Pincher Martin's Losing Struggle for Identity

Abstract

The present article is a character study applied to Pincher Martin, the main character in William Golding's novel bearing the same name. The research aims to identify and analyse the motives used to depict the personage's psychological evolution throughout the literary work. The character's inner struggle is essential for the twofold topic of the entire novel; namely, the world of human relationships, seen as pervaded by estrangement and selfishness, and the human person's inner world, affected by the former's sins. Thomas Hobbes' concepts related to human relationships [3] are used as analytical instruments. In this respect, speech utterance, naming, as well as future perception and orientation, considered by Hobbes as defining ways of human identity and personality, are used by Golding as refuges in his main character's endeavour to survive. On the other hand, linguistic means, such as pronoun use, and psychological elements, mainly the loss of reason, are employed as evidence of depersonalization, the ultimate stage before the loss of complete contact with reality. However, the main concern of the story is the progressive alienating transformations undergone by Pincher Martin before reaching this point. Staggering animal imagery and the motive of animals' eating one another are highlighted as key means of portraying human social intercourse in which the character took part. In the last part of the article, a personal point of view is expressed in the context of other critical approaches regarding the end of the novel.