Miller - Reflections on Writing

Summary of Henry Miller “Reflections on Writing”

            Henry Millers “Reflections on Writing” is rich with personal experiences and thoughts on art, the artists and the creative process.  Miller describes his creative beginnings as absolute chaos and darkness with emotions and experiences (184).   He views himself as a man telling a story.  A story in that the telling is more important that what the story tells (184).  It is this notion that speaks to the quality of art by lifting “it out of time and space, and centers or integrates it with the cosmic whole” (184).   Miller’s writing style is reflective of a man telling his own story and the numerous and passionate metaphors speak to an author more concerned about the telling of the story than its direct content. 

            Miller has always known there is no goal, just the need to provide a sense of the whole to each of the parts (185).   By embracing the feeling of the whole Miller dug deeper within himself, both past and future (185).  It is in this manner that he lets go, becomes indifferent to fate and establishes more confidence in his destiny as a man (185).  Miller is summarizing that the accrual of trust occurs with the release of conventional wisdom and social judgment.  It is through this process that he transcends superficial social expectations and becomes confident in his own personal direction and creative expression. 

            A brief account of Miller’s epiphanies suggests a man looking for answers within the texts of the great writers and poets.  Unable to locate the answers, Miller reaches a point of despair and discards everything he has learned (185).  Upon reaching this condition he begins to hear his own voice and it sustains him (185).  Miller recounts how he felt whole again and how the notions of good and bad dropped from his vocabulary (185).  He provides a powerful insight in, “because there was no divorce between myself as a writer and myself as man: to fail as a writer meant to fail as a man” (185).  The path to authenticity came from rethinking everything and challenging his previously held notions (185).

            Miller’s insights of thinking and trusting his judgment led to several notions.  He believes the world is big enough for anyone seeking self individuality (186).  He writes that crowding occurs from the social judgments of money and power.  Once artists are removed from the crowding, artists can write to their voice (186).   Miller has faith in his own writing and, “I obey only my own instincts and intuitions” (186).   He repeats the notion that the real issue for people is that they need to discover their own destiny and align their life with the universe (187).  Miller returns several times to the idea of transcending the environment and becoming aligned with the universe through rejection of social conventions and learning to think and trust one’s self.

            Miller writes that a man is revealed in his style and through his failures and imperfections (186-187).  However, Miller is not concerned about failure or imperfections.  He describes that a man pure of heart understands that there is “always mystery, but mystery is not mysterious … “ (187).  Mystery, failure, and imperfections are viewed, accepted and lived as natural parts of life (187).   These notions are reflective of earlier themes of dropping the concepts of good and bad and separating failure of trying from failure as a person. 

            Miller states that art teaches the significance of life, and although it does not in and of itself make our lives better, it certainly points the way for richer experiences (187).  Miller also believes humanity needs to continue to mature and that art continually reveals this point (187).  Much of Miller’s opinions reflect the earlier notions between the artist and the audience.  Art is not a thing to possess, as it is a deep communication between the artist and someone willing to interpret the work.

            Miller summarizes his thoughts on fiction being the fabric of life (188).  He advises that there are no real differences between subjectivity and objectivity as both notions are illusive (188).  Writers relive experiences when they write and there are small alterations to their accounts of events (188).  Alterations can range from the intentional to nothing more than the inability to express ideas with mere words or language.   Miller notes a sense of falsity develops between the alterations and the flow of the work (188).   Miller is writing to honesty of the telling of the story, not so much to detail of individual fact.  Observations, accounts, and alterations are all part of the stuff of life.  The honesty is not necessarily the detailed account, it is in the language the writer is attempting to communicate.

            Miller re-addresses several themes previously addressed in this summary (188-190).  However, it should be noted that Miller emphasizes getting past conventional thought and understanding the soul (189).  In addition, he notes that speech was his handicap (189).  When he discarded the materials from the great writers, he had to learn to re-think and feel in his own way (189).  For Miller, this was the hardest part of his personal transition (189).  Learning to put aside conventional wisdom and social judgments, as a means of self-discovery, is a repeating theme through Miller’s essay.   He suggests people need to put aside preconceived notions and their preconceived feelings.  Although Miller does not specifically state this, he alludes to our feelings being subjected to social conditioning.  Changes need to occur in the mind and the soul.

            Miller ends the essay by speaking to daring (191).  He writes that no daring is fatal and it becomes automated when it is routinely exercised (191).  He notes, “By daring one arrives at the mysterious X position of the artist … “ (191).   He parallels daring with the metaphor of writers writing with life preservers (191).  The life preservers represent notions of conformity and social expectation and rob the artist of their true voice (191).  In reality, Miller is suggesting the writer who is not writing from within himself is writing for something else, something shallow, and they will not find the path to their own personal enlightenment.

Miller, Henry. “Reflections on Writing.” The Creative Process: A Symposium. Ed. Brewster Ghislen.  Berkeley: University of California Press. 1985. 184-191. Print.