have been impossible. I wish also to thank Professor Charles W. Morris, who not only served as a committee member but also guided me through my investigations of Jung. Professor David Stryker, Professor Stephen F. Fogel, and Professor John A. Penrod served as members of my committee and gave me their time and advice when I most needed it. Others who may go unacknowledged here also have my gratitude. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page iii PREFACE Chapter 1 I. INTRODUCTION 25 II. INITIATION EXPERIENCES 67 III. THRESHOLD EXPERIENCES 103 IV. THE WAR AND AFTER 155 V. THE MARRIAGE GROUP 185 VI. THE HEMINGWAY HERO 220 BIBLIOGRAPHY . BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 222 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In any work of fiction the artist must solve the problem of selecting an adequate framework upon which to exploit his thematic design. The choice may be fortunate or unfortunate, depending upon the degree of skill of the particular artist. It may be an obvious, mechanical device, with the primary function of furthering the literal development of surface action, or it may serve a more meaningful pur- pose as an actual, integral part of the theme itself. This latter function is certainly the one to be desired, for this important element in the over-all unity of any work is a major contributing factor to its artistic success. Ultimately, of course, if the artistic integrity of a work has been adequately sustained, it is impossible to separate the internal architectonic forms from the thematic design itself. Both are mutually supporting and interpenetrative, taking their vitality one from another in such a manner that any attempt at isolation of one results in the diminished significance of its complement. Moreover, due regard to the coequality of the two as fictive ingredients may lead to a more coherent understanding of the whole as an artistic totality. Immanuel Kant in Critique of Pure Reason cites form and idea as the body and soul of an artistic composition. The analogy holds also in this instance, for neither framework nor theme is complete within itself. The sublimation of mode and idea, of form and theme, is finally the test of the true worth of the artistry involved in any imaginative work. A work of fiction as an imaginative dramatization of ideas must conform to the implications of its nature. In America the products of fictional endeavor are numerous, but only in a few is the union and harmony of the mechanical and the conceptual apparent. Melville's and Twain's The Adventures Moby Dick , Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter , of Huckleberry Finn are among the works of the past that have exhibited such an artistry, and they are among America's greatest literary achievements. Close examination of the works of these three authors demon- strates that each was a master in creating the mode of expression best suited to project his themes. Nothing is gained, for instance, in viewing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a simple story of a boy on a raft floating down a river, for this surface examination overlooks the important fact that Twain carefully structured his story on the journey artifice and that Huck's development as a moral and ethical agent is an inherent part of a universal pattern. It would be equally inconsequential to designate Moby Dick as a story solely about whale hunting or The Scarlet Letter as a description of life in early Puritan Boston. Both of these novels are considerably more, and what makes them more than simple stories is the artistry employed in evolving a framework which adequately serves as the vehicle for conveying a theme. Each of these novels has a framework that is much more than surface outline or simple plot structure. In The Adventures of Huckle - berry Finn such an outlnjie might take cognizance of the episodic struc- ture, but it would surely miss the correlative mythological and psycho- logical journey that projects the local into the universal. These suggestive realms not immediately apparent on the surface of any work give it thematic depth and project what otherwise might be a superficial whim or ideal of an author into the sphere of the primordial conflicts of all men. The ability of an author to so mold his framework that the reader is constantly subjected to forces beyond the mere transitory nuances of surface conflict inevitably determines the degree of dmme- diacy in a work of art. It is this quality that is apprehended by successive generations and makes for permanence in the form. All art strives for permanence in some fashion, and the degree of its success is in no small measure due to the artist's ability to penetrate beyond surface reality into the realm of the universal. As many efforts to achieve the true in art have been made as there have been great artists; yet only those authors who have approached success in this matter have escaped obscurity. Theories of art and aesthetics are plentiful; since the time of Plato and Aristotle theorists have striven to characterize the essential elements in a work of art that explain its ability to transcend the world of the personal and finite into that of the transpersonal and infinite. Whether or not any sys- tematic theory has adequately met the challenge of the formidable nature of aesthetic theory is of no real consequence, however, when dealing with an individual artist and the body of his work. Each creative artist has his own private sensitivity and mode of dealing with his material, and each seeks to answer questions about certain basic problems of all mankind according to his own peculiar outlook. The focus upon an individual artist's method of dealing with these problems and on the problems themselves leads to an understanding of a work beyond mere elementary impression. The degree of insight at this level determines the reader's critical apprehension of a work as a unique achievement and, in rare cases, as an artistic success.