Crawling Out Of The Net

Iris Murdoch, born in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the most distinguished women writers of the after- war years in England. She is the first to introduce the philosophy of Sartrean Existentialism to the literary circle of England, and she’s also a student of the greatest linguist philosopher Wittgenstein. Under the Net, published in 1954, is her first novel. It’s ranked as one of the100 best- sellers, showing that Murdoch’s possession of the first rate creating competence. It’s a novel melting together the aspects of philosophy, ethics and literature.From the perspective of psychology and psycho-analysis, which include the theory of Freudian narcissus, Horney’s neurosis, Jung’s archetypal guides and Rollo May’s humanistic existentialism about love,this paper firstly discusses how Jake forms and develops his weakness in personality. Narrated from the first point of view with Jake Donahue as the narrator, the novel tells Jake’s personal experiences in London within several days, from which Jake’s weak points in personality are thoroughly exposed. His personality shortage weaves a net for Jake which fetters his free development in spirit. The paper then interprets that Jake’s weakness in personality leads to his false view on the society and results in his twisting of love relationship and understanding of friend relationship with Hugo. He is thrust into a mess of the net and experiences the bewilderment in reality. Finally, the paper explores how Jake unveils the misty-like net around him with the aid of several constructive guides in his journey and his initiative actions to seek truth. Jake in the end comes out of the mist of bewilderment on his way and becomes a better person mentally.The 20 th century is an age of turmoil and turbulence because of the relentless wars. Lack of belief and becoming indifferent and apathetic, the general public people suffer the trauma physically and mentally. They escape from the big crowed reality world and withdraw into the little spiritual world of their own. In Under the Net, by creating the character Jake and expounding his spiritual growth, Murdoch shows her deep concern about the common people’s spiritual predicament and calls for love and attention from the bottom of the heart.