Henry James’ Guide To Revealing The Unmentioned
Why “the figure in the carpet” remains relevant for our modern world
For those who haven’t studied literature, the name Henry James may not be familiar; certainly not as familiar as his better-known brother William James, who taught at Harvard and was a leading proponent of empirically-based psychology. But like his brother William, Henry was fascinated by the notion of “truth” and developed a literary technique whereby truth was alluded to but never directly spoken. One approaches the truth in Henry James’ novels by understanding what is not being said. This is his “figure in the carpet” technique, by which he meant that the surrounding pattern reveals the unwoven shape in the middle. This is a more subtle and complex version of the simple image illusion whereby one object is discernable only by reference to other objects on either side.
James uses his technique to great effect in novels such as What Maisie Knew, where the narrator is a young girl who during the course of the book grows from childhood to precocious maturity and (seemingly unconsciously) paints a devastating indictment of the behavior of the adults around her. In The Bostonians, James essentially paints a (then prohibited) lesbian relationship without ever once actually doing so explicitly. Astute readers of James’ novels…
