Teaching literature from a psychological perspective provides a basis for the study and analysis of human motivation and behavior, as psychology and literature make mutual contributions to the study of both disciplines. Melancholia is a recurring theme in the novels of Dick Francis, and the first-person accounts of despair and depression are sensitive, perceptive insights into the thoughts and emotions of the protagonists. Francis effectively illustrates the melancholy hero who attempts to overcome self-doubt and fear, the loner, isolated and withdrawn from society, who can be motivated by depression to become passionately and intensely involved in his professional life. Freud wrote in "Civilization and It's Discontents," "No other technique for the conduct of life attaches the individual so firmly to reality as laying emphasis on work; for his work at least gives him a secure place in a portion of reality, in the human community."