"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain," -- The Dark Knight (2008).
First Draft:
Not only in superhero movies do we see, all too often, someone driven into the ground by his/her own self. But what causes a positive personality trait to become a tragic flaw? Often this occurs because of selfish desires. In a well-written essay, either confirm, deny, or qualify this statement using your own experiences and the list of resources listed below.
Second Draft:
Not only in superhero movies do we see, all too often, someone driven into the ground by his/her own self. But what causes a positive personality trait to become a tragic flaw? And who decides whether the trait is positive or negative? This shift often occurs within a person when selfish desires overcome other motivations. In a well-written essay, confirm this statement using your own experiences and the list of resources listed below.
Third Draft:
Not only in superhero movies do we see, all too often, someone driven into the ground by his/her own self. But what causes a positive personality trait to become a tragic flaw? This shift often occurs within a person when selfish desires overcome other motivations. In a well-written essay, confirm this statement using your own experiences and the list of resources listed below.
Novels:
King Lear by Shakespeare
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Oedipus Rex by Sophecles
Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Movies/TV Shows:
How I Met Your Mother
The Dark Knight
Frozen
Music:
End of May by Michael Buble
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus
When does a positive personality trait become a tragic flaw? Although it may be difficult to shine light on a positive character trait of the main character of Albert Camus' The Stanger, Meursault, his honesty had been leading him down a path of a nice, simple life.
Meursault's desire to always say the honest truth started out as what could have been seen as a positive personality trait. Honesty is something coveted in our society, but usually to the extent of truthfulness to live in peace. Once telling the truth would hurt feelings or have other confrontational problems, people tend to jump the truth ship. Meursault wasn't afraid to enter confrontational territory at the sake of telling the truth. Although some would consider this trait a flaw, his honesty brought him the life that he liked; a patterned life that didn't include any unwanted characters.
Unfortunately, when Meursault's trial begins, his honesty betrays him. His completely honest answers are what lead him to his death.
Why did this positive personality trait become a tragic flaw? In this case, it was the circumstance that caused the change. If Meursault's life had continued down its path of normalcy, his honesty would have kept him in his patterned life. However, since he made a drastic decision to change his normal course of life, his honesty turned and betrayed him in court.
From what I read, I could not decipher a change in his mental state regarding his honesty when he shot a man. Often, positive traits turn tragic when the protagonist has a mental insight of him/herself when there is a change in their life. However, when Meursault's life changed, he did not seem to change his mind set or his thinking about his own honesty. It seems that the only aspect that caused his honesty to turn from positive to tragic is the circumstances in which his honesty was tested.
Meursault's desire to always say the honest truth started out as what could have been seen as a positive personality trait. Honesty is something coveted in our society, but usually to the extent of truthfulness to live in peace. Once telling the truth would hurt feelings or have other confrontational problems, people tend to jump the truth ship. Meursault wasn't afraid to enter confrontational territory at the sake of telling the truth. Although some would consider this trait a flaw, his honesty brought him the life that he liked; a patterned life that didn't include any unwanted characters.
Unfortunately, when Meursault's trial begins, his honesty betrays him. His completely honest answers are what lead him to his death.
Why did this positive personality trait become a tragic flaw? In this case, it was the circumstance that caused the change. If Meursault's life had continued down its path of normalcy, his honesty would have kept him in his patterned life. However, since he made a drastic decision to change his normal course of life, his honesty turned and betrayed him in court.
From what I read, I could not decipher a change in his mental state regarding his honesty when he shot a man. Often, positive traits turn tragic when the protagonist has a mental insight of him/herself when there is a change in their life. However, when Meursault's life changed, he did not seem to change his mind set or his thinking about his own honesty. It seems that the only aspect that caused his honesty to turn from positive to tragic is the circumstances in which his honesty was tested.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
"Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
When does a positive personality trait become a tragic flaw? This major turning point in a person's life can often go unnoticed when you do not have the presence of mind to realize who you are. However, sometimes, someone may think they have a positive personality trait that turned tragic, when all along it has been a tragic personality flaw their whole life and they just now realized its poison in their life. This circumstance takes place in Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man.
The narrator in Invisible Man has the tendency to immediately trust the people that he meets, whether it be a conscious or unconscious decision.
