The Transformation of Harry Haller in Steppenwolf A "dazzling" line "flashes" before Harry Haller's eyes (Hesse 194). It says, "Marvelous Taming of the Steppenwolf" (194). By this statement, one must realize Hermann Hesse's final goal for his character of Harry Haller. One also should note that all of this "taming" and these other wild events are taking place in the psyche of Harry Haller, not in reality. Hesse draws on the ideas of his generation's psychologists, such as Carl Jung, to guide Harry Haller's transformation. At the same time, the dreamlike experiences Haller has have great significance in reality. This symbolic aspect of the Steppenwolf puts the struggle of Haller's ego in perspective for the reader. The concept of the Steppenwolf itself is an important psychological image for determining the mind processes of Hesse's character. The "wolf of the steppes" serves many purposes in describing Haller (Hesse 4). His "wolfishness" sets him apart from all others. It echoes reality, where the Steppenwolf is separate from others in his human form, too. This image of a wolf is often contrasted by an image of the "bourgeois" society as a flock of sheep, something that wolves do not mix with except to cause violence with. A lone wolf is always shifty -seeking contentment- and it suffers a pain of discomfort. The Steppenwolf is also quite wild, which is highlighted by the order and cleanliness of the rest of people around him. The order of the flowers in his apartment house, and the clean smell, amaze Haller, yet at the same time annoy his disheveled, crazy animal instincts. As another interpreter puts it, "The world of the bourgeoisie is etched [in] its contrasts with Harry's world by the employment of symbol... ... middle of paper ... ...eristics come out in a healthy mentality. This mental health, a turbulent process for Haller, is reached through a set of subconscious experiences that mirrored Haller's real life. Each of the dreams he has -the meeting with Goethe, the Magic Theatre sign, the hall of mirrors- are inner trials that magnify his conscious emotions. Hermann Hesse changes Harry Haller's conceptions of reality through a surreal adventure through Haller's psyche. Work Cited Boulby, Mark. Hermann Hesse: His Mind and Art Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1972. Freud, Sigmund. The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud Ed. & Trans. Dr. A. A. Brill. New York: Random House, 1938. Hesse, Hermann. Steppenwolf New York: Owl Book, 1990. Jacobi, Jolande. The Psychology of C. G. Jung New Haven, 1951. Stelzig, Eugene. Hermann Hesse's Fictions of the Self Princeton: Princeton UP, 1988
A second theme of In Cold Blood is the randomness of crime. The Clutter family lived in rural Kansas hundreds of miles from a major city, and people of this small community felt a sense of security. The Clutter family murder made national headlines because this crime fit no stereotype.
The novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, tells the story of the murder of a respectful family in Holcomb, Kansas. Four people were killed on September 15th, 1959 when two men broke into their home to rob their safe, which allegedly contained 10,000 dollars. However, they walked out the house with only 40 dollars, a radio, and the lives of four on their hands. Capote creates an attachment between the reader, the murderers, the victims, the townspeople, and the investigators. Due to this intimacy, sympathy arises for Perry regardless of him committing such an awful crime. Even if people have compassion for killers, Capote's writing objectivity allows the reader to sympathize with him. Throughout the novel, Capote includes the childhood and trauma
In the novel Siddhartha, Herman Hesse used other characters to let Siddhartha grow both intellectually and spiritually. During the course of his journey, Siddhartha encountered many people and experienced different ways of living and thinking about life. Each person taught him something about himself and the world around him.
John Marcher, the protagonist of “The Beast in the Jungle”, is about a narcissistic upper-class man who believes his life is to be defined by some unforetold event. He focuses only on himself and as a result, he neglects everything and everyone in his life. Marcher meets May Bartram, a woman who knows his secret, and instead of pursuing a romantic relationship with her, or even a genuine friendship, he uses her for his own benefit. Henry James utilizes a variety of literary devices to convey this theme in his story, such as the title, symbolism,
Capote presents alternating perspectives, the four members of the Clutter family Nancy, Kenyon, Mrs. Clutter and Mr. Clutter, being victims, and the two murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. These different perspectives allow the reader to relive each side of the story for example, “Good grief, Kenyon” (Capote 17). Then the next part begins "Dick was driving a black 1949 Chevrolet sedan” (Capote 22). The alternating views help to control each section of thoughts and help prevent the reader from misinterpreting the thoughts. I found it easier to read since so many characters were involved. By using this perspective the reader gathers pieces of the puzzle leading up to an awful Clutter family murder.
... to formulate the kind of legacy reserved only for the most influential literary masterpieces. Capote’s book remains one of the most compelling works of literature of the twentieth century, both for its fusing of journalistic and belletristic storytelling, and for its remarkable observation into the nature of evil in America. Its impact was, and still remains, monumental. Capote’s alluring ability to bemuse his reader despite a subject matter as doleful as this is something to ponder. He had the power to galvanize compassion and apprehension in equal part. The book’s suspense, despite readers knowing the outcome of the book from the start, is largely based on the obligation of gory details, and the concealing of them until the very end.
