According to Murray Baumgarten, "the narrator of the expressionist novel no longer cares about the 'real' world (422)." Instead, the narrator of the expressionist novel is concerned with the creation of a new, almost illusory and composite world, in which the creator, in this case, Ford's John Dowell, has the authority to see the world, or tell its story, from the perspective of his unique and personal experience. Because Dowell is in a position of power in terms of the relationship between the narrator and his audience, the audience is forced to succumb to the expressionist idea that the inner workings of the narrator's mind influence and continue to exist in the workings of what is considered to be the “real” world in the novel. In other words, Dowell's "silent listener" does not receive a universal account of the sad story presented in the novel (Ford 120). Instead, the audience receives an account that depends entirely on the narrator's unique perspective and how his or her personality shapes his or her reactions to the events that occur throughout the story. Analyzing Ford's The Good Soldier through the perspective of expressionism, Dowell's narrative is a piece that emphasizes the collision between the "real" world, a world taken for granted by its occupants, and illusion, the creation of a world based on an individual's psychology; Ford's use of this artistic style creates a new expressionistic world that the narrator uses to convey his story and stay as true as possible to his singular perspective. Expressionism exists for the time and place where reality is distorted to “express an emotional state” (Dellolio 240). The Good Soldier contains a narrative, a reality, that is heavily influenced by a man's emotions, anguish and internal conflict. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Expressionist works are based on the idea that “the subjective or emotional can reshape materiality, that the world as we know and perceive it can be distorted by the idiosyncrasies of point of view and psychology” (Dellolio 240) .This important aspect of expressionism (that reality is shaped by emotional perspective and subconscious thought) is seen in The Good Soldier through John Dowell, an unfortunate man forever destined to be an ignored "nurse" (Ford 151). Dowell is an unreliable narrator due to his false reports of facts and his emotional reactions to significant events, the story presented in the novel is his own person and he is fully entitled to tell it according to his personal experience. Dowell claims this authority for distorting reality to suit his subjectivity by firmly stating to his listener the reasons for telling the story non-chronologically and in a “rambling” manner (Ford 119): I can't help it. I remained true to my idea of ​​being in a country cottage with a silent listener, listening through the gusts of wind and amid the sounds of the distant sea, to the story as it comes. And when we discuss the matter... we go back, we move forward. You remember the points you forgot and explain them all the more carefully as you recognize that you forgot to mention them in the right places and that, by omitting them, you may have given a false impression. (Ford 120) Dowell does not use his role as narrator simply to tell a story; Dowell tells a specific story, his story, based on his personal perception of reality. The narrative itself is the manifestation of Dowell's inner thoughts both conscious and subconscious. The narrator does not present the events that happened in the novel like thishow they happened and in the order they happened. Instead, he presents them as if he were transferring them directly from his mind to pen to paper. Dowell does not distinguish or separate the two zones that make up expressionism: the fundamental reality of the world in which he and his friends live and the world seen through his subjective eyes. Dowell blends these two worlds in a truly expressionistic way and presents his audience with the reality that has been influenced by the human psyche, resulting in a confusing and labyrinthine story. As Dowell states, “True stories are probably best told the way a person telling a story would tell them. Then they will seem more real” (Ford 120). The narrator of The Good Soldier indirectly tells his audience that the story he has constructed contains elements of expressionism due to its reliance on perception. Indeed, Dowell even asks that his listener see him and his act of storytelling the way his mind intended it: the listener must remain silent and patient while he, the narrator, speaks amidst the calm but majestic natural forces outside the window of his picturesque cottage. Dowell is taking control and distorting reality to suit his emotional and psychological state. The storytelling and narrative style expressed to the audience is unique to Dowell's character. What is true of Dowell's experience would not be entirely true of Leonora's experience, for example. This difference in reality is consequent to the fact that Dowell presents the audience with a world that is real for him but significantly disfigured because he is too emotionally involved to give an objective rendering of the events. The audience sees him directly place the state of his emotions in the taken-for-granted world. As a result, it is distorting reality for the public. The taken-for-granted world is a concept explained by Dowell as an “atmosphere” that “characterized [his] relationship [with the Ashburnhams]” (Ford 29). According to Dowell it was taken for granted that both couples were “good people” (Ford 30). It was also taken for granted that everyone preferred their “meat rare,” “that both men preferred a good fortified brandy after dinner,” and “that both women drank very light Rhine wine” (Ford 30). From Dowell's explanation of the nature of the four's relationship to each other, it can be deduced that Dowell was initially only allowed to enter the "real" world, the superficial world that barely exists due to its lack of apparent human connection and psychological influence. Baumgarten he calls this world the “ontological zone,” a zone that emphasizes the narrator's “unquestioning acceptance of the natural attitude,” or the mundane (416). For a significant period of time, Dowell has linked ordinary traits (such as preferences in wine or meat) with that of being a “good” person. It didn't occur to Dowell to question those banal qualities; he did not see the problem of connecting small and practically insignificant similarities between himself and other people with moral judgments. Expressionism plays a significant role in this novel as it forces Dowell to realize that the world he takes for granted is not reality. Dowell, Edward, Florence and Leonora are not just “good people” who like the same things; they are people with dramatic, controversial and fateful lives. This realization leads to frustration, confusion and anxiety for Dowell. According to Peter J. Dellolio, "the essential expressionist credo is that stylistic exaggerations and manipulations are commensurate with the protagonist's extraordinary anxiety and internal conflicts" (241). The anxiety and inner conflict of Ford's narrator can be seen directly through a stylistic analysis of Dowell's narrative. While Dowellguides his listener through an introduction of his relationship with the Ashburnhams and his narrative in general, his internal conflict is evident as he is unable to fully come to terms with the fact that his "minuet de la cour" of a friendship is now torn asunder and gone forever (Ford 11). Dowell laments this loss: “Permanence? Stability! I can't believe it's gone. I cannot believe that that long peaceful life, which lasted but a minuet, has vanished in four disastrous days at the end of nine years and six weeks” (Ford 11). Dowell's anxiety is successfully transposed from his mind to a new reality that the audience is just beginning to understand. Just a few lines later, however, Dowell exclaims, “No, really, it can't go away. You can't kill a court minuet” (Ford 11). Two bold, opposing exclamations appear in the same paragraph of Dowell's story. Dowell's inner self struggles to accept what expressionism forces him into. It's not just that Dowell is sad about the loss of his friendly friendship; to be more specific to the history and movement of Expressionism, Dowell is experiencing immense frustration in trying to accept and understand his “alienation…from what was previously incontrovertible and familiar” (Dellolio 243). As a “fundamental concern of modern art,” the theme of “tension between order and chaos” is central to this part of the story (Dellolio 243). Dowell is desperate to regain order. However, now that the truth behind Edward and Leonora's marriage and his wife's infidelities are exposed and ever-present, Dowell's emotions have come into play and changed the world he thought was "real", making the desire to Dowell of a family order. an attempt to thoroughly analyze the expressionistic themes in Hitchcock's film Strangers on a Train (1951), Peter J. Dellolio highlights how Guy Haines' inner desires and thoughts are actualized and manifested in a more practical state through the character of Bruno Anthony . Guy wishes to marry his girlfriend, Ann Morton, but cannot do so because he is already married and cannot get a divorce from his wife, Miriam Haines. On the other hand, Bruno would like to live his life without his father's influence. To solve their problems and satisfy their inner desires, the men devise a plan in which they would each kill the other's enemy. The problem (and expressionist theme) arises, however, when Guy finds himself unable to actually kill another human being. It is important to note, however, that Guy wishes to kill his wife because of the restrictions she is placing on his life. Guy even loudly exclaims to his girlfriend, "I could strangle her!" (Dellolio 246). Like Ford's John Dowell, however, there is something that prevents him from fulfilling his desires. In The Good Soldier, Dowell experiences perhaps his most pitiful moment when he resignedly states: “Well, it's all over. None of us got what we really wanted...what I wanted most of all was to stop being a nurse. Well, I'm a nurse” (Ford 151). Both Dowell and Guy clearly and loudly state what their minds desire. Although these two men are unable to satisfy their desires on their own, their subjective thoughts manifest into reality through the characters' counterparts, Edward Ashburnham and Bruno Anthony. Dellolio argues: "if the internal premise of Guy's entire being is his desire to kill his unfaithful wife so he will be free to marry Ann Morton... Bruno's obsessive dedication to eliminating Miriam Haines becomes the externalization of that premise" (244). Since Bruno, unlike Guy, is capable of killing Miriam, he does so while demonstrating the existence of expressionism.