While responding to the post regarding the loss of body in PHPR, I stumbled upon and idea that I would like to investigate in more depth. Moreover, I would like to pose this idea as a springboard for discussion. I am not going to come to any definite conclusions within this post, but I would like to see what the rest of you think about the idea of self-actualization not only within PHPR, but also within other works by Flanner O'Connor and Katherine Anne Porter.
In class, we have frequently discussed the idea of emptiness or flatness in Porter and O'Connor's protagonists. Do you think that it is possible that this emptiness results as a consequence of the process of self-actualization. I'm not sure that any of Porter or O'Connors characters ACTUALLY achieve self-actualization within these stories, but I definitely think that they come very close in that they have startling realizations about themselves and the world in which they live that lead them to feel emptiness and loss of body.
Anyhow, I was going to post quotations from PHPR regarding this idea, but I think there are several examples of these quotes in the post that I just posted and I don't want to be redundant/I'm being totally lazy.
Another interesting thought I had regarding self-actualization within PHPR relates to the journey via horseback that Miranda embarks on within the first few pages of PHPR. Based on the short, often repetitive structure of the sentences in this section, Miranda is obviously feels very frantic and lost. I think that this franticness on her part reflects a mass production of introspective thoughts that she is experiencing at this point in time. I feel that this journey to an unknown destination could be interpreted as being symbolic of a journey towards self-actualization. This voyage via horseback is not mentioned again within the story and therefore, I don't think that Miranda actually reaches self-actualization within the story, but rather works towards it and the self-actualization occurs in a manner that is external to the physical text.
Anyhow, any thoughts on this idea?
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2 comments:
I think what you are saying is really interesting, Bethany, because I usually think that self-actualization should create fulfillment, instead of emptiness. I definitely feel that the characters in Porter's and O'Connor's stories do go through some sort of change or have some epiphanies (the story that comes to mind the most with this would have to be Revelation), but I am not sure if they achieve self-actualization within the construct of the story. I guess that the emptiness could indicate that their ideas have changed and now they have a "blank slate," and don't have definite ideas about the world. I think there is definitely some sort of transformation that takes place in a lot of the stories, especially when looking at the endings, because in a lot of the endings, there seems to be something almost supernatural going on, or some sort of connection to the afterlife (?). Again, I think of Revelation and also The Violent Bear it Away. Miranda does seem lost and like she is searching for something in Pale Horse Pale Rider, but I still do not feel that she is empty, and I feel that as a woman who is living during war times resisting war, with her own job, living on her own, she may already be self-actualized. I think the horse ride that you mention could represent a lot of things, including a search for something. There are quite a few instances of characters "running away" in cars or on horses in this case.
While I think in many of both Porter and O'Connor's story, self actualization or some kind of awakening drives the story, and is, to some extent, the purpose of the story, I am not quite sure I think it is so with PHPR. I definitely agree that the horse dream at the beginning sets the story up for some kind of journey, some kind of realization. The only possible actualization moment I could argue for in the story is that Miranda realizes at the end that the rest of her life would be a "dazed silence that follows heceasing of heavy guns...and the dead cold light of tomorrow" and that "there would be time for everything"(317. I take this to mean Adam was the noise from the guns and everything following his death would be a muted silence, but because she lived, she has this empty space of time set out before her...I'm not sure this realization of her life would be considered a moment of "self actualization." It seems more like a daunting truth. If it were an actualization, however, it would support your argument that those awakenings really lead to emptiness rather than fulfillment...
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