1. What character do you most identify with in this novel and why? Is pathos an element of your response to this character? Again, be specific here. Look for textual evidence and help us understand your thoughts.
As I was engulf in the novel, I knew precisely who I could relate to, and it was the protagonist—Patrick. I find it funny how Patrick is the weakest character, in my opinion, in the book and I can relate to him the most. I guess it is because I am more inclined to admit my weaknesses than extol my strengths. I know that I have always been in search of an identity. Never being satisfied with my limited understandings of myself, I have tried to find a deeper, more valuable, meaning accompanying my life. Sometimes it was the dissatisfaction I received from myself or remnants of bad memories from the past, but I was, and still am, hindered by my own rejection of who I am as a person. Perhaps it is because I am out to prove myself worthy for the people around me and ultimately for the world, or I just cannot overcome the shortcomings that create presumptions among people about who I am. In much similar ways, I felt that Patrick was adventuring through the same things that I have adventured through. There were many moments when I could completely understand the motives and the feelings that Patrick was going through. This could be a feeling of pathos, yet it was much pity or empathy but a mutual understanding that I could share with this character. Although I do not have specific textual evidence (maybe I’m just lazy), but the general trend that Patrick expressed in the novel was so incredibly similar to my own behaviors and thoughts.
First of all, Patrick’s longing for companionship and affection created such a sense of pathos. I understood so clearly the universal human condition of loneliness; it is almost impossible to go through the world without a companion, or even find one’s own identity. Humans were meant to find their counterparts, and it was no different for Patrick. Whatever it may be, another person, money, accomplishment, a person needs his or her complement to complete his or her identity. Throughout the novel, readers witness this universal human truth in the multitude of characters. Ambrose of course had his wealth, Harris had his waterworks, Clara had materialistic fulfillment from Ambrose, Caravaggio had his wife, and basically every single character had someone or something completing his or her identity—everyone except Patrick. The protagonist actually struggles to find the one thing that will live up to be his counterpart. At moments, he had Clara, and later he had Alice with more assurance. Yet, due to an unfortunately turn of events, the very pillars that supported his own identity crumbled as Clara left him and as Alice passed away. I was in agony when I had to witness Patrick grief and pain; I knew how he felt, how losing something of so much importance crushes the very core of a person in the deepest parts of his or her heart. With so much clarity, I could see and feel what Patrick was suffered. Even when he tried to destroy the waterworks out of anger, I felt a sense of pathos when I thought about his motives and his emotional state.
Although I may be drawn to Patrick, we still have many differences. I, unlike Patrick, am less likely to be so submerged in my own emotions all the time. Despite the harshness of reality, I try to accept it and deal with the fact that I must change for reality because reality won’t change for me. However, Patrick does end up changing in the end. He goes through many traumatic events in his life—death of father and Alice, departure of Clara—yet he never completely falls into a state of despair and hopelessness. As much as he seemed so weak, he was tough enough to eventually overcome the shortcomings of his life. Finally, towards the end of the book, readers see a Patrick that is much closer to the identity that he so longed and searched for throughout the entire novel, and perhaps this is the part of Patrick that I feel most drawn towards.
No comments:
Post a Comment