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Jungian Analysis of Harry Gale
Mishal Shahid
“Vox Humana” explores themes of trauma, identity, and reintegration, delving into the fractured psyche of Harry Gale, a Korean War veteran whose return to civilian life is followed throughout the story. This psychoanalytic criticism zeroes in on Harry’s character particularly in light of Jung’s archetypal criticism, myths as ‘symbolic expression of the inner, unconscious drama’ and the three parts of human psyche : personal conscious, personal unconscious and collective unconscious. , while myths and symbols reveal the profound, unconscious forces at play in his psychological state. Using a Jungian approach, this analysis focuses on Harry as a modern “Odysseus,” whose journey home mirrors archetypal hero struggles. This view not only deepens the narrative but also connect Harry’s story to timeless patterns of human experience, highlighting his fragmented psyche and quest for meaning.
The Wandering Hero archetype
According to Jung, the universal psychic aspect includes deep, powerful human themes and commonalities , existing in the form of archetypes. Archetypes are patterns or images of repeated human experiences and occurring in literature they result in character types. The archetypal hero’s journey underpins his struggle to reconcile the past and the present. Harry’s journey parallels that of Odysseus in Greek mythology, particularly in his inability to feel at home upon returning.
His unease with the village, which he perceives as wearing a ‘disquieting mask’ (a metaphor for its alienation), reflects his struggle to reconcile his past with his present. Like Odysseus, Harry has faced trials in Korea, but instead of returning triumphant, he comes home burdened by trauma. The village, once familiar, feels alien to Harry, reflecting Odysseus’s sense of disconnection upon his return to Ithaca:
“The village had donned a disquieting mask.”
This description parallels Odysseus’s feeling that home has changed in his absence, deepening Harry’s alienation and quest for belonging. The mask represents Harry’s inability to connect with his community, highlighting his role as an archetypal wanderer who remains estranged from his roots. Harry’s reflections reveal his identification with the archetypal struggle of survival and loss, akin to Odysseus’s isolation after his companions perish:
“All of my mates drowned. I clung to a piece of the timber, a rib of the splintered ship, and was the sole survivor.”
This quotation from the Korean folklore tale resonates with Harry’s own psychological fragmentation, as he metaphorically clings to the remnants of his identity. Like Odysseus, whose journey is both physical and existential, Harry’s struggle reflects his search for meaning and reconciliation through the poetry he reads, titled, ‘The Great Hunt’ which seemed ‘to be more about seeking than hunting’. This alludes to Harry’s introspection and his quest to integrate his fractured self, akin to Odysseus’s longing for home and identity.
Personal Conscious, Personal Unconscious and Collective Unconscious
Jungian psychology distinguishes between the personal conscious, personal unconscious, and collective unconscious, all of which are evident in Harry’s character.
- Personal Conscious:
Harry’s conscious mind is overwhelmed by his inability to connect with others or find meaning in his current life. He often retreats into isolation, avoiding meaningful interactions, even with his sister Annette. He was completely withdrawn to reading poetry, smoking and drinking coffee finding any interactions exhausting.
“He loved his sister and appreciated her giving him a place to stay, truly, but the idea of speaking to her—to anyone—was overwhelming. Conversation was exhausting.”
- Personal Unconscious:
Harry’s personal unconscious is filled with the suppressed trauma of war, including memories of violence and death. His reliance on transcription during the war served as a psychological defense mechanism, allowing him to disassociate from his reality:
“For months it seemed that his only words were those that belonged to the North and South Koreans who had been interrogated or interviewed… Their stories, no matter how horrific, were like invocations that protected his fragile sanity.”
This retreat into others’ words reveals Harry’s fear of confronting his own emotions, leaving his personal unconscious teeming with unprocessed grief and guilt. Particularly in the scene where Harry goes to a nearby store during a thunderstorm. His plagued personal unconscious is highlighted through his PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms. Though his conscious is well aware of the thunder and rain, his unconscious confuses the battle cries, gunshots and the loud noises of bombing with it, making him suffocate. The following passage highlights his extreme reactions:
“A flash of lightning broke across the gray, instantly followed by the thunder’s crash. Harry dropped the basket and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt: He was suffocating. His t-shirt was soaked under his arms and along his ribs and spine. He was near a bin of vegetables. He fought an instinct to squat behind it, shielding himself from the flashing windows. Another bolt then bellow of thunder. He put his hand on the wooden bin for support.”
- Collective Unconscious:
The collective unconscious surfaces in Harry’s dreams and his connection to myths. His identification with the Korean storyteller’s Cyclops tale reflects archetypal themes of survival and struggle:
“Harry recognized the Korean tale from Odysseus’s great wanderings as well as from Sinbad’s voyages—all the ancient authors drawing from some still more ancient source, a common human headwater.”
This recognition underscores Jung’s assertion that myths are universal expressions of the human condition, bridging individual and collective experiences. Harry’s dreams of Korean faces speaking to him in whispers symbolize the collective unconscious—a reservoir of shared human experience.
“The Korean faces began appearing in his dreams, whispering to him in English with their distinct accents. They floated in an ethereal sea, a space all their own, a sort of in-between with no sense of what lay before or beyond.”
