Heart vs. Head: Introduction

 

A common theme in many stories is the dichotomy between emotions and reason. Maybe this arises because novelists need both to tell a story well: reason to craft the narrative in a way that readers can understand, and emotions to create characters that are relatable. Textbooks make us think. Novels make us feel. Great literature incites us to do both.

In my upcoming entries I plan to look at books where the characters represent these two characteristics, or where one character is presented the choice of whether to follow their head or their heart. 

One thing I noticed as I set aside books where this theme is prevalent is that these books tend to be Gothic in genre. Gothic literature as written in the 1800’s is not what we’ve come to consider when we think of “goth.” People don’t wear black, the men don’t sport “guy-liner,” and in general things are less spiky. Nevertheless there was the same brooding ambiance, the same emphasis on the darker side of life. Emotions were turbulent, passionate, and dangerous, possibly in reaction against the Enlightenment Period of history (which proclaimed that the human mind was capable of anything as long as logic was given prevalence over emotion). 

 
Technically, only one of the books I’ve chosen is strictly Gothic in the “horror” sense. But the rest of the books do include some dark qualities that seem to echo Gothic tone. However, this doesn’t mean that everything that is Gothic literature is centered on the theme of Head/Heart. Neither are all Head/Heart themes presented with dark undertones. 

Since I’m on a Star Trek roll, let’s take Spock and McCoy for an example. Anyone who’s watched enough of the Original Series (such as yours truly here) will see the battle between logic and emotion in many conversations between the Vulcan First Officer and the curmudgeonly doctor.  In this relationship, the Head and the Heart basically tie: whenever Dr. McCoy thinks he has the last laugh, Spock merely raises his eyebrow as if to say, “Having the last laugh is illogical.” (Yet is scoffing at the last laugh BETTER than getting the last laugh?)

 Not all of the books I review will have this balanced opinion. A lot of them, in fact, take one side or the other.  We'll see after looking at these character analyses which one "wins"...the head or the heart.

P.S. As I’m planning this character analysis series, I am starting to realize just how many spoilers of the plots I’m probably going to include. If you HATE the ending getting ruined, then skip these entries. I’ll try to include a warning at the top of the entry and tag it as such for your convenience.