Papa portrays individuation : Jungianism, Hemingway, and the Garden of Eden
Date
1988
Authors
Roe, Steven Charles
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Abstract
This thesis proposes to apply Jung's theory of individuation to The Garden of Eden, a posthumously published Hemingway novel. The aim is to elucidate the novel's psychodynamic content through Jungianism. It is assumed that Jung's theory of individuation is true.
It does not necessarily follow, however, that Jungianism is theoretically sound. In the interests of. critical awareness, Chapter Two begins with a discussion of the theoretical problems raised by Jungian criticism. To this end, the thesis argues that Jungianism evinces liberalĀ-humanist tendencies. Liberal humanism is designated as a psychological and/or philosophical idealism that does not lend itself to empirical verification. Accordingly, Jungian truth is purported to be primarily intuitive.
Despite the problematical nature of Jungianism, Jungian individuation is accepted as a legitimate explicative tool because Hemingway, too, it is argued, evinces a liberalĀ-humanist orientation. Drawing upon the Hemingway canon as a whole, the thesis examines instances of idealism and mysticism. Moveover, the Hemingway canon is shown to be amenable to the specific principles of individuation. In sum, Jungianism is said to offer a workable critical foundation insofar as it addresses authorial predilections. Chapter Three, which deals with The Garden, depicts the two main characters (David and Catherine Bourne) as mythical heroes who seek individuation. This reading is articulated through parental symbology. That is, for both David and Catherine, consciousness corresponds to the traditional wisdom of the fathers, whereas the collective unconscious corresponds to the hidden mysteries of the maternal womb. The two heroes, it is argued, are trapped in the paternal realm. The world of the fathers is one of fragmentation and anguish, a world whose empty forms engender psychic chaos. In their efforts to achieve individuation, David and Catherine feel drawn to the primal mother, the sea. Unlike the shallow, fragmented world of the fathers, the blue Mediterranean holds the promise of spiritual rebirth, a promise that is conveyed through baptismal rites as Catherine is anointed with oil and water. Yet, for Catherine, there can be no transcendence. Enslaved by her own consciousness, she cannot get beyond the fathers to the dark and mysterious realm of the Great Mother. Catherine's persistent scheming is presented as the key to her character, for it demonstrates the extent to which she is overrun by consciousness. Indeed, the fervor of Catherine's machinations distort the archetypal drive for wholeness by keeping attendant unconscious factors at bay.
Caught in an ego-self equivalence, Catherine senses an overriding integrative impulse, but cannot respond to its larger frame of reference. Imperiled by Catherine's disintegrating personality, David is distracted from his own struggle for selfhood. However, he discovers an ally in Marita, who functions as a personification of the collective unconscious. Appropriately, Marita is linked to the maternal sea. As David's relationship with this new woman develops, she becomes an anima figure, someone who images David's own latent capacities.
The hero's movement toward psychic integration is confirmed substantively through his writing. In clarifying the father-oriented dilemma of the heroic pattern, David's stories provide him with a self-understanding that leads to spiritual wholeness. Indeed, guided by his writing, David is able to neutralize the domineering father-principle that has plagued his life, and rediscover timeless maternal values.
By way of conclusion, it is suggested that--despite numerous theoretical problems--a Jungian treatment of The Garden provides a compelling moment of praxis, a moment in which we somehow see ourselves and the world more clearly.