Using a third-person omniscient perspective, Capote was able to take the reader inside the minds and thoughts of many different characters and he used this to his advantage. From main characters to side characters, Capote found differing outlooks on multiple situations. For example, readers were able to witness the Clutter family’s last living hours, such as Nancy going through “her beauty routine, a cleansing, creaming ritual, which on Saturday nights included washing her hair” (Capote 66), while being able to view the murderers approach to the home as “the car crept forward” (Capote 68). A similar experience was granted during the investigation. On one page, readers shared the same frustrations with a detective on the case when “He was too tense to sleep… None of his ‘leads’ had led anywhere” (Capote 121). Yet just six pages later, the readers were transported to Mexico with the murderers relaxed on the roadside where they “had stopped to picnic” (Capote 127). By providing contrasting and completely opposite points of view, Capote is able to give the reader a more rounded experience of the book, not leaving any leaf of the Clutters’ story
In Cold Blood is a work of art, and gave a true meaning to life itself. Capote referred to In Cold Blood as “New Journalism”. He said that he wanted to bring the art of the novelist together with the techniques of journalism. There is much truth in it, whether or not it is “true” is at least debatable (Garrett,80). This provoking book generates the kind of deep interest and deep discussion. Truman invented the genre of true crime. In Cold Blood is not a tragic drama but an intervention on reality (Dakes, 69). Its dramatic interest lies in the dramatic class of murders and the pursuit of the criminals. The material of In Cold Blood is to some extent a return to Capote’s childhood and a real-life confirmation of his earliest imaginative creations and techniques (Nance, Page 626). In Cold Blood consumed more than six years of his life, but it won him enthusiastic praise, mountains of publicity, and millions of dollars (Krebs,320). The novel tells the story of the murder of the Clutter family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Clutter and their two teenage children, and the events that lead the killers to murder. The family was living in Holcom...
At the time of its publication, In Cold Blood exceeded the boundaries of conventional art, but it was ultimately a success and propelled him to fame. Capote’s haunting analysis of violence reveals that weak family bonds lead individuals to stray away from society. While some people chase dreams in hopes of bettering their lives, others fail to achieve their ambitions and resort to
Truman Capote is a well-known American novelist and journalist who followed and investigated the murder case of the Clutter family to produce a book that was later termed to be a “non-fiction novel”. Though Capote has factual evidence to support the novel he also includes reconstructed dialogue and thoughts that cannot be proven to be accurate or in any case to have occurred at all in the murder investigation. In Cold Blood is a fictional novel because of the fabricated dialogues and thoughts that could be realistically plausible. However, the book also has journalism components because of the evidence and support gained from witnesses and actions that are vividly described and researched thoroughly as well as the meticulous details used to
...ion...” (“Truman” 84). Capote creates a story that was based on true events while being able to evoke emotions out of the readers. The use of an objective writing style was a fundamental part in adding to the garnering of emotions to the story as well. Through In Cold Blood, Capote alerts the audience to “...Ambiguities of the American legal system and capital punishment” (“Truman” 84), stating that in the court of law in America there are some flaws and laws that are obscure in their purpose that one should be weary about. Capote wrote In Cold Blood in order to convey the idea that whenever a person or a group of people is murdered, vengeance is always sought upon the murderers. In a place where everyone knows everyone, it is hard for the community to adjust to the losses without proper compensation, and sometimes the only way is through punishing those by death.
Capote's narrative method also emphasizes two language systems--the first based on punishment, the second on psychological analysis of personality-- that demonstrate opposing ways of judging human behavior, thus making it impossible for one to judge the killers or the novel from one specific viewpoint. This example, and the example regarding two channels for reader sympathy, illustrates the theme of dualism presented in the novel. In order to evaluate these opposing issues, one might investigate the critical "confession" scene, in order to get a more lucid sense of how Capote's narrative is supposed to make the reader feel. This scene provides a basis for reading the murders, for placing them within a coherent design for In Cold Blood as a whole. The narrative promises to create an understanding of the crimes and get to the bottom of the killers' motives--if not through the legal system, then perhaps through the process of psychological analysis. Capote utilizes this consistent sense of dualism that never allows the reader to think only from one biased perspective.
A required reading list should consist of books that present readers with new insights and knowledge while encouraging them to analyze the context of the book and identify major themes. Truman Capote 's In Cold Blood should be kept on high school required reading lists because it appropriately covers each of these criteria. The non-fiction novel introduces readers to a world of criminal psychology, raising questions about the cause and manner of American crime. Additionally, the book 's author is steeped in controversy regarding his faithfulness to the truth, providing an excellent opportunity for high school readers to research and discuss the role biases play in the writing of a novel. Meeting the final criterion, In Cold Blood contains
Sartre's belief of self-responsibility and Heidegger’s thoughts of “Das Nichts” influenced the overall plot of the story. Moreover, Nietzsche's belief that Christian virtues make people weak and Kierkegaard's belief that people need to laugh shape the Steppenwolf’s character development. Lastly, Mead’s ideas of the “I and “Me”, but also the ever-changing nature of the self were shown in the theme of multiple personalities, which can be seen throughout the book. Hermann Hesse’s existentialist beliefs influenced his work, Steppenwolf, in an intricate way, as shown in the overall plot, the Steppenwolf’s character development, and the theme of multiple identities. Existentialism shaped Steppenwolf in a unique way, as it has to many other books by authors other than Hesse. Without existentialism Hesse’s work would have a different meaning and it would lose the perspective it has into the human
The desire behind the characters in Narcissus and Goldmund is not always blatantly obvious as we might like to think. Sometimes to understand the desire and how it functions in this novel, you need to look through a different lens to examine the inner workings of the main characters. To do this it is required to employ some type of psychological theory in order to understand the actions and what they mean. I will be using Lacanian psychoanalysis and will examine the desire of the main character of Goldmund, from the Herman Hesse novel Narcissus and Goldmund, in terms of Lacan and his theories.