Steppenwolf Term Paper

Kyle Varanyak

Enriched English IV

Huryn

11/13/11

Psychological Analysis of Harry Haller

In the novel, Steppenwolf, by Hermann Hesse, is told from the accounts of a “peculiar individual who left this Steppenwolf manuscript behind him” (Hesse 10) by the main character Harry Haller. Harry Haller has issues with the type of society he lives in because he believes that the bourgeoisie has too much control and dictates the middle class lifestyle. In dealing with this middle class problem, he uses his second personality of the Steppenwolf to cope with shunning his living habits of his normal being. This is a psychological problem that is seen as okay according to the magical theater which Harry encounters. Pablo, whom is the man who controls the magical theatre, convinces Harry that it is not abnormal to have a so called infinite number of bodies in a man’s soul. This meaning that his belief in the Steppenwolf as his dark side, is accepted in a world beyond death; an afterlife is also taught in the magical theatre. The magical theatre causes Harry to become trapped in a psychological trance that is accepting of his wild beliefs in multiple personalities, which is the mindset of a schizophrenic portrayed by Hesse through Harry.

Once Harry enters the magical theatre that is titled “for madmen only” (Hesse 25) he is taken into an allure of the treatise of the Steppenwolf which basically describes his way of life as half-man and half-wolf. The treatise also accounts for the fact that anyone under this condition is desperate to commit suicide which Harry contemplates throughout the novel. Seeing as Harry does not like the life he leads in the real world he feels compelled to enter the magical theatre that fits his desires. The treatise tells Harry that he must look inside himself to find his true being; basically meaning that inside the magical theatre Harry will find his true being. The danger is that the magical theatre is an illusion to Harry because he feels that...