The past week or so, the class finished our posters and turned in our essays. For my essay assignment, I wrote about Hubris. Hubris is the main character flaw and pride that effects the hero in the story. In the movie Into the Wild, Alex Supertramp's pride leads him to leave society and live on his own. In Sophocles Oedipus Rex, Oedipus ignores all signs of danger and truth because his arrogance is so high. Both characters come to their ends because of this flaw. I think that pride is not only something that characters in literature and film struggle with, but rather all humans. One part of pride that I notice myself doing is not wanting to ask for help. I like to feel like I know everything, but I don't. However, I also believe that being called out on a flaw like this is important, as one cannot learn if they do not know what they are doing wrong.
Supertramp and Oedipus come to recognize their flaw, but much to late. Generally, recognition cannot come without someone else pointing it out or the tragedy has already happened. For Oedipus, he didn't realize that he had killed his father and married his mother until it was to late to do anything about it. However if he had seen the signs, he could have avoided the extreme pain and guilt he then suffered. Supertramp left his wealthy family and high place in society to live in nature by himself, only to realize that Mother Nature is just as cruel. He consumed poison berries that killed him, ignorant to their danger. In conclusion, pride is a serious character flaw that can have huge negative effects on someones life, but without someone to guide you towards recognizing it; there is no way to avoid it.
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