These faces represent fragments of his personal unconscious, linked to collective war experiences. Jungian theory views such recurring imagery as symbolic manifestations of suppressed memories seeking integration into the conscious self. The “in-between” space of Harry’s dreams aligns with Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious, a realm where universal human experiences converge.
Myths as Expression of Inner Psyche
Jung posits myths as ‘symbolic expression of the inner, unconscious drama’. The story begins with a direct allusion to Odysseus:
“You sailed like Ulysses through the border-void—fiery atmosphere below, black oblivion beyond—your own Scylla and Charybdis. A distant dream: Ithaca.”
This sets the tone for Harry’s psychological and emotional journey, comparing his struggles to those of the Greek hero navigating between deadly obstacles. Harry’s inner drama unfolds through mythological parallels:
- The Cyclops Myth:
Jung describes myths as symbolic expressions of unconscious conflicts and struggles. In “Vox Humana,” the Cyclops tale, shared by the Korean storyteller, serves as a powerful parallel to Harry’s inner turmoil. The Cyclops, a monstrous force, represents Harry’s unacknowledged trauma from the war—memories of violence, death, and guilt that loom large in his psyche. Just as Odysseus blinds the Cyclops to escape its clutches, Harry “blinds” himself to his pain by immersing himself in transcription during the war.
In the Cyclops myth, the old man with no legs narrates his story, without a doubt there are parallels between Harry’s experiences at war with the encounter of the old man with the giant. In the below passage, certain similarities can be observed. For example, the ‘crew’ could refer to the band of soldiers in battle. It mirrors the starvation and exhaustion of soldiers who are often forced to watch their fellows die and at times may be left disfigured by the war – physically and psychologically.
“In my youth I was a sailor, one among a crew of twenty whose ship was battered by a terrible storm and driven many leagues from our course. We came to an island unknown to us. A strange-looking keep stood on the headland overlooking the sea. We were hungry and thirsty and exhausted from our ordeal in the storm…. Meanwhile all that we could do was watch in horror…. As I floated in the sea, a frightful fish bit off my legs. I washed upon a lonely island, where I remained marooned for many years—surviving against all odds.”
- Greek Chorus:
The Greek chorus, a feature of classical drama, serves as a collective voice reflecting the emotional and psychological undercurrents of the narrative. In Vox Humana, the whispering voices that haunt Harry operate as a modern adaptation of this archetype. They echo not only his personal suffering but also the collective guilt and trauma of war, universalized through the chorus’s presence. Initially, these voices appear fragmented and indistinct, arising from Harry’s unconscious mind:
“The faces began appearing in his dreams, whispering to him in English with their distinct accents… a helter-skelter of tiles from incomplete mosaics.”
The incomplete “mosaics” reflect Harry’s fragmented psyche and the universal nature of the pain he embodies. These voices, though unsettling, represent not only his repressed memories but also the broader collective unconscious of war survivors, connecting Harry’s individual experience to a larger human drama. By the end of the story at the welcome party, Morrisey gives the voices a distinct name of ‘chorus’ – the chorus speaks adding to the story a sort of omniscient narrative expressing Harry’s inner feelings. The chorus becomes a voice of omniscience, articulating what Harry cannot consciously acknowledge. For instance, at the welcome party, Harry’s discomfort is mirrored by the chorus:
“A funeral, that’s what this feels like to Harry: The village turning out to pay their respects, then have a free meal and eat a piece of white cake.”
The omniscient chorus externalizes Harry’s alienation and despair, giving mythological weight to his inner psyche. In doing so, the chorus bridges the personal and collective realms, connecting Harry’s internal conflicts to universal human struggles. This dual function, as both a reflection of Harry’s unconscious and a collective human voice, reinforces Morrissey’s exploration of myths as timeless expressions of the inner psyche.
In “Vox Humana,” Ted Morrissey masterfully explores Harry Gale’s inner psyche which has been analyzed in this assignment through the lens of Jungian archetypes, parts of psyche and mythological symbolism. Harry’s fragmented identity is mirrored in his role as a modern Odysseus, navigating the psychological aftermath of war and the alienation of his return home. His personal unconscious is haunted by suppressed trauma, manifesting in his reliance on transcription, his anxiety during the thunderstorm, and the suffocating guilt reflected in his dreams. These personal struggles intertwine with the collective unconscious, as evidenced by his connection to the Cyclops tale and the archetypal Greek chorus that externalizes his inner turmoil. Myths serve as Harry’s subconscious tools for understanding his inner drama, providing symbolic expressions of his conflict and survival. Ultimately, Morrissey uses Jung’s framework to universalize Harry’s individual struggles, linking his personal experiences to timeless human themes of loss, guilt, and the search for meaning.
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Mishal Shahid is a BS Honors English Language and Literature student at NUML Islamabad. She served as the Director of Publications for the English Literary Society (ELS) at NUML for a year and co-authored Midnight Word Gazing, a monthly anthology by TWS Publications. Mishal has hosted multiple national and international university seminars and events, including the ELS Podcast on Popular Fiction, International webinar on Psychoanalytic criticism, and more. Her commitment to community service is reflected in her work with WWF Pakistan’s Eco-Internship Program, Bondh E Shams’ water conservation efforts, and LSUxPAGE School, where she worked with underprivileged students. She also has a passion for writing and is continuously honing her craft to explore new avenues of expression.
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