Psychological Disorders and Consequences

In “The Brooch,” Faulkner illustrates the grim reality of the South through the eyes of a dysfunctional family. All of the characters in the story struggle with substantial character flaws. It is curious to point out what unconscious forces affect the motivation of the characters in the story. The mother is abandoned by her husband and carries a deep psychological wound, a trait unmistakably manifest in her deep, unspecified resentment and distrust. Her attempt to control her son reflects her own sense of powerlessness to prevent her significant others from leaving her life. The mother is overly attached to her only son, Howard, and acts in an extremely possessive manner that made a severe impact on his personality development. Howard, in consequence, has grown to be an overly dependent man and failed to develop social connections of his own. He impulsively marries Amy in an attempt to escape his reality, but he is unable to commit himself to his marriage. His desire for the death of his mother is the only justification for him to stay. Amy, dissatisfied of her husband’s indecisive attitude, suffers alienation and seeks out social connection in a rather exaggerated manner. The family relation is tumultuous and affection is unbalanced and unreciprocated. No one is happy in the household—the sense of despair and powerlessness ultimately consumes Howard’s sanity and he kills himself in depression.

The stream-of-consciousness style of writing reveals a great deal of Howard’s thinking and emotional development. How does his reasonable assumption to wait until his inheritance of fortune deteriorates to despair? One thing for certain is his dysfunctional marriage. Another is his depression, his failure to take care of himself. The voice in his head that seems to emerge out of the dark abyss of unconscious, whispers him to confront the darkest reality of his psychology: “Like your father, you cannot seem to live with either of them, but unlike your father you cannot seem to live without them” The voice speaks of truth and destroys all his rationally constructed hope that failed to take into account his powerful unconscious emotions.