| dc.description.abstract | A lifelong search into the very nature of reality and the soul has led
Australian Nobel Prize-winner Patrick White to investigate some of the
explanations which man has been attempting to provide since time immemorial.
The scope of his interests encompasses the perspectives of Plato and the
Neo-Platonists, mediaeval alchemy, Jewish mysticism and the Cabbala,
Christianity and Buddhism, and Jungian depth psychology. White’s sensitivity
has put him in touch with the primaeval archetypes and myths; aspects of each
of the areas of White's interest lend themselves to interpretation through
both archetypes and myths. As a result, it is possible to detect three basic
and related themes which pervade all White's work. The first of these themes
is the dichotomy expressed in the title The Living and the Dead. This
dichotomy has been chosen as the title of this thesis not only because, as one
of life's basic dichotomies, it underlies all his work, but as well because
the two other themes are so intimately involved with dichotomies. Another
fundamental dichotomy is that of Physis and Nous. In order to be among the
"living," White's characters must draw from both sides of this dichotomy.
The physical must be tempered with the spiritual and vice versa. Likewise,
reason must be tempered with imagination, and the "living" must suffer some
kind of spiritual or symbolic death. There are moments in life when inklings
into the meaning of these dichotomies are vouchsafed. If one profits from
these moments, one can begin the process towards becoming whole. These
special moments occur when the spiritual and physical worlds come closest
together. Thus, dichotomies underlie the second of the two themes—the
process of becoming. The myth of rebirth is the third related theme. This myth stands as an analogy for the enlightenment or wholeness which all White’s
"living" characters eventually achieve. Their enlightenment may be
apocalyptic, or it may be gradual; it may come with death,or it may come
before. Whatever the case, it is always preceded by some kind of spiritual or
symbolic death which shows how closely related is this theme to the dichotomy
of the "living" and the "dead."
The intent of this thesis is to show how these three themes, investigated
through a variety of perspectives, are represented in four major decades of
White's work. For this purpose, four main novels have been chosen for
detailed study: The Living and the Dead (1941), Voss (1957), The Solid
Mandala (1966), and The Eye of the Stozm (1973). The 1980*s, beginning with
the autobiographical musings. Flaws in the Glass, have shown White's continued
interest in these questions; as an illustration, a less detailed study of
Memoirs of Many in One is included in the conclusion of this thesis. | |
