Jolly Corner

2 Pages 554 Words

In the short story, “The Jolly Corner,” Henry James portrays Spencer Brydon’s struggle towards the understanding of his true nature by divulging his intricate past, confronting his ghostly double, and exploring his terrifying paranoia, all with the aid and reassurance of his companion, Alice Staverton. Throughout this story, Spencer is on a journey to search for his true self. He thinks he is trying to find a ghost, but actually, he is looking for who he really is and how he is progressing towards becoming a better individual. Even though he is trying to discover who he really is, he observes that his lonesome life is too complex and difficult. But gratefully, he realizes that he is awakened from a dream with Alice Staverton by his side.
Alice Staverton was the only person in his life who would always be there for him, always reminding him of who he was, before leaving New York. Spencer realizes how much of an impact it could have been if he hadn’t left. He “consistently neglected everything,” meaning that he ignored the outside world and kept to himself all the time. Spencer thinks that he knows what he’s doing and how he will be able to control his life. But doubtfully, he witnesses his alter-ego, his other self, as a result of leaving his homeland and coming back thirty-three years later.
Brydon’s other self, his alter-ego/doppelganger, is the person he would have become had he remained in New York. Henry James describes this suspicious and wary shadow as “rigid and conscious, spectral yet human, a man of his own substance and stature.” Spencer meets this “fake mirror image” and is very frightened when he encounters it: “Horror, with the sight, had leaped into Brydon’s throat, grasping there in a sound he couldn’t utter.” He comes across this other self, so he can understand the meaning of the life that he could have chosen. Brydon observes his ghostly double as a success since the alte...