Challenges to Personal Integrity Did you know that in a study of more than 3,000 adolescent girls, 7 out of 10 believe that they are not good enough? (Firestone). This shows that even in today’s society, where being happy with yourself is highly promoted and practiced, a large majority of us still have things we wish we could change. Even literary characters struggle with self hatred, much like what we see in adolescents today. Self hate in literary characters can often be traced back to decisions they have made which they regret. A character whose integrity is challenged usually struggles with self hatred, which can create more problems for the character, making it more likely that one will be unable to resolve their problem. Literary characters
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This in turn, simply challenges their integrity even more, causing a seemingly endless cycle unless the character can resolve the issue. In Othello, the character Othello has murdered his wife because he was falsely told that she had been unfaithful in her marriage. The following is a quote from the wife’s mistress, Emilia: “The Moor hath kill’d my mistress! Murder, murder” (V.ii). Othello has created another problem for himself by wrongly murdering his wife. He is now being accused of murder, alongside the fact that he will soon find out that he killed his wife for no reason. However studies show that because of her accused infidelity, he probably did feel as though there was no other way to solve their marriage. “For betrayed partners, infidelity is such a devastating blow that, more often than not, they decide the marriage is beyond repair” (Oppenheimer 181). All of the problems Othello faced simply created more and more challenges for him to overcome, resulting in Othello committing …show more content…
Wells’ The Time Machine, The Time Traveller feels guilty for the death of his friend, Weena. In the following quote he reflects on it, “I felt the intensest wretchedness for the horrible death of little Weena” (Wells 54). While he knows it’s not really his fault, the loss of his dear friend makes him feel intensely sorrowful. This loss of someone who is so close to him in this unfamiliar world has placed another problem on top of The Time Traveller’s shoulders. “Individuals experiencing regret may be more likely to formulate and improved judgement about an ethical dilemma” (Rajeev and Bhattacharyya 79). The Time Traveller shows this after Weena’s death as he tries to come to terms with her untimely and horrible death. He says, “I cannot describe how it relieved me to think that it [Weena’s body] had escaped the awful fate to which it seemed destined” (Wells 54). In this, The Time Traveller is explaining how it reassured him to think of how rather than being eaten by a Morlock, Weena was killed by a forest fire. He is simply devising a way to overcome his sorrow from Weena’s death. As explained in the quote from Rajeev and Bhattacharyya, because The Time Traveller was experiencing regret from Weena’s death, he created an alternative judgement on his decision in order to help him get over her death as a coping
This in turn, simply challenges their integrity even more, causing a seemingly endless cycle unless the character can resolve the issue. In Othello, the character Othello has murdered his wife because he was falsely told that she had been unfaithful in her marriage. The following is a quote from the wife’s mistress, Emilia: “The Moor hath kill’d my mistress! Murder, murder” (V.ii). Othello has created another problem for himself by wrongly murdering his wife. He is now being accused of murder, alongside the fact that he will soon find out that he killed his wife for no reason. However studies show that because of her accused infidelity, he probably did feel as though there was no other way to solve their marriage. “For betrayed partners, infidelity is such a devastating blow that, more often than not, they decide the marriage is beyond repair” (Oppenheimer 181). All of the problems Othello faced simply created more and more challenges for him to overcome, resulting in Othello committing …show more content…
Wells’ The Time Machine, The Time Traveller feels guilty for the death of his friend, Weena. In the following quote he reflects on it, “I felt the intensest wretchedness for the horrible death of little Weena” (Wells 54). While he knows it’s not really his fault, the loss of his dear friend makes him feel intensely sorrowful. This loss of someone who is so close to him in this unfamiliar world has placed another problem on top of The Time Traveller’s shoulders. “Individuals experiencing regret may be more likely to formulate and improved judgement about an ethical dilemma” (Rajeev and Bhattacharyya 79). The Time Traveller shows this after Weena’s death as he tries to come to terms with her untimely and horrible death. He says, “I cannot describe how it relieved me to think that it [Weena’s body] had escaped the awful fate to which it seemed destined” (Wells 54). In this, The Time Traveller is explaining how it reassured him to think of how rather than being eaten by a Morlock, Weena was killed by a forest fire. He is simply devising a way to overcome his sorrow from Weena’s death. As explained in the quote from Rajeev and Bhattacharyya, because The Time Traveller was experiencing regret from Weena’s death, he created an alternative judgement on his decision in order to help him get over her death as a coping