Towards Self-realization

The purpose of this dissertation is to study Katherine Anne Porter's (1890-1980) thematic quest of self-realization, which is one of the most important themes in Porter's works. Firstly, this dissertation centers on Porter's' thematic quest for self-realization by analyzing herself according to the classification of four self-development periods of her own experience and an American social psychologist E Tory Higgins' self schemata about aspects of the self: actual self, ideal self and ought self. Then it discusses the theme with four aspects-the material selections, plots, techniques and characterization of her remarkable five short fiction, "Flowering Judas," "Maria Concepcion," "The Grave," "Old Mortality" and "Pale Horse, Pale Rider;" Finally, using Higgins' self-discrepancy theory combined with textual analysis, it examines the development of the theme by investigating three representative female characters in her five short fictions with both latitudinal and longitudinal argumentations. The female characters include Laura in "Flowering Judas," Maria Concepcion in "Maria Concepcion" and Miranda in "The Grave," "Old Mortality" and "Pale Horse, Pale Rider." This dissertation consists of four chapters including an introduction, two chapters based on a social psychological study and a conclusion. It argues that: firstly, it is the theme which Porter explores about the individual character's resisting the negative parts of his or her ought self and pursuing his or her ideal self in spite of different types of self-discrepancies during the course of their quests for self-realization. Secondly, the relative failure of self-realization of certain protagonists especially in the early short fictions is, in part, due to their passive acceptance of ought selves and to their problematic ideal selves. Thirdly, the relative success of some quests is owing to, mostly, the perception an individual has about the nature of his or her ought self and that of the ideal one. Finally, under the ideal oppressive socialexpectations the self-realization of an individual depends on three essential elements-a rebellion of the negative part of one's "ought self," a right evaluation of one's "actual self and an adjustment of one's "ideal self." This dissertation provides an analysis not only of the source of Porter's thematic quest of self-realization based on her own uneven experience and innate characteristics from a unyielding southern girl to a famous woman writer, but of characters with types of self-discrepancies in the face of their dilemmas between individuals and the society or between individuals and their own selves. With the combination of the self-discrepancy theory and Porter's short fictions, it then describes three types of self-discrepancies with their different backgrounds, environments, axiology and philosophy of life-Laura with the actual/own versus ought/other discrepancy, Mari a Conception with the actual/own versus ought /other discrepancy and Miranda with the actual /own versus ideal/own & other discrepancies with the trace of their different stories of their quests of self-realization. Through the detailed discussion of the typical stories based on the social background and documents such as Porter's letters, critical articles and essays, it also reveals the colorful inner worlds of the female characters, pointing out that Porter through her fictions cries for justice and perfection and concerns about human motives and feelings. In a word, reexaminations of how Porter explores her thematic quest for self-realization from the view of social psychology deepen the understandings of her short fictions and of her train of thought.