Appropriate Lens Used With Force

by Andrew Michael Flynn

The search for meaning is something every person tries to quantify in their life to some degree. Those of us who are lucky enough to grow with the world and become educated enough to string together coherent thoughts, and have something original or important to communicate attempt to convey their words into meaning. It is not with struggle, however. In this effort, more knowledge is needed, as is refinement of the search for meaning. The scholarly in the world who have gifted meaning and crucial knowledge through literary theories and extrapolations of intense, complex thought and lifetimes of research also ask for something in return: to use these literary theories and methods of critique with the rules and arguments they were given with. In this, a more complete view of the world and humanism can be seen with each of the literary theories and criticisms. Like any good device that allows for magnification of its subject, going into the sheer guts of text reveals just a little bit more of the meaning we were looking for the whole time.

In the progression of knowledge and humanity over the last few centuries (although certainly not without its hiccups and larger roadblocks), the liberalization of learning itself has allowed the most people to have the most information at any point in human history. Since “liberal humanism assumes that all of us are essentially free and that we have…created ourselves on the basis of our individual experiences” (Bertens 8), the restriction from gaining knowledge about literary theories or anything that may expand our intelligence quotient and very reason for being is at a current minimum. The number of literary theories is each its own special tool in the reader’s toolbelt which continually grows throughout their life, each one having its own compartment and usability should the specific job arise. Wielding a specific literary theory is the exercise of the liberal humanism and an audible yawp in the continual search for larger meaning, which can be at depths previously not thought of. With these tools, access is not only possible but also probable.

Before this course, I was a stranger to the work of William Carlos Williams. The exposure to his story “The Use of Force” develops further my own understanding of authors from his era, even if only by this short story of less than 1,600 words. Widening the depth of my own education of literary theories from this term, along with a solid backing from Dr. Gonzagowski’s LIT-200 course many months back here at SNHU, permits my attempts at using two specific literary theories to dive into waters deep of the story’s text and subtext. And I am changed after this in a positive and fulfilling way with his in my own toolbelt.

Using the New Criticism tenet of trying to find “signs of literariness” (Gonzagowski, “LIT-200 Module Two Lecture Notes) is a fine goal as long as you can narrow down in what you are searching for. This lens has many features that incorporate ambiguity (uncertainty of a pervading nature), irony (the contradiction of things said against what’s meant), paradox (the appearance of contradictory language), and tension (strain that is palpable and effective). It is important to be honest with oneself and admit that is a story contains all of these tenets of New Criticism, the day is truly victorious. It can still be a win, however, should just a fraction of these four major items exist within a story. Tension is the highlighted specialty here, as it alone has the force to keep the reader on the edge of their seat when used with exemplary force. Understanding what a particular reader sees is not what the next one will see, which is a cornerstone truth of using the lens of New Criticism. There are dozens of literary theories and criticisms, but at its core New Criticism is “democratic approach to studying literature” (Gonzagowski).

Since New Criticism came about as a reaction to both accessibility of literature and a dearth of people able to understand it, “the language of science was too abstract” (Drake and Amiran 5). The more “richly textured world” with the “basis for poise of mind toward both action and information” (Drake) would be an answer. This new cabled connection to literature tries to “make real horse-flesh of it” (Childs 35).

The central value of New Criticism is taking your careful eye and exploring the text. Not so much that you go cross-eyed from a thumping and traumatic evaluation, but enough that you analyze both the text and possible subtext of the author’s work to gain meaning and wisdom from it. At times there will be multiple elements of this lens at play, perhaps even in the same sentence. Understanding what drives the plot and exactly how it is energized by New Criticism’s attributes of paradox, tension, irony, and ambiguity will lead to a more complete experience with Williams’ story and any other literature that you chose to read with this literary theory.

To enjoy “The Use of Force” through the lens of New Criticism is to add a delightful amount of spice to an already flavorful entrée. Interpreting this story’s original text so that the reader’s senses “[make] it meaningful by relating it to our previous experiences” (University of Valencia). Given this bounty and mindset, nuance and dimensionality are seen just as likely larger truths are.

William Carlos Williams treats us with more than a helping of tension when he speaks of the ill child who is about to get a fierce checkup by the visiting doctor, “The child was fairly eating me up with her cold, steady eyes, and no expression to her face whatever” (Williams). Not only does that provide a subtext of tension, it is a display of irony when compared with how the story ends “Now truly she was furious” (Williams) once the doctor had to resort to physical means in order to find out if she actually had diphtheria or not. The doctor’s level of care was so intense that it evoked a physical reaction from her, although let us be fair here, anytime a medical professional sticks a “heavy metal spoon…down [your] throat til [you] gagged” (Williams) to find what ails you, you are unlikely to just sit there motionless and take it.

Getting into the mind of both the characters and the author himself is one of the pleasures of using the Psychoanalytic Theory lens while reading Williams’ “The Use of Force”. The employment of this literary theory allows the reader to recognize “the concept of the unconscious desires of the id, which area barely chained up in our psyches” (Gonzagowski, Module Five Lecture Notes). This perspective fills out the reader’s familiarity with the work at a greater level, as “understanding of the mind and in turn offer[ing] an additional layer of interpretation” (Fenton 106). Besides the id, the ego (one of the major defenses against the power of the internal drives) and superego (the area of unconsciousness that houses judgment of self and others) are brought to further examination through the text of the story.

One caveat to the use of this theory is that the reader will not be able to attain a complete psychoanalysis of all characters. Gaining the extra knowledge from this specific analysis is still a joy in itself, especially when getting into the analysis of the unconscious.

