The psychology of the fat man character: Pirandello's writing style of War

 

Luigi Pirandello is an Italian writer of plays, novels and short stories. He greatly influenced the modern greeting of drama because of his invention of the "theater within the theater" in the play Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore. He was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934. Pirandello

began his approach to his work through psychology, especially focusing on the theme of the subconscious personality theory, which is when someone acknowledges that they know what they think or feel, but in reality, they only know a small part of themselves (Britannica). He was very influential in the world of literature in the 19th century. Pirandello's short story, War, with Sigmund Freud's theory of the unconscious, explores inner conflict amidst the war situation, particularly in the character of the fat man who faces personal loss and suffering.

In the story “War” by Luigi Pirandello, with Freud's unconscious approach, In psychoanalysis, the unconscious mind refers to the part of the psyche that contains repressed ideas and images, as well as primitive desires and drives that are never allowed to enter the conscious mind (SimplyPsychology). If analyzed with this theory, it can be seen in the fat man's sentence describing the discrepancy in addressing the downturn and feelings of denial with his own feelings as a parent who lost his children because he gave them up to a war that never stopped.

“Do we think of the country when we give life to our children? Our sons are born because...well, because they must be born and when they come to life they take our own life with them. This is the truth.” (Pirandello p. 2)

In the quote, the fat man shows that he is distracting his pain by turning his grief into a universal truth for others to validate. His subconscious mind insists on masking his personal loss of his child by objectifying it to abstract reasoning about life and duty. This mismatch between reality and her unexpressed emotions reveals her pent-up grief that she cannot express. In Freud's opinion, humans are more likely to suppress painful emotions into the unconscious as a defense mechanism to appear more realistic (Charles E. May).

            The complication of this story is that the fat man was getting even more excited about his outrageousness which was the exact opposite of how he really felt.

“Everyone should stop crying; everyone should laugh, as I do...or at least thank God as I do because my son, before dying, sent me a message saying that he was dying satisfied at having ended his life in the best way he could have wished. That is why, as you see, I do not even wear mourning..." (Pirandello p.3)

The quote explains that the fat man is proud because he is fine and not mourning after his son enlisted to fight, unlike other parents who lament the loss of their children. His words were a defense mechanism from his subconscious to appear strong compared to others, which unconsciously made him truly seem to be strengthening himself against the reality that his child had died.

The climax of this story occurs when the fat man is awakened by a question from a woman in the carriage, asking whether his child really died or not. With that question, the realistic fortress he had built from the beginning crumbled.

“He looked and looked at her, almost as if only then at that silly, incongruous question he had suddenly realized at last that his son was really dead gone forever forever.” (Pirandello p.3)

In the quote, the reaction of the fat man to the woman's question is an explosion of his subconscious sadness. His realistic view crumbled when the deeply buried emotional truth that his son was gone forever forced him to consciously acknowledge it. This is also supported by Haifaa Alhadi, who argues that parents who try to rationalize that their children willingly participate in a war with an unknown outcome to hide their sadness. However, as the story progresses, the emotions they have been holding back gradually surface, revealing their fear, despair, and profound sadness (Haifaa Alhadi).

Another opinion from Jones regarding the reality accepted by the fat man that he had hidden.

“ In cases of bereavement, parents often intellectualize their loss, a process driven by unconscious attempts to distance themselves from unbearable pain. This defense, however, is temporary and prone to breakdowns” (Jones).

That perspective explains what the overweight man felt as denial and an unconscious defense against his grief. His fall ultimately revealed how fragile this defense was when confronted with the reality of loss. 

In Pirandello's short story "War," using Freud's theory of the unconscious, it reveals the inner conflict of the fat man, who initially denies and rationalizes his son's death and hides his deep sorrow and suffering. Initially, the fat man transformed his loss and despair into a universal truth about parental sacrifice, which he expressed to others who were also experiencing the same thing. The effort made in his subconscious to realize what should happen in his statement and bury the truth, such as insisting that others should laugh and be proud instead of mourning that their children have gone to war and will not return. However, this facade crumbles when a woman directly questions him about his son's death, forcing the sorrow he has buried in his subconscious to slowly surface. At this moment, the emotional defenses of the fat man crumbled, and his deep sorrow emerged, demonstrating how emotions that were forced into the subconscious mind eventually find their way into full consciousness.

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