Iceberg Theory applied The Pursuit for Enoch Robinsons Unconcealed Self in Loneliness by Sherwood Anderson
Twentieth century American literature illustrates the emergence ofstories and characters that reflect real life-that is, a respite fromromantic or idealistic notions of people's lives, as depicted in literaryworks. In Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio," readers are presentedwith a realistic depiction of the American life and individual. The novel,published in 1919, is a collection of short stories that illustrate thelives of people in Winesburg, Ohio; each vignette gives readers insightsabout an individual/character's personality and a different perspective of Anderson's depiction of life in the novel has become popular andinfluential that American writers of the same period had followed hisperspective in narrating life as a work of art. Among these writers isErnest Hemingway, well-known novelist, whose literary style of writing washeavily influenced by Anderson's work, "Winesburg, Ohio." Hemingway'sgenius led him to create exceptional and well-acclaimed literary works, andin the course of his career as writer, he conceived of the "Iceberg This theory, formulated in the 1930s, is stated as follows byHemingway: "If a writer of prose knows enough abou
Popularly known as the superego inpsychology, the submerged part of the iceberg in Freud's psychologicaltheory is that part of the individual wherein behavior and personalitiesbecome modified because the superego controls or inhibits the id fromexpressing its desires and needs, be they biological, emotional, orpsychological. Iceberg theory, as it wasconceptualized Hemingway, shows how stories and characters can providedetailed information about themselves without saying or disclosing toomuch. I talked and talked and then all of a sudden things wentto smash. Only Andersonknows this fact about Enoch's life. t what he is writingabout he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer iswriting truly enough, will have a feeling those things as strongly asthough the writer had states them. A passage from the story illustrates the complex, yet simple, natureof Anderson's protagonist: "Old citizens remembered him as a quiet, smilingyouth inclined to silence. "Loneliness" is anexample of a literary work that operationalizes the basic premises of theiceberg theory: while disclosing various facets of Enoch's personality,Anderson still manages to create an air of mystery around hisprotagonist-that is, the submerged or 'unrevealed' self of Enoch Robinson. Bases for the analysis are two references: Anderson's "Loneliness"and a critical essay by Kim Moreland (2000), which centers on Anderson'swork, as applied to Hemingway's iceberg theory. Enoch knows that he is different fromother people, and all his life, no one seemed to know and understand thisfact, with the exception, of course, of Anderson, his creator. Anderson's effective portrayal of Enoch in "Loneliness" has indeedshown the how he was able to convey the truth and unexplored informationabout his character's personality to the readers. He walked in the middle of the road when he cameinto town and sometimes read a book. It was only in relating his life to George Willard that Enochreflects on this information about his life. " This concept of the 'iceberg' in the theorymay perhaps be likened to the psychological concept of the iceberg asexplicated by Freud: there is a part of the self that people, and even theindividual himself, do not know.
Common topics in this essay:
Loneliness Initially,
Ohio Hemingway's,
Loneliness Moreland,
Willard Enoch,
Winesburg Ohio,
Anderson Enoch's,
Enoch Loneliness,
Kim Moreland,
,
Enoch Robinson,
iceberg theory,
enoch's character,
complex simple,
self people,
winesburg ohio,
anderson's loneliness,
enoch's character loneliness,
submerged iceberg,
couldn't understand,
character loneliness,
anderson's winesburg,
anderson's winesburg ohio,
hemingway's iceberg theory,
enoch's character story,
|
Acceptance Essays
