Pride brings fulfilment to people's lives on the surface, but below the surface it only brings destruction. In the short story, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the author present this idea through his excessively prideful character, Mathilde Loisel. Mathilde Loisel, an unsatisfied woman, takes all of her perfectly valid possessions to be proud of and throws them away resulting in years of hardship for her and her husband. Mathilde Loisel’s pride is disguised by lovely experiences and luxurious belongings only to be revealed as something of pure destruction. Pride will bring bliss only to later bring destruction.
Rationale: For this task, I created a diary because I think that this style of writing would be an extremely effective way to show another major character’s emotions and ideas, as it can be written from a first person perspective, giving a huge amount of insight. I based my task on a short story by Edgar Allen Poe, titled “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I chose this piece as it gives the opportunity to be very creative in my writing, but also introduces various constraints, such as writing in a similar style to Poe, and trying to avoid any plot holes. This task specifically relates to part 4 of the language and literature course, being; literature, as the stimulus text is a piece of literature, as is my piece of writing.
One of the seven deadly sins is the act of having too much pride. Pride in general is not an evil feeling to have. It is human to have pride in oneself, but having too much pride is unhealthy and will cause problems somewhere along the way. Two characters who show a harmful amount of pride are Sylvia from Toni Bambara’s “The Lesson” and Sammy John Updike’s “A&P”. A famous quotation states “Pride (arrogance) comes before Destruction... and a haughty spirit, before a fall.”
In the essays “Pride” by Dagoberto Gilb and “Pride and Humility” by Thomas A. Tarrants, III, D.Min., The authors discuss the same topic but they have a different conclusion. In “Pride,” Gilb conclude that we are all shaped by a strong sense of pride, so we should still be proud of ourself. However, in “Pride and Humility,” Tarrants conclude that pride is basically a sin and it’s the devil’s most effective and destructive tool. Although both authors addressed the same topic in their essay writing and both use their methods to explore the forms of pride, they do so by using viewpoints and different attitudes toward pride.
Every person has taken pride in their accomplishments whether it is overcoming adversity or being admired by peers. Having pride provides confidence and belief that any challenge in their lives can be overcome. On the other hand, excessive pride can be detrimental. It may lead a person to become overconfident in their abilities or beliefs and unaware of the harm they may cause towards others with their actions. In the three short stories, “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, and “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, the authors convey the perils of exorbitant pride.
There are times in life where people do commit a small mistake, or a huge crime, but what really matters is if one will listen to their conscience. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character lives with an old man who has an eye that “resembled that of a vulture--a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” The story revolves around the main character’s obsession over the eye, and how he got rid of it-- by murdering the old man. Towards the end of the story, the young man confesses to the police about his insane stunt after they searched his house. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe focused on having the reader know more than the secondary character, using description, and using a first-person narrator, to build suspense.
Throughout the writing a tone of confidence shows through. As a reader, you can easily relate because confidence and pride go hand and hand in everyday life. To have pride you need to be confident to some degree and the same for the opposite. Considering this, the writing is very abstract and opinionated in the sense that pride is different for everyone depending on the circumstance. We realize this when reading whether it is taking pride in your store, watching your son graduate, or in your video games.
“Pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death” (Hurst 2). This is how James Hurst describes pride in his heart-wrenching short story, “The Scarlet Ibis.” What speaks to me most about this quote is its profound truth. For the majority of people, pride is either a positive or negative thing, but what Hurst and I seem to agree about is the fact that pride can be both. It is an undeniable symptom of the human condition, a tool that can either create or destroy, and is responsible for the best and worst parts of history.
Argumentative essay “THE SCARLET IBIS.” “There are two kinds of pride both good and bad ‘good pride’ represents our dignity and self-respect ’bad pride’ is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks conceit and arrogance." John C. Maxwell a contemporary author and inspirational speaker enlightens the reader with his profound view about pride this life coach inspires individuals to be aware of the two faces of pride both good and bad. Pride can be a good and bad thing to possess therefore, pride is an unattractive thing to possess as a human because you can hurt family and friends and hurt yourself, and hurt relationships close to you.
It increases self-centeredness while decreasing concern for others. For example, a prideful spouse ruins a marriage because they cause arguments and cannot be compassionate and understanding. Additionally, pride can destroy religious faith because it prevents recognition of sinfulness and produces feelings of superiority, which decreases God’s presence in a person’s life. In conclusion, the narrator’s reckless actions caused by pride and pride’s destructive nature in the real world are evidence that pride is a dangerous
In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the irony of the text is the old man’s death. The old man’s death was thought to be sarcastic, but the narrator’s intentions were serious. He was going to kill because of his humongous fear of the eye. The author notes, “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever” (Page 74). The quote said by the narrator seems to be a meer false threat to the old man, but the unexpected happens, and then the narrator actually takes the life of the old man.
In this excerpt “from The Tell-tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe creates the supercilious character of an unnamed narrator through indirect characterization. Using the components of character motivation, internal thoughts, and actions, Poe portrays a story about deception and reveals the feelings of superiority, and ultimately guilt, that is invoked by the pretense of innocence.
In conclusion pride can mean many things and can be shown in many ways. At some point we may be humble. On our way there it may be be more difficult. The concept of pride is like a explantion of how theuniverse started.
As the intriguing storyline of Beowulf heightens and progresses, the theme of pride is consistently portrayed. Primarily, the characteristic is shown through Beowulf, the book’s epic hero. Through various predicaments and events that occur within the book, obvious signs of Beowulf’s pride are revealed, both good and bad forms of it. By demonstrating much intricacy, the author suggests that two separate forms of pride are present in the attitude of Beowulf although the reader can decipher the actual interpretation in assorted ways.
He knew that Juan Pablo was there because the TV was on and a half eaten meal was lying on the table. He suddenly heard a loud bang from the upper floor and rushed upstairs. Before he could reach the second floor he heard gunshots and the thump of a body hitting the ground. He thought that it was Juan Pablo's body hitting the floor, and decided to let his henchmen take care of the rest. After getting back into the car, he began hearing gunshots, and wonders why his henchman would be shooting if Juan Pablo was already dead.