To What Extent Does Sebastian Faulks Present Us with A Study of Neurasthenia Through The Character Of Stephen In “Birdsong”?
...t, “‘much will be gained if we succeed in transforming… hysterical misery into common unhappiness’” (Geboski 1980 p192). In this case, the hysterical misery of sufferers of Neurasthenia was transformed to the unhappiness of the acceptance of the events of the war, using psychoanalysis, the method that Freud used. Throughout the novel “Birdsong” there are many references to the latter of the two treatment methods and the findings of Freud are supported strongly by the character of Gray who seems to hold himself as an analyst for the soldiers. An example of this can be seen as Gray analyses Stephen and tests his mental fitness for duty after the battles he has endured, “He liked Gray because he was direct. Only his penchant for strange psychological theories worried him.” (Faulks 1993 p337). Gray, for all his interest in psychology, is aware of the void that Stephen feels in his soul and shares the condition. Perhaps that is why he encourages his young officer to remove himself from the field of combat in an effort to prevent his protégé from transforming into the creature Gray himself can recognise, the deadened shell of a battle weary soldier. “Stephen nodded. ‘I know. I was there. I saw the great void in your soul, and you saw mine.” (Faulks 1993 p341). Stephen refuses to be removed from his men who, despite the fact that they are no longer the original team, he feels a long-standing loyalty to, possibly more to the dead than the living. Stephen also suffers from the flashback dreams of his long dead comrades in a manner often symptomatic of victims of Neurasthenia. In one section of the novel Stephen wakes from a dream and is rattled by the experience, “I am tired in my body and my mind, as Gray pointed out. Perhaps Gray, or one of his Austrian doctors, could also explain the curious sequence of hallucinating dreams” (Faulks 1993 p359). Away from the front line and his own life experiences on leave in Norfolk Stephen allows himself to consider these dreams and the clear view of unthreatened nature. He attempts to heal himself by embracing his old but unhealed pain in a way the reader has not come to expect from his character, due to his previous methods of repression. Throughout the text it is clear that these Freudian ideas, through exorcising demons of the subconscious is the psychological method that the author approves of for the soldiers as it appears as the only option present in the novel. The mention of healing throughout the novel is often accompanied by a great psychological achievement. Examples of this can be seen in the relief of Brennan when he recovers his brother’s corpse from no mans land as, in his mind, this saved his brother in some small way. Despite the fact he recovers only a green headless torso this accomplishment means everything to him and somehow alleviates the guilt Brennan feels about still being alive. “I wanted to come. I feel better now” (Faulks 1993 p351) Brennan carries this solace with him for the rest of his life. This is a small consolation when Neurasthenia never leaves him. “My brother, i bought him back all right. Always looked after him, I did” (Faulks 1993 p404). Throughout his life at the Azaire’s house Stephen refrains from going into exact details of his life unless pushed. This quality of repression of his past remains, Stephen does not actually deal with any bad things that happen to him, choosing to survive the situation and repress the problems that it presents instead of experiencing it and overcoming the mental hurdles the experience creates. This reaction leads to Stephen’s apathy, a coldness that is planted in childhood and through the author revealing Stephen’s pre war life with Isabelle the reader can see the beginnings of the growth of his detachment on her leaving, “he could think of nothing. He lay and stared at the night beyond the window. He felt himself grow cold.” (Faulks 1993 p117). The experiences that Stephen survives in the trenches penetrate his shell and chill his soul further on some levels. Indeed when he meets Isabelle again after their separation she notices the change in him. It seems to her that the soul that she loved has retreated into his being, leaving behind a shell that he uses for armour against the world; “his eyes had always been dark but now they seemed shrunk. There was no light in them… He seemed a man removed to some new existence where he was dug in and fortified by his lack of natural feeling or response.” (Faulks 1993 p335). This absence however, is probably a change that occurred in him from her departure from his life as much as anything, Stephen has never allowed himself to love anyone but her due to his difficult childhood which lead to his fear of abandonment, a fear that Isabelle developed. “In her trust and love for him he had deposited the unresolved conflicts of his life perhaps his self was still in her – betrayed and unhealed… and in her physical absence there was more than missing flesh; there was abandonment.” (Faulks 1993 p206). The positioning of the word abandonment on the line, left at the end of a paragraph for the reader to contemplate emphasises Stephen’s loneliness at Isabelle’s absence. This quote is also important as it shows that Stephen is aware of the unhealthy state of his unresolved conflicts and repressed problems. Later in the novel Jeanne notices the changes in him as his condition deteriorates and his movements take on a characteristic dreamlike quality of a Shell Shock victim and he loses the appearance of doing things deliberately and takes on an air of carrying out his actions automatically. “He had grown very thin and his skin had become lined and leathery about the eyes, their expression was no longer guarded and to Jeanne it seemed vacant… His movements had a dreamlike quality… he smoked without seeming to know he did so and dropped ash on his clothes.” (Faulks 1993 p429). He admits to her that he has lost knowledge of reality and so Jeanne offers him the opportunity of love. An emotion that in the past has been the only thing able to fill him with the drive to live and enjoy life not merely exist and endure an indifference of when his life will end. Unable to accept Jeanne’s gesture due to his love for Isabelle that has only just been given an avenue for closure from his perspective, (through his recent reunion with Isabelle, his acceptance that she has moved on and so he must as well and his outlet of Jeanne who he can discuss his feelings with.) Stephen uses this opportunity to say goodbye to his misplaced love. Stephen’s final steps towards resolving his past come when he confesses his life story to Jack Firebrace in a catharsis while they fight for survival in a sealed tunnel. This opportunity allows Stephen to come to terms with situations of his past beyond the opportunity for change years ago. It gives him an inner peace and a new drive for live as he fights to overcome his circumstances one more time, this time without repression and with an air of healing, finally able to bury his past with his confidant who does not survive the experience. This new method of embracing and coming to terms with his pain is continued after his escape from the tunnel when he shares his grief with his saviours, a group of German soldiers and puts his hate behind him once more. This leads to his free walk across no man’s land suffering from the effects of his Neurasthenia but still joyous of the opportunity of life being offered to him. “His body and his mind was tired beyond speech and beyond repair, but nothing could stop the low exultation of his soul.” (Faulks1993 p485). He leaves in his diary a chilling prediction of his future inability to speak. A sentiment echoed by his generation, as the temptation of repression is too powerful for the former soldiers to resist the opportunity of erasing their past, and the atrocities they have committ...