STEPPENWOLF: PSYCHOANALYSIS

          The dominating energy of the novel is the dilemma between the two selves of the protagonist: a wolf half who desires respectability and the comforts of bourgeois, and a vain, absurd man half scoffing at these absurd desires. Thus in the terms of psychology, he becomes a schizophrenic intellectual morosely contemplating suicide because of an imaginary conflict between the two poles of his being.  Harry, the protagonist desires the metamorphosis which comes through the following process:

Bourgeois       →     Steppenwolf            →          immortals

               In the terms of psychological analysis, the novel is about imposing order on the chaos that is in the world, and resolving the conflict f a torn personality. It is also about coming to terms with the concept of man’s fate and forming unity with the external world. According to the modernist thinking man is leading a fateless life and is drifted here and there. Harry dies not find anything in common with others and he is full of pessimism and self-denigration.

                      The Steppenwolf, Harry, is psychopath who acts as an antisocial person and is a victim of neurosis. “How foolish is to wear oneself out in vain longing for warmth! Solitude is independence.” He suffers from emotional disorder and anxiety without having any concrete evidence of it. He comes into conflict with the bourgeois world. His life is completely devoid of any order or discipline. He is the hater of life’s pretty conventions.

                     According to the Steppenwolf the world is suffering from two megalomanias. One is intellectual progress and the other is nationalism. He clearly perceives that the world is in a mad pursuit of progress and has categorically left man behind. As a result man has developed the habits of alcoholism, sexual orgy and car chasing and these are nothing but death wishes.

                     A man who tries to come to terms with himself has to face two problems. One is ego and the other is tormenting of libidinal will. In other terms one has to strike a balance between pleasure principle and reality principle. Those who have strong pleasure principle are in mad pursuit of worldly pleasures. It is dominated by id and is wild primordial force. It wants what it wants. The way out of this is to have a strong ego. Those who have strong reality principle have strong ego . As opposite to id, it is highly socially oriented. It represents the antisocial or libidinal desires.

                      Harry knows that he has failed to strike this balance and so he perceives two selves in him. He defines wolf as a dark realm of instinctual savagery, cruelty and unsublimated raw nature. His goal is to attain immortality by an eternal surrender of id and ego to metamorphosis.  

                       With this preoccupation Harry is living his life. He is confronting with a number of questions at various juncture. Apart from this he had an identity problem.  He wants to follow the path of the immortals of the world like Goethe. First he meets Hermine who has learnt to tackle both, man and woman of the world. She has always learnt to be a moment. She is in the company of Pablo, an enigmatic jazz musician. He is always on good terms with others. After giving a great thought to Goethe’s life and works, he realizes that Goethe’s wisdom lies in “no longer will and no longer intellect, but only pity, reverence and readiness to serve.”

                      Thus, Harry learns from Goethe, Hermine and Pablo the art of depersonalization. Through the Magic Theatre he learnt that the dissolution of personality can be accomplished only through laughter. At the end he realizes that even Pablo and Mozart are two halves of a same person (of spirit and nature, of life and eternity). Mozart teaches him that life is a compromise and full of less than ideal circumstances. Now Harry has to face this aspect with laughter. The novel ends with reconciliation and on an optimistic note: “One day I will be a better hand at the game. One day I would learn how to laugh.”