When the narrator encounters Dr. Bledsoe, his reaction is to trust him since he is the outspoken president of the college he attends. The narrator lets Bledsoe lead him into a trick of going to New York, never to return, with the trust that Bledsoe's letters of recommendation will help him get where he needs to go. The narrator trusts him enough to go to New York only to find that inside the letters are words of damnation and the proof that Bledsoe sabotaged him. At this stage in his life, the narrator should've learned not to trust everyone immediately because you never know what their true intentions are. He doesn't. And he continues down a path of false trust for the rest of the novel.
As the narrator continues to live in New York, he searches out work in a paint factory. When he was demoted at that job to work in the basement and mix the paints, he meets his supervisor, Brockway. Mr. Brockway seemed to be nice, relatable, and trustworthy so, naturally, the narrator takes to him and trusts him fully. But that trust is soon shot down when Brockway becomes infuriated with the narrator after a supposed "secret meeting" with other members of the company. Brockway immediately turns against him, and when the pressure sensors in the paint factory indicate an explosion, Brockway leaves the narrator alone in the basement to die. This might have been the turning point in the narrator's life to decide not to trust to easily again if it weren't for the traumatic brain damage that occurred during the explosion and his experimental lobotomy after it. This explosion is probably the reason that the narrator continues to trust when there is no trust to be found.
The narrator also blindly trusts Tod Clifton. With what the narrator thinks to be reasons to trust Clifton (friendship, power, similar enemies) the narrator puts his full trust into him. But as the story continues, the narrator discovers Clifton to be missing during a long period of time, only to find that Clifton is selling dancing Sambo dolls on the street. This act of betrayal to the African American community should be reason enough to no longer trust Clifton and realize how easily it can be for people to betray what little trust you thought you could have in them. But when Clifton is shot, all that would-be-hatred and lesson-learning disappears into guilt and passion toward a new cause.
The narrator sees his trusting ability as a positive personality trait. However he never truly sees its true quality of being a tragic flaw, due to various circumstantial reasons. But the biggest reason; he doesn't want to see himself with a tragic flaw. He sees himself in a negative light far too often for him to be willing to add another negative personality trait on top of that. So the narrator continues to lie to himself about his positive personality trait of being so darn trustworthy.
The narrator in Invisible Man has the tendency to immediately trust the people that he meets, whether it be a conscious or unconscious decision.
When the narrator encounters Dr. Bledsoe, his reaction is to trust him since he is the outspoken president of the college he attends. The narrator lets Bledsoe lead him into a trick of going to New York, never to return, with the trust that Bledsoe's letters of recommendation will help him get where he needs to go. The narrator trusts him enough to go to New York only to find that inside the letters are words of damnation and the proof that Bledsoe sabotaged him. At this stage in his life, the narrator should've learned not to trust everyone immediately because you never know what their true intentions are. He doesn't. And he continues down a path of false trust for the rest of the novel.
As the narrator continues to live in New York, he searches out work in a paint factory. When he was demoted at that job to work in the basement and mix the paints, he meets his supervisor, Brockway. Mr. Brockway seemed to be nice, relatable, and trustworthy so, naturally, the narrator takes to him and trusts him fully. But that trust is soon shot down when Brockway becomes infuriated with the narrator after a supposed "secret meeting" with other members of the company. Brockway immediately turns against him, and when the pressure sensors in the paint factory indicate an explosion, Brockway leaves the narrator alone in the basement to die. This might have been the turning point in the narrator's life to decide not to trust to easily again if it weren't for the traumatic brain damage that occurred during the explosion and his experimental lobotomy after it. This explosion is probably the reason that the narrator continues to trust when there is no trust to be found.
The narrator also blindly trusts Tod Clifton. With what the narrator thinks to be reasons to trust Clifton (friendship, power, similar enemies) the narrator puts his full trust into him. But as the story continues, the narrator discovers Clifton to be missing during a long period of time, only to find that Clifton is selling dancing Sambo dolls on the street. This act of betrayal to the African American community should be reason enough to no longer trust Clifton and realize how easily it can be for people to betray what little trust you thought you could have in them. But when Clifton is shot, all that would-be-hatred and lesson-learning disappears into guilt and passion toward a new cause.
The narrator sees his trusting ability as a positive personality trait. However he never truly sees its true quality of being a tragic flaw, due to various circumstantial reasons. But the biggest reason; he doesn't want to see himself with a tragic flaw. He sees himself in a negative light far too often for him to be willing to add another negative personality trait on top of that. So the narrator continues to lie to himself about his positive personality trait of being so darn trustworthy.
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