I and Frances had a very interesting discussion about Henry Head and we did not have a chance to present in class so here are our points.
Although Rivers and Head did research together at Cambridge in the old days but they are very different characters, we thought. Head is more of a 'physical' character; he has not been to war and was willing to create his own neurosis. We think he is addicted to pain, page 48: "Henry had frequently expressed the desire for a reciprocal application of ice cubes, bristles, near-boiling water and pins" and he wants to feel what the other soldiers felt; Head volunteered himself as the subject of the proposed experiment - locating "the area of hypersensitivity to pain" (chapter 5, page 45, Rivers' dream)
Rivers, on the other hand, is more of a 'mental' character, he treats his shell-shocked patients by talking to them and he has very good interaction with his patients, for example, Sassoon sees him as a fatherly figure. Throughout the novel, we have the indication of Rivers being "introverted, self-conscious, reticent" character (page 249) - all of these words imply that he has a lot of unspoken thoughts kept in his mind and this suggests he is a 'mental' character.
Also, this is my sole opinion about the way in which Pat Barker chooses her characters' names. The 'head' is a part of our body and it is tangible, we can physically touch it; Henry Head, as I have said above, is a 'physical' character because he likes things to be done on his body so I think there is a connection between his name and his personality - something physical, tangible. Whereas Rivers is a 'thinking' character and again, we cannot touch 'thoughts'; linking his name back to reality, a "river", you can never touch because rocks, water, sand and mud together create a river, you can touch any of these things but never a 'river'.
Pat Barker may not even have this idea in her mind when she chose her characters to be Head and Rivers but I find these connections really interesting. All comments are appreciated, whether you disagree (:
1 comment:
The way Head wants to know how the soldiers feel highlights how Rivers cannot bring himself to face certain cases because they are too painful. An example of this is Burns's case which was "so vile, so disgusting" that Rivers cannot bear to put him through his memories even if this treatment would actually help him. This shows how Rivers still lacks confidance in himself and his treatments, contrasting with Head's determination in his experiments.
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