Faulkner: Ego Functions and Fantasy

The life and work of William Faulkner pose a number of questions centering on the link between ego functions and fantasy. The following issues present themselves: What is the relationship between fantasy and archaic forms of narcissism which Goldberg (1) and his associates, following Kohut's (2) lead, have identified with the grandiose self and the idealized parent imago? Second, how do the features of infantile narcissism affect the resolution of oedipal conflicts, with special reference to the persistence of obsessive themes in fantasy? A third question: Is there a link between the loss of an introjected love object and the elaboration of depressive fantasies involving self-reproach, as conceptualized by Abraham (3)?

Although Faulkner's development as a writer does not offer definitive answers to these questions, it is rich in biographical and fictional interrelationships that throw light on the vicissitudes of ego development. In addition, Faulkner's psychological problems, in which shame and guilt seem to be associated with depression in a type of linkage analyzed by Wurmer (4), reveal pathological sources of creativity. Faulkner's symbolic solutions to his problems through the medium of writing are especially informative because they seem to define the self-limiting characteristics of the artistic imagination, especially against a background of narcissistic vulnerability. In Faulkner's case, art possessing a terrible beauty and great emotional power was produced by a young man who was self-centered and emotionally withdrawn. Ironically, as Faulkner grew in ego-strength and emotional responsiveness in the second half of his life, he lost the drive and the gift to be creative.

In his book The Analysis of the Self, Kohut (2) described narcissistic characterological defenses against nuclear oedipal conflict. These defenses serve not only to strengthen the cohesiveness of the self, but may provide the individual with a source of psychic energy to solve the oedipal dra