Self and the Other the

Self and the Other The physical self and the metaphorical other: Symbolic representation of the "other" in the characters of the Captain, Shylock, and Don Quixote Literature has been, throughout human history, one of the most effective ways in which the subjective realities of people were reflected and explicated. Through the author's view of life, readers are given a glimpse of what specific period or place had been in the eyes of the author.

Acting as a mirror for society, the author engages his/her emotions in depicting these realities, whether these are feelings of happiness, sadness, amusement, anger, or indifference. This function of literature applies to all cultures and societies of the world. That is why the works of Joseph Conrad, William Shakespeare, and Miguel Cervantes. Analysis of their respective works, "The Secret Sharer," "The Merchant of Venice," and "Don Quixote" reflect the authors' contemplation of how individuals try to expressed themselves -- their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs -- in different ways.

By centering this paper's analysis on each story's protagonist, it became apparent that the stories are similar in the sense that their protagonists have focused on the conscious and unconscious selves, parts of an individual which have been identified psychoanalytically as responsible for suppressing (conscious self) and releasing (unconscious self) an individual's desires and needs in life. This paper looks into the theme of the physical self and the metaphorical other, representing the conscious and unconscious selves, respectively.

Through the protagonists of the three authors' stories, this paper analyzes how The Captain in "The Secret Sharer" by Conrad, Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare, and Don Quixote in "Don Quixote" by Cervantes had gone through a struggle in controlling these two facets of their individuality, and how they were eventually defeated or able to overcome this struggle and emerge as an individual who has achieved self-actualization (i.e., acceptance of one's true self and nature) in life.

One of the most explicit illustrations of the physical self-metaphorical other was the Captain's character in Conrad's "The Secret Sharer." In the story, the Captain was characterized as seemingly lonely and unsatisfied in life; his life took a sudden change and became more dynamic with the appearance of Leggatt, a crew of the ship "The Sephora." The introduction of Leggatt's character became the catalyst for the Captain's metaphorical other to gradually emerge.

While the physical self of the Captain manifested itself through the persona of the Captain himself, his metaphorical self -- that is, his desirous self, in need of adventure and change in a life of routine -- manifested itself through two forms: in the character of Leggatt and eventually, the Captain's white hat. Captain's metaphorical other's manifestation through a white hat had been the most powerful symbolism used in the story, more powerful than Leggatt's character.

This is because the Captain's desires were effectively portrayed through this symbol (white hat), as explicated by Conrad: All at once my strained, yearning stare distinguished a white object floating within a yard of the ship's side. White on the black water. A phosphorescent flash passed under it. What was that thing? I recognized my own floppy hat. It must have fallen off his head. And he didn't bother. Now I had what I wanted -- the saving mark for my eyes.

But I hardly thought of my other self, now gone from the ship, to be hidden forever from all friendly faces, to be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, with no brand of the curse on his sane forehead to stay a slaying hand. too proud to explain.

In this passage, a radical change had occurred within the once rigid and constrained Captain: he had finally acknowledged and shown affinity to the "other self," which he associated with Leggatt along with his white hat, two symbols who sought 'freedom' and adventure in the vast sea for the Captain, who remained in the ship, bound by his duties and limitations as an individual.

Though the Captain was not able to overcome and dissociate himself from his constrained self, he was at least able to 'release' his desirous self and experience freedom at least in the person of Leggatt and his white hat. Conrad's psychological portrayal of the Captain became more explicit as the story neared its end. The Captain was not able to fully experience freedom and a carefree life, the kind of life that his metaphorical self desired, but he nevertheless achieved it by helping out Leggatt achieve his freedom.

Moreover, wish-fulfillment was achieved when he let go of the symbolic white hat, which the Captain described as "marking the spot where the secret sharer of my cabin and of my thoughts, as though he were my second self .. A free man, a proud swimmer striking out for a new destiny." His metaphorical self recognized, the Captain sought a better life by living his own life meaningfully, in his own way.

Through this, he had achieved true self-actualization, for he was able to recognize the benefits and limits of both his physical and metaphorical selves. Shylock's character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," meanwhile, presented a more complex illustration of how he was struggled, and lost, in the battle between the emerging dominance of his physical and desirous and vengeful selves. Shylock's character was characterized as primarily a man motivated by money and power.

Money was instrumental for him because he is a businessman, while control was inevitable because he exerted control over people who owed him money. Shylock's physical self is motivated by greed, while his metaphorical self was motivated by revenge, the self who believes in vengeful justice as the moral way of repaying one's debt to another person.

This characterization of Shylock as the vengeful individual manifested itself in Act III, Scene 5 of the play, where he addressed the unfairness of the position he was in, after believing he had been given no choice to get what he, in the first place, must have (that is, Antonio's flesh as payment for his overdue loan).

His vengeful self taking over the greedy Shylock, he addressed the court, justifying why he allowed his metaphorical self to emerge: "You'll ask me, why I rather choose to have A weight of carrion flesh than to receive Three thousand ducats .. For affection, Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood Of what it likes or loathes .. " From this passage, Shylock brought into fore a social issue that plagued his society, a society that was prejudiced against Jews, a reality that helped him develop his cunning personality.

Thus, by insisting that Antonio pay his loan by giving a pound of his flesh, he was just asserting what his inner self had wanted to do all along -- that is, to avenge against the prejudice and discrimination that he experienced in his society. Antonio's flesh would be society's payment for the marginalization and social isolation that Shylock felt, living as a hated Jew businessman in his society. Unlike the Captain in Conrad's story, Shylock was not able to reconcile the differences between his physical and metaphorical self.

Instead, he allowed his vengeful self to emerge, a conscious decision that he made for he considered this as his opportunity to 'free' himself from the emotional turmoil and social isolation that he felt. Don Quixote's character in Cervantes' novel was parallel with Shylock's characterization in "The Merchant of Venice." In the same manner as Shylock did, Don Quixote allowed his other self to emerge, thereby making him an insane.