The B R Man Analysis

Mariana Martinez
Professor Smith
English 110 AI 91980
September 13, 2015
The B.A.R. Man and Psychoanalytic Criticism
In the short story, The B.A.R. Man, written by Richard Yates, the protagonist John Fallon who lives in Sunnyside, Queens, is a small, fighting man who easily gets angered with his three fellow clerks from where he works and his wife Rose showing some destructive behaviors. In Lois Tyson, Critical Theory Today, he discusses the defenses, anxiety, and core issues of psychoanalytic criticism. Some of those defenses are regression, and displacement which are seen in the short story, The B.A.R Man. Based on Lois Tyson, Critical Theory of Psychoanalysis, there is a pattern for the destructive behavior Fallon has with his

wife and his colleagues. This pattern is low self-esteem, “the belief that we are less worthy than other people and, therefore, don’t deserve attention, love, or any other of life’s rewards.” (Tyson 16).
At the beginning of the story, Richard Yates immediately shows that John Fallon is a small man who lives in a small town. No one really knew who he was until he got his name in the papers and on the police blotter. His wife Rose apparently makes more money than he does as a clerk in a big insurance company while she types eighty-seven words a minute. The author provides his information as foreshadowing to the story to show that the main character struggles and seems to have the core issue of low self-esteem.
Throughout the story, we see that Fallon seems to have damaging behavior and are first seen with his colleagues.

One day during lunch, Fallon and his fellow clerks were having a fair conversation about fights and Fallon seemed to not have much interest in that conversation as he took little part in the conversation. Soon their conversation turns into military service. One of his fellow clerks starts to talk about the Navy and their uniforms and his other clerks were complaining about Army while Fallon was starting to feel obscurely irritated. He joins in the conversation by pointing out that none of them had to carry a B.A.R, a heavy browning automatic rifle, as he once did. No one seemed to know what a B.A.R was. Fallon states, “Every son of a bitch in a rifle companies a specialist, if you wanna know something. And I’ll tell ya one thing, Mac - they don’t worry about no silk gloves and no tailor-made clothes, you can betcher ass on that.” (Yates 3). He gets easily angered by his feelings of personal inadequacy, because the author Yates does reveal that John Fallon has fired the rifle twice. Our minds do not like to acknowledge some of our behaviors especially the ones that seem to be destructive, therefore we try to keep our damaging thoughts and memories repressed in our unconscious minds so we can not feel what our minds think we can not handle. In order for that to not happened, we tend to put mental defenses as Tyson discusses. In this short passage, Fallon put the

displacement defense, “taking it out on someone or something less threatening than the person who caused our fear, hurt, frustration, or anger.” (Tyson 15). Fallon wanted to feel superior but slowly realizes that he is out of the loop. His co-workers ignored him. This shows low self-esteem because after he loses their attention. In addition, his co-workers seemed to not really care that Fallon was a B.A.R. Man in which he is proud of being one.
Later the story, we also that Fallon struggles with low self-esteem through the way he treats his wife.

At home, Fallon is quite cruel to Rose. As Rose was getting ready to go out since they were due to go out to the movies, John picks up a white brassiere that was laid out in bed and waves it in front of her face. Fallon quotes while shaving it in her face yet angered, “Why d'you wear these goddamn things? (Yates 8). He leaves the house all angrily and heads to the club to both drink and drank. While at the club, he tries to pick up a woman who is clearly not interested in him, however, he dreams about his woman’s body “undulant and naked, in some ultimate vague bedroom at the end of the night.” (Yates 11). According to Tyson, in dreams there are sometimes hidden messages that one can not understand. They can be associated with bad memories as Tyson stated, “remember unconscious consists of repressed wounds, fears, unresolved conflicts and guilty desires.” (Tyson 38). Fallon imagines this woman naked which can mean several things. Yates revealed that Fallon’s wife couldn’t have children. This can have a big impact in Fallon’s behavior since he is not receiving the love from his wife it can cause him to have a low self-esteem. This has been an ultimate struggle in Rose and John’s romantic relationship. As he imagines her naked body in a bedroom, he shows that he has both guilty desires and unresolved conflicts with both himself and his wife. A man needs to give to receive

love by his loved one in order to make him feel more superior and like a true man.
In conclusion, Tyson’s critical theory of psychoanalytic criticism fits in with the short story The B.A.R. Man. We can see how the main character, John Fallon, struggles with low self-esteem. He doesn’t receive the right amount of attention of his wife and his fellow clerks in order for him to feel good about himself. It is clearly shown in the club how he can not even pick up a women and lowers a guy’s self-esteem.

Word Count: 1,008

Work Cited
Tyson, Lois. "Psychoanalytic Criticism." Critical Theory Today: A User-friendly Guide. London: Routledge, 2015. N. pag. Print. 9/13/2015.
Yates, Richard. “The B.A.R. Man.” ENGL - 110 - 2. AI 91980 - Fall 2015. College of San Mateo, 8/17/2015. Web. 9/14/15.