It was Jung who propagated the theory of collective unconsciousness, and for him, there is a female aspect present in the collective unconscious of men named anima, and he termed the male aspect present in the collective unconscious of women as the animus.
In the novel, the shadow is the Steppenwolf itself, which, for Haller, acts as the negative animalistic side of his personality. George Boeree, the shadow is “the “dark side” of the ego and the evil that we are capable of,” and so “the shadow becomes something of a garbage can for the parts of ourselves that we can’t quite admit to.” (Boeree). It is propagated by psychoanalysts that a person can have a balanced personality and true health only when all these elements are in harmony.Īccording to Dr. Jung believed that the personality of an individual is comprised of elements like the shadow, the anima, the conscious, and the unconscious, and all these psychoanalytical concepts find their expression in the novel. At the end of his psychiatric treatment, Haller comes out from the theater as a new man with more self-knowledge. Thus, the protagonist’s experiences at the Magic Theater are like a “psychoanalytic treatment, in which the patient projects his feeling on the therapist whose duty is to reflect them back in such a way that the patient gains in self-knowledge.” (Hesse, Other Elements). A man with a psychic imbalance needs to undergo psychoanalytic treatment under a therapist, and Hesse, in the novel, arranges Haller’s treatment in the Magic Theater. On Freudian lines, Haller also analyses his dreams and fantasies to learn the truth about the working of his mind as well as his life. In the very preface of the novel, Hesse makes it clear that Haller is a sick man who suffers from conflicts within his mind.Īs the novel progresses, the reader understands the depth of this inner conflict in Haller as he is tormented by the variety of personalities within him.
It was Hesse’s association with Carl Jung that prompted him to bring about a psychoanalytic approach in his novel Steppenwolf. The novel can rightly be understood as Haller’s quest for self-knowledge, and its attainment is possible only when Haller becomes capable of knowing both his conscious and unconscious selves. The title of the novel is significant as ‘Steppenwolf’ refers to the “baser, persecutory part of his nature, in contrast to his intellectual and human aspect.” (Hesse). Throughout the novel, the protagonist Haller tries to get rid of his animal baser self, which he terms as the Steppenwolf.
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