Fictional and mental structures in five novels by Patrick White

Abstract

Within Patrick White's fiction the movement of a character's mind is never straightforward or one-dimensional. The continuous process of growth and change which marks an individual's lifetime is invariably accompanied by a tension, during which conflicting thoughts and feelings, and illusions and instincts, battle with each other for supremacy. At times unconscious, at other times intensely idealistic, the individual often remains barely aware of the conflict in which he is involved. Many of his thoughts and actions may be unadmitted by himself, existing at an implicit level, both within his own mind, and within the body of the text, causing disharmony when they surface to be expressed externally, or when they come into contact with more "conscious" areas of his mind. It is the aim of this thesis to examine the psychic movement which exists at a superficial level within an individual, and within the text, to penetrate below these more outwardly placed areas and explore the implicit level at which so much of the action occurs, and to investigate in detail the tension which results when traits associated with the surface areas of the mind come into contact with those lying submerged below. A psychoanalytical approach is used, and an attempt is made to emphasize the ways in which fictional structures reflect the structures of the human mind, and the patterns made by the mind's movement. Five novels have been selected for study, chosen for the possibilities they allow, through their relationship to each other, and through the progressive development of their themes, characterization, and imagery, for an exploration of psychic movement. Each of the five chapters in this thesis deals with one of the five novels. In Chapter I the growth of Theodora Goodman in The Aunt's Story is discussed, the characters she meets in the novel's central section, during her journey into her mind, differing vastly from their actual counterparts in the first section, and existing as embodiments of Theodora's romantic illusions. Voss and Laura, as images conceived in dream, similarly embody each other's idealistic illusions. As each fantasizes about the other each betrays the extent to which he or she is alienated from him or herself, and from reality. Voss is considered in Chapter II. Chapter III focuses upon Riders in the Chariot where the tension which existed within Theodora, and within and between Voss and Laura, is split four different ways, with the Riders invariably communicating at cross-purposes. In Chapter IV psychic tension receives physiological portrayal in The Solid Mandala, with Waldo and Arthur Brown as twins thrust more closely together than their previous counterparts - a relationship which results in such limited consciousnesses that the textual surface becomes misleading or more sparse, with a large part of the actual action occurring at an implicit level. This is also the case in A Fringe of Leaves, the subject of Chapter V. Ellen Roxburgh, lacking in consciousness, remains for much of the novel, unadmitting of her actual actions, or of the actions of those she reveres. Like many of White's characters, in viewing others as gods, she reveals her desire to elevate herself, and her unwillingness to see herself simply as an ordinary human being.