Skinner’s Use of Metaphor in Explaining the Behaviorism...

Skinner’s Use of Metaphor in Explaining the Behaviorism of Walden Two B. F. Skinner revolutionized the field of psychology through his numerous writings on behaviorism. However, he began his collegiate life as an English major, and his education in literary techniques and devices clearly shows through in the manipulation of metaphor in his famous novel Walden Two. Although Skinner rarely diverges from the incessant description of behavioral engineering through his mouthpiece in the novel, Frazier, he occasionally digresses from the theory and application of scientific experimentation to the literary elements that are essential to any novel. One of these elements, the metaphor of the sheep that appears at the beginning and†¦show more content†¦The novel, an exposition of behaviorist thought, is almost a Socratic dialogue with Frazier acting as the famed questioning philosopher and Castle as the ignorant pupil, through which the superiority of behavioral engineering is eventually proven. Although Castle leaves disenchanted with w hat he considers a fascist ideology, Burris eventually succumbs to the appeal of Walden Two and participates in Frazier’s experiment of humanity. Although these crucial ideas might overshadow the literary merits of Walden Two, Skinner the English major understood the importance of every minor detail and digression from the main narrative. The sheep, which serve no purpose to the plot of the story, illustrate Skinner’s behaviorist ideas through metaphor. The sheep benefit the community in a superficial sense by acting as a more efficient lawnmower, requiring only the work of moving a portable fence. Although once electrocuted, the fence is now just string, and the only other restraint is a sheepdog, the Bishop, which guards the sheep watchfully. This idea works on a deeper level to help Skinner relate his scientific ideas to literary ones. As Frazier expounds upon the