As more literary theories came to light after World War II and literature became exponentially more available, the Psychoanalytic Theory flourished in the 1960s into the present day. When considering this lens, layers can be peeled distinctly and “the core psychoanalytic endeavor is to bring into consciousness that which we are prone to ignore, deny, suppress, or distort” (Kanwal 294). Within the recesses of the convoluted human mind, literature can be read even more uniquely.

There are challenges to using the Psychoanalytic Theory lens. At times there is an overuse of the Oedipus complex diagnosis, which is where Sigmund Freud conjectured that children unconsciously desired to replace their fathers to have their mothers for themselves. Another critique is that there is an inherent misogyny in Freud’s ideas, which leads to a decrease in the use of therapy altogether.

The foundation of Psychoanalytic Theory is to pick apart the surface area and even the first few layers of a character. Only then can an analyzation of their impulses and motives extrapolate the clockwork of what they are made of. To even delve somewhat into a character’s psyche will bear the fruit of the engine of what drives the plot and their relationships with the others in the story. To have any aspects of the id, ego, and superego defined is to appreciate the character’s true intentions, creating immense satisfaction for the work.

The pleasure of reading Williams’ “The Use of Force” with the Psychoanalytic Theory at play is to be both challenged and delighted for the extra measurements, and therefore appreciations, that have the potential to be revealed.

The author brings us the uncertainty of the doctor in this story, as he is honestly trying to find if the girl actually has diphtheria. The mother helps little when she attempts to convince her daughter Mathilda of the doctor’s true aim, “Such a nice man, put in the mother. Look how kind he is to you. Come on, do what he tells you to. He won’t hurt you” (Williams). Through the sight of the Psychoanalytic Theory lens, “developmental research indicates that the child‘s self forms in response to the mother-child relationship and especially the gaze of the mothering figure” (Fenton 1), throwing an unnecessary inhibition into the road. “At that I ground my teeth in disgust. If only they wouldn’t use the word “hurt” I might be able to get somewhere” (Williams) uncovers the doctor’s distaste for said reticence, as “the impact of one‘s subjectivity will greatly influence how any notion of stress is considered” (Fenton 116).

There is back-and-forth discord, but finally the parents are united with the doctor in the mission of care, and he is able to physically approach Mathilda and begin the discovery of what afflicts her. This is not without ferocity being displayed, with the author ending the short story in an emotional closing: “She had been on the defensive before but now she attacked. Tried to get off her father’s lap and fly at me while tears of defeat blinded her eyes” (Williams).

While the author’s storytelling and fierce descriptions of a very specific type of domestic conflict do their share, the use of the two aforementioned literary theories brought more color into an otherwise world that seemed monochrome. There is nothing mundane about the story in its natural and completed monochrome state, but the vibrancy that New Criticism and Psychoanalytic Theory bring to the table made the change for me. The use of New Criticism made sense because of the era of both the original story was written, and the tenets of this theory which can be used to understand much more of the work, especially tension, which there is abundant quantities of throughout. Psychoanalytic Theory serves as a practical lens due to the intensity of the doctor’s ego-driven will to complete his job, which on the surface is not purely commonplace to see. The passage near the end, “Others must be protected against her. It is a social necessity…but a blind fury, a feeling of adult shame, bred of a longing for muscular release are the operatives” (Williams), provides a certain encapsulation of this will, and I believe the story begs to be viewed with this lens.

Literary theories do not answer all questions of literature, just as science does not answer all questions of physical life. But they do exist with defined purposes respective to the individual theories’ traits and help roll out the sidewalks for readers to stroll around the proverbial city. Every street becomes accessible, which is central goal of education and knowledge. As stated above, Psychoanalytic Theory has its issues and may not be used as frequent in our culture as it grows its current era of even more relevant literary theories and perspectives. New Criticism may find itself outdated or outright replaced by a reformed version one day, although the features that cobbles it together still have plenty of time in the sun together. To be able to read and enjoy literature is to better understand the worlds inside the pages of these stories, and the authors who took their lifeblood and crafted it into the words and paragraphs of which their work is comprised. Understanding the music of an author lets the reader, complete with their acquired literary toolbelt, dissect as needed for the supreme enjoyment of this art.

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Works Cited

Bertens, Johannes Willem. Literary Theory: The Basics. Routledge, 2014.

Childs, Donald J. The Birth of New Criticism Conflict and Conciliation in the Early Work of William Empson, I. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014.

Davis, Garrick, and William Logan. Praising It New: The Best of the New Criticism. Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 2008.

Drake, Alfred J and Minda Rae Amiran. The New Criticism: Formalist Literary Theory in America. Cambridge Scholars Publications, 2013.

Fenton, Phillip T. Psychoanalytic Theory: Perspectives, Techniques and Social Implications. Nova Publications, 2014.

Gonzagowski, Steven. “LIT-200 Module Two Lecture Notes, Formalism and New Criticism: The Text, the Whole Text, and Nothing but the Text.” Literature-200. Southern New Hampshire University, New Hampshire. 2021.

Gonzagowski, Steven. “LIT-200 Module Five Lecture Notes, Marxist and Psychoanalytic Criticism: Uncovering the Hidden.” Literature-200. Southern New Hampshire University, New Hampshire. 2021.

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Diphtheria.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 5 Feb. 2022, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diphtheria/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20351903

Kanwal, Gurmeet S. “More than Simply Human: Intersectionality in Psychoanalytic Theory, Practice, and Establishment.” Contemporary Psychoanalysis, vol. 57, no. 2, 2021, pp. 270–305., https://doi.org/10.1080/00107530.2021.1935761.

University of Valencia in Spain. Literary Criticism as a Tool for Interpreting Literature, University of Valencia in Spain, https://www.uv.es/~fores/programa/hale_literarycritic.html.

Williams, William Carlos. Life Along the Passaic River. New Directions, 1938.

Williams, William Carlos. “The Use of Force.” Classic Short Stories, http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/force.html.

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