The “Production” of “Reflection”: Adolescent Choices in John McGahern’s The Dark

Production, defined here as the application of one's energies to the production of a good or service and Reflection, meaning the pursuit of a purely contemplative life, with the benefit of sharing the fruits of this reflection with others, are projected in this study to Chapters 4 to 7 of John McGahern's novel The Dark (1965). By overlaying these terms in an Aristotelian sense to McGahern's work, the dysfunctionalised adolescent's guideless struggle between Production and Reflection is manifested, but the resultant diminishment of the positive section of self is also depicted, translated as destruction of self-esteem and privileging of negative self-worth via the chapters' portrayal of corruption of body, mind and spirit. Key Words. John McGahern, The Dark, Production, Reflection, Adolescent. En este estudio se aplica el concepto de produccion, definido aqui como la aplicacion de las energias propias a la produccion de un bien o servicio; y reflexion, es decir, la busqueda de una vida puramente contemplativa, con el beneficio de compartir los frutos de esta reflexion con los demas, en los capitulos 4 a 7 de la novela de John McGahern The Dark (1965). Al superponer estos terminos en un sentido aristotelico al trabajo de McGahern, se manifiesta la lucha del adolescente disfuncionalizado entre produccion y reflexion, pero la disminucion resultante de la seccion positiva del yo tambien se representa, traducida como destruccion de la autoestima y el privilegio del yo negativo a traves de la representacion en los mencionados capitulos de la corrupcion del cuerpo, la mente y el espiritu. Palabras Clave. John McGahern, The Dark, produccion, reflexion, adolescente.