One, No one, and One Hundred Thousand PDF

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Subialka Final Essay...

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One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand: Self-awareness is a form of madness? COM 22: Literature of the Abnormal Psyche Professor Michael Subialka

I acknowledge that I have read OSSJA's "Avoiding Plagiarism," that I understand what plagiarism is, and that I have plagiarized no part of this paper. Luigi Pirandello masterfully depicts self-awareness as understanding one’s

consciousness and place in one’s own life and in the eyes of others in his 1926 novel One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand. The main character, Vitangelo Moscarda, faces the radical multiplicity of himself and ponders the question of who his true self is. This extraordinary selfawareness may seem to result in irrational madness; however, it is only through explicit selfreflection can he finally be liberated from the metaphysical reality and find clarity. When faced with a mirror, Moscarda confronts the absolute true reflection of his physical being and seemingly loses himself to madness, “ When I took up my position in front of a mirror, something like a lull occurred inside me; all spontaneity vanished; every gesture impressed me as being fictitious or a repetition. I could not see myself live” (Pirandello, Book 1 section IV). For Moscarda to not be able to “see myself live” shows that he knows the reflection that he sees is not the same as who he is because “live” refers to the freedom from social existence. Presenting oneself to other people loses “spontaneity” because the organic nature of action and reaction is lost in how others perceive you. Moscarda views his actions as “fictitious” when seen through the mirror, which is evidence of his awareness of the superficial “selves” you present to other people. This is further supported in book six, section VIII, “You cannot go on living before a mirror. For the reason that, however much you may try, you can never know yourself as others see you." (Pirandello, Book 6 section VIII). The many variations of himself through other’s eyes and even his own are just pieces of who he actually is can be easily be portrayed as losing himself in the perception of others. However, Moscarda enforces that one should not force themselves to understand how others perceive them, because then one will truly lose themselves in that pursuit. Self-awareness develops clarity and focuses one’s consciousnesses instead of scattering one’s mind until madness. As mentioned in both quotes, the “mirror” refers to the duality of

oneself, the one you are and the one you see, “This was the point. How many times, by chance, had I confronted my eyes in a mirror, with someone who stood looking at me in the same mirror. I in the mirror did not see myself, but was seen; and the other person, similarly, did not see himself, but saw my face and saw himself being looked at by me. Project myself in such a manner as to be able, the I in the mirror” (Pirandello, Book 1 section VII). Even through a mirror, the reflection is not of his true self, but of his perception of his reflection. Ultimately, Moscarda questions whether he would be able to “project myself in such a manner as to be able, the I in the mirror”. Though he is self-aware of the multidimensional variations of himself, he wonders if he will ever be able to see himself as his true self in his reflection. Clearly, Pirandello portrays the exploration of the multiplicity of oneself through lucid self-reflection. Pirandello employs the struggles of Moscardo as a metaphysical entanglement of his inner self and cognizance of others. Self-awareness is not a cause for madness but is instead a necessity for liberation. In my last essay, the main issue was coherent structure and detailed analysis. For this essay, I clarified what each paragraph is about with the first sentence so that the audience has a clear understanding of the main argument. I also incorporated a lot of close reading and focused on complex paragraphs to support my argument. In addition, I attempted to expand my argument through the paragraphs instead of just in the introduction and only providing evidence. I focused on using the mirror as a recurring theme so that it ties together my points better, thus providing more structure to my essay as well. Works cited Pirandello, Luigi. One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand. 1962. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600681h.html#ch06. Accessed 7 May 2020....