Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2007. / Title from screen (viewed on May 23, 2007) Department of English, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-110)

Criticism of Graham Greene often centers around what has been termed Greene's "obsessions." Much has been made of his "formula" of the hunted man. The suggestion usually is that Greene's "obsessions" and his "formula" are a blemish in his work. Since Greene's artistry in other respects is seldom questioned, it would seem to me that there is an explanation of what seems to be a blemish. The word "obsession" itself suggests an unconscious activity, an unconscious urge. It occurred to me that the recurrence of Greene's themes, and his "formula" could be explained as an unconscious urge translated into symbols which reflect his basic concern. Drawing on Jung's theory of "the collective unconscious," and examining the theory of archetypal terminology in literary criticism as used by such literary critics as Northrop Frye, and Maud Bodkin -- in her Archetypal Patterns in Poetry -- I attempt to show that Greene's heroes are symbols in a mythic structure. This structure, with varying artistic differences, is what we see as Greene's individual novels and "entertainments." The novels and entertainments represent the fusion of Greene's literary artistry, his unconscious symbolism, and his conscious ordering of experience. Greene's heroes, his "archetypes," are recurrent images which evince his theme: that man can only be spiritually regenerated through experience. The word "recurrent" helps to explain the term "formula" which has been applied to Greene's plots. I attempt, too, to relate Greene's mythology to his “obsession." The reason that Greene chooses to call some of his work "entertainments," and others "novels," is that these represent two different literary modes which roughly parallel two general modes in art and literature: the comic and the tragic. The two entertainments examined here, The Confidential Agent and The Ministry of Fear, are discussed as representative of the comic mode, and the two serious novels, The Power and the Glory and The Heart of the Matter, are discussed as "tragic." The entertainments represent not comedy, but the integrative urge; that is, in comedy the tendency is to integrate the hero into his society. Both Arthur Rowe, the hero of the entertainment, The Ministry of Fear, and "D," the hero of the entertainment, The Confidential Agent, are reintegrated into their society through the love of women. On the other hand, the tendency in the tragic mode is to isolate the hero from his society. For example, the whiskey priest of The Power and the Glory, and Scobie of The Heart of the Matter, are in conflict with their society and are not physically reintegrated into it. I also examine Greene's use of melodrama. I attempt to expose the link between his use of melodrama and the comic mode. The necessity for a happy ending in the comic mode is mainly the reason that Greene uses melodramatic formulae in his plot resolution in the entertainments. It soon becomes clear that Greene's use of melodramatic formulae is ironic. This is so because of Greene's basic theme that one should be aware of both good and evil in human nature. His heroes and the minor characters are his medium of expression of this theme. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the characterization of the hero in the novels of Benjamín Jarnés. The novels considered are those written and published in Spain before the author's emigration at the time of the Civil War. The method used is direct analysis of the novels combined with reference to Jarnés' writing in other genres, particularly his criticism. The first-part of the thesis introduces Jarnés and his background. The main influences were his classical and theological education, the avant-garde movements of the 1920's, and the ideas of Ortega and Gasset. Jarnés rejected religion, metaphysics, puritanical morality, Romantic abstractions, and sentimentality in favour of humanism, sensual enjoyment, and a desire for lucidity and precision in intellectual activity and art. He was interested in psychoanalysis as a literary device for revealing character, and proposed that fiction should deal with all levels of consciousness. In presenting his characters Jarnés uses both an objective approach, which shows man's appearance and external behaviour, and a subjective approach, which penetrates inside the mind of individual characters. The psychological revelation is usually reserved for the main character of the novel for reasons of authenticity: the hero thus reflects everyone's inability to know others more than superficially. In Chapters III, IV, and V the main characters are studied in relation to three themes: love, intellectual activity, and the insignificance of the individual. Love is treated without sentimental idealization. Relationships are often temporary and nover perfect. The lover has two distinct attitudes to his mistress's body -- sexual and aesthetic; he derives pleasure both from detached, cerebral contemplation and from renunciation of the self in sexual passion. Intellectual activity is of great importance but it should be used in the service of vitality, not as the negation of it. Jarnés deplores pedantry. Introspection is necessary for discovering one's true self and remaining faithful to it, but if it leads to despair the mind must be diverted into more positive channels, or the senses must take over. The intellect becomes sterile unless combined with full use of other human attributes, for example, in a love affair. Reason has limitations, which must be admitted. Jarnés’ heroes are threatened with standardization and loss of individuality as their circumstances urge them to conform to set patterns. They resist by withdrawal into the self, but this is only a partial solution: true vitality requires positive interaction with one's environment. Jarnés uses various techniques for showing people's impotence or insignificance, for example, humour, irony, dehumanization. In Locura y muerte de nadie he takes as main character "someone or other" instead of a defined individual. The last chapter summarizes the characteristics of Jarnés’ heroes. They have in common a desire for freedom, a determination to make their own way independently of established customs and institutions. As well as rejecting tradition they struggle to retain their individuality in contemporary society, which relies more and more on mass culture and automation. They seek to avoid identification with the crowd but are not misanthropic or cynical: they favour intimate contact with other individuals. Although these characters are insignificant in a worldly sense and although, even within their novels, they may enjoy a marginal pre-eminence over their fellows, they do emerge as heroes of a kind, distinguished by their tenacious affirmation of the spiritual values of liberty, generosity, and vitality. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

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This research focuses on the public school teacher in the social role of national hero/heroine in the decade of the 1980's. Using historical background which highlights the traditional attitudes of United States' society toward the school and teacher, the phenomenon of the teacher as a national hero figure in the 1980's is examined. Sociologist Orrin Klapp's theory of the process used to create the heroic social type in society is employed to analyze case studies of teachers Christa McAuliffe and Jaime Escalante in an attempt to determine what factors contribute to or inhibit the elevation of the teacher to national hero/heroine status. The factors identified are then used to suggest a possible heroic conceptionalization of teaching.The position taken by the researcher is that the idea of teaching as vocation should be given re-consideration as a basis for the development of a heroic paradigm of instructional endeavor. Teaching at its best is more than a job. Teaching can be viewed as a humane and compassionate response to the calling of the children of society. The desire to make a difference in the lives of students by meeting their educational needs is a compelling motivation for those who enter teaching. The willingness of teachers to persevere in the pursuit of their students' best interest while facing significant social and occupational impediments not only serves the greater good of the whole society but displays the act of teaching as an intrinsically heroic endeavor. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education