As the naturalist movement began developing, writers and scholars alike began to ponder several facets of life that had been unaddressed, or disregarded altogether. Considering nature’s impact on life, the nationalist movement allowed writers to establish a new perspective and describe how nature influence certain situations in their narratives. Bringing the naturalist movement a step further, Henry James applied his naturalistic focus inward and addressed how one was affected by the internal forces of nature. For James, these internal forces of nature were more profound going beyond the simple form of nature dealing with whether, natural disaster, life, or death. James shifted his focus and concentrate on the nature of human emotions which is seen in his classic short story entitled, The Beast in the Jungle. James became one of many influential writers that further the nationalist movements by asking others to consider the psychological aspects of nature. It is this perspective of the mind where James challenged the facets of the meaning of true love. Through the indecisiveness and mental anguish of his narrator, John Marcher, James expressed that even something as complex as the human mind cannot comprehend the meaning of true love. Moreover, it is also evident that although the human mind is a profound aspect of one’s life, it is imperfect and is influenced by human emotion. Is this imperfection of psychic that allowed James to express through his narrator that the aspect of true love is an idea is too difficult for the human mind to understand. James created his narrator so as to examine how the human mind deals with the complexity of true love; unfortunately the narrator’s insecurities and indecisiveness suggests that James believed the idea of true love could only be acquired by those who were sure of themselves, and were in touch with their frame of consciousness.
James wanted to bring attention to the mind’s power over the body in the sense of a stream of consciousness. This stream of consciousness was used to give the reader a way to grasp a sense of one’s internal struggles. By focusing directly on John Marcher’s internal thought, James showed the imperfections of Marcher’s consciousness while simultaneously revealing his unreliability as a narrator who is fallible and unsure of himself. Furthermore, it is evident that Marcher is somewhat powerless in terms of this mental conscious. This sense of powerlessness was largely expressed by James through Marcher’s counterpart, May Bartram. Marcher’s unreliability was demonstrated in his initial interaction with Bartram:
What determined the speech that startled him in the course of their encounter scarcely matters, being probably but some words spoken by himself quite without intention – spoken as they lingered and slowly moved together after their renewal of acquaintance (477).
James further accentuated Marcher’s insecurities by bringing attention to his frame of mind. It is evident, that James wrote Marcher to be a character who was largely inspired by his assumption with regard to the motives of others. Additionally, Marcher was also unable to think intuitively and uncover what one truly was intending to express. Unfortunately, Marcher is naïve to the fact that he has such flaws and was presented by James to be a character who felt somewhat estranged to his aristocratic peers. This is expressed in the explanation that summarized Marcher’s feelings in the mansion in the opening scene of the story which states, “John Marcher found himself among such suggestions disconcerted almost equally by the presence of those who knew too much and by that of those who knew nothing” (478). Marcher’s character flaws created an internal struggle within him and made him unaware of the fact that he was truly loved by May Bartram. Expressing Marcher’s characteristics in this way allowed James to bring forth his unreliable and indecisive nature, yet also gave Marcher a sense of vulnerability. Creating Marcher as a vulnerable character, James was able to stylistically present the theme of the narrative which dealt with Marcher’s internal struggle with his own consciousness and emotions. Moreover, James further complicated Marcher’s internal conflict by giving Bartram the knowledge of a previous encounter with Marcher which Marcher did not remember. Marcher described the internal conflict between himself and Bertram as a metaphorical thread. He inferred that Bartram had possession of this thread and refused to relinquish it to him and give away its secrets (478). Being unaware of the fact that the secrets that were trapped in this “thread,” or the secrets of the couple’s first encounter, Marcher refused to give in to the fact that he had no knowledge of the secret that Bartram was hiding; allowing Bertram to use this “thread” as a means of manipulation. From Marcher’s perspective, having this “thread” placed Bartram consciously above him and therefore made her an idolized figure from Marcher’s perspective. The power Bartram possessed was an insightful power that allowed her to grasp, and in a way, control Marcher emotionally. For James, this power was not influenced by person’s physical status in life nor influenced by one’s gender.
James bestowed the power of controlling one’s emotions upon a common female character who did not meld with the common aristocratic fashions of the time. This is expressed in the scene where the couple’s initial encounter takes place. Using the thoughts of his narrator, James expressed that while Marcher was unsure with regard to the reasoning surrounding Bartram’s appearance at the mansion he was intrigued to see her. Marcher’s thoughts revealed, “… May Bartram, whose face, [brought upon] a remembrance, yet not quite a remembrance, as they sat much separated at a very long table, has begun merely by troubling him rather pleasantly” (478). The pleasure Marcher felt after seeing Bertram in the mansion was a pleasure derived from emotion. For James, this facet of emotion becomes a theme throughout the story and takes his narrator on an internal journey of discovery. The mysteries surrounding Bartram’s secrets in this internal journey, forces Marcher to ponder what secrets are being hidden away. This mental journey is used to express how James felt about one’s consciousness. For James, consciousness was a profound aspect of life that could not be easily controlled. Throughout his short story, James used his narrator’s to suggest that for one to truly control their emotions they would have to have a free flowing stream of consciousness that was uninterrupted by flaws such as insecurities and indecisiveness. It is evident that James developed his character, May Bartram, to illustrate an example of someone who possessed a consciousness without fault.
Building upon this aspect of the influence of one’s consciousness, James expressed how the human mind could halt a declaration of affection. It is clear that Marcher is not infatuated with Bertram solely because of her social status or wealth. One can also infer that he is not attracted to her in light of her aesthetic beauty. Marcher is attracted to Bartram because the two share a connection that is cognitively emotional. Furthermore, they both represent individuals who were lost in a world that they found to be unfamiliar; seeing themselves as out casts. Unfortunately for both of them, neither one of them will ever experience true love because they are both internally flawed. While James did write Marcher’s to be a flawed character, that was unable to decipher one’s actual intent, he also gave May Bartram a poetic flaw of waiting for her true love to unravel her secrets.
Unfortunately, James never intended for either Marcher or Bartram to see their own flaws when the two were together. Rather, James chose to end his story on a tragic note, leaving Marcher left behind without his true love. Although Marcher never truly realizes that Bartram was his true love, it is evident that Marcher felt a deep sense of loss and sorrow. For James, the sorrow and emptiness that Marcher was experiencing was the personification of James’ metaphorical beast.
This beast was not a monster of flesh and blood, but of one’s inability to act – to see through their flaws. It is clear that James used his narrator in a manner to exemplify what happens to one that was unable see past his or her flaws. James withheld the devastating reality of these flaws until the conclusion of the story where he stated, “The escape would have been to love her; then, then he would have lived” (506). Although it is unclear if Marcher died from a broken heart, James prophetically inferred that there was more to life than surviving. Solely based off of the idea of love is an escape, it is evident that James noted the importance of one’s happiness having a direct correlation to one’s healthy frame of mind.
Although many writers after James contributed to the nationalist movement, it can be said with certainty that Henry James’ story The Beast in the Jungle truly expressed how important the aspect of one’s consciousness is to their everyday life. Furthermore, the implications of the story suggests that one can only tame the beast of true love if they are willing to accept their faults as a human being, and thereby possessing a clear mind and consciousness.
Works Cited
Frankland, Wayne, Philip Cura, Jerome Kinkowitz, Arnold Krupat, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. C. Ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. Eighthth ed. New York: W-W-Norton & Company, 2011. 477-506. Print.
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