PROGRESSIVE INTEGRATION OF SELF IN JOHN FOWLES FICTION

John Fowles' reputation and popularity were part of the reason for an investigation of his four full-length novels. The main purpose of the study was to explore and analyze his views about the individual identity and his concern about the need for self-knowledge and self-discovery so that the individual may achieve an integrated self.; In analyzing the progressive integration of self, the study was divided into four parts, each of them based on the premise of individual need for self-realization and self-awareness, in order to point out Fowles' philosophy of life and his deep belief in man's ability to achieve "authenticity." All of the novels in relation to one another showed a progression on the part of the individual protagonist towards an understanding of his/her "self." This aspect of the novels validated the premise for a chronological study.; The novels were analyzed in chronological order. Chapter I discussed The Collector as a study of two individuals' struggle to attain self-awareness. It showed the psychological stasis of Clegg, which kept him from achieving self-awareness. Conversely, Miranda, through her horrifying experience, achieved an ambiguous "authenticity." Chapter II discussed The Magus as a progression of the study's basic premise. The protagonist, Nicholas, moved towards a possibility of self-awareness and integration as compared to Clegg in The Collector. Chapter III discussed The French Lieutenant's Woman and discerned futher progression, with the protagonist acknowledging his self-illusions and moving from a position of being controlled by society to making a conscious choice. Chapter IV discussed Daniel Martin and was a summation of the basic issue regarding Fowles' idea of achieving "whole sight."; Each of the characters exemplified Fowles' philosophical preoccupation with the idea of self-awareness and integration through the lives embodied in the novels.