SOURCE: "Fear and Growth: Reflections on The Beast of the Jungle," in Journal of the Otto Rank Association, Vol. 9, No. 2, Winter, 1974-75, pp. 38-42.

In the following essay, Haddick discusses Henry James's "The Beast in the Jungle" in terms of Otto Rank's concept that human life is characterized by an inner struggle between forces of fear and growth.

Rereading Henry James' short story "The Beast in the Jungle" after several years' involvement with Rank's writings has been an exhilarating experience. With regard to Otto Rank, his insights into problems of contemporary life seem even more relevant when fleshed out with such a concrete example. And with reference to James, his tale of a man who shapes his surroundings after the pattern of a monstrous anxiety and then discovers that the world so created has denied his self its chance to unfold, vibrates all the richer against such a...