Date Thesis Awarded
5-2015
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
English
Advisor
Mary Ann Melfi
Committee Members
Susan Donaldson
Chelsey Johnson
Meghan Sinton
Abstract
Author, historian, and conservationist Wallace Stegner is woefully understudied due to his reputation as a Western American novelist concerned primarily with an environmentalist agenda. A close analysis of three of Stegner’s texts demonstrates that his literary genius supersedes many preconceived notions about his works. “A Field Guide to the Western Birds,” All the Little Live Things, and The Spectator Bird focus on protagonist Joe Allston, and demonstrate that Stegner uses natural imagery and psychological character development in ways similar to early Romantic writers in that he examines the relationship between internal mental environments and external physical environments. In order to analyze Allston’s journey from repressed, adolescent-minded curmudgeon to mentally integrated and emotionally aware mature adult in Stegner’s stories, I apply Carl Jung’s theories on the individual unconscious and synchronicity—or acausal connections—to prove that Allston undergoes minor and major psychological conversion experiences, as defined by philosopher and psychologist William James.
Recommended Citation
Floegel, Diana J., ""How Do I Know What I Think Till I See What I Say?" William James's and Carl Jung's Ideas on the Unconscious Mind As Applied to Stegner" (2015). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 118.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/118
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