For the past few weeks in our ASTU class, we have been discussing topics like self, PTSD and memory through the writing of psychologists: William James, Sigmund Freud and Silvan Tomkins. Additionally, we saw how these concepts are applied in literature through the analysis of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and Hemingway’s Big Two-Hearted River. Reading my classmates blogs, I enjoyed the variety of topics and how everyone has taken away something different from these classes.

When discussing Woolf’s work, many of my classmates discussed how the function of free indirect discourse in facilitated the concept of “stream of consciousness” into the novel. Azumi questions whether free indirect speech is exactly the character is thinking or; a version that has been filtered through a narrator that makes it easier for the reader to understand. This raises an interesting questions about who gets to tell the story, and Azumi relates this back to “Stories We Tell” where both forms of literature seem to “incorporate different people’s experience towards the same event”. Jessie explains that there is complex punctuation and no clear distinctions between characters, which are some of the methods Woolf uses to incorporate the stream into her writing style. She also notes that this atypical sentence structure allows each character’s thought and emotions to flow in a constant stream with a “series of ideas and emotion”.

I like this idea because I think this sentence structure may be seen as a metaphor or related to, the plot of the novel. The plot of the novel seems quite plain— Mrs. Dalloway is holding a party. Yet, there are moments of flashback, a suicide and interjection of thoughts which are all intertwined into this plot line, which makes it difficult to understand. Rather than having a typical plot, Mrs. Dalloway focuses on a certain part of the stream, where we see thoughts and ideas flowing through this one time period. Especially when you perform a close reading analysis, we can see how there is an underlying complexity to the novel; through punctuation, subliminal messages or repetition. This technique is known as the Theory of Omission, which was used largely in the Hemingway’s Big Two-Hearted River. 

In Big Two-Hearted River, Meghan provides a description this technique as “writing everything except the most important points”. Etana notes the importance of recognizing the theory of omission because without a deep analysis or “reading beyond the lines”, the author’s full intent may not be realized. Kriveena finds a link to James’ stream of consciousness link when identifies the river as an analog for Nick’s model of thinking. She sharply contrasts the river with the swamp where it may be represented as part of his mind where there are dark, repressed emotions that are lingering. 

In regards to how James’ and Freud’s publications have shifted modern thinking, Aleksei compares music from the 20th century modern music to the 19th century romantic. He describes the modern “dissonant harmonies and abstract melodies” as symbolic of the modern darkness of humans. The music that was composed during this time reflects the societal changes that were occurring possibly due to the trauma that war veterans were experiencing when they were returning home. 

I found the writing of the psychology scholars particularly difficult to read, however it fostered an understanding for a relationship between literature and psychology. Not only is stream of consciousness a psychology term, it is also where the reader may enter into the character’s thoughts and feelings through literature. The readings were helpful for me in understanding the protagonists and realizing that there may be more to the characters than what the author has written.