the Night in Question Essays - Emotions, Happiness, Self, Motivation

Both Brian Gold and Wiley are narcissists who act similarly in a certain ways. First of all, they are full of self-pity, thinking that whatever happened to them should not happen. It is always others? fault. Moreover, they are desperate for others? confirmation about them. Gold needs others to agree with his anger towards the dog and Wiley seeks others approval of his charm or attraction. Furthermore, they both ended up in tragic situations without knowing. Brian Gold was full of self-pity which caused him so much pain and anger. He cannot forget the accident happened to his daughter so he kept telling people the story, hoping that someone would agree with him. He was most upset about the police officers who would not do anything about the dog as it was being chained. Most people did not really gave him the angry response in return so he felt that he?s all alone and need someone to understand him. Thus, when his cousin Rourke expressed the same anger and suggested that the dog should be killed, he felt that he finally found ?allies?. Self-pity led him in seeing the dog as an enemy that ought to be killed so as to let him feel relieved. The main reason for his self-pity and the motivation for him to take revenge is his low self-esteem. He needs an enemy to prove that he is a real man, a strong and reliable man. He needs a chance to show his masculinity. Therefore, when Rouke continuously remind him of how good the taste of revenge is, he agreed to have the dog killed as he felt that this is his chance to gain approval from others for him to do the ?right thing?. Wiley is also full of self-pity. He felt that it is impossible for him to be thrown out of a bar, nor to be refused by any woman, nor to be unlike by anyone? He didn?t have the ?third-eye? to remind him that he should also be responsible to whatever happens to him. He was so self-centered that he considered his bad relationships with women are just ?bad luck?. He thought Kathleen whom he met in the bar would love him if she knew what kind of person he truly is so he stubbornly went after her just to ?have a few words and sort things out?. And he doesn?t know how others feel about him, he just assume that everything goes as he thinks. Such as interpreting Kathleen?s reaction in the phone as ?she wants to see him and there is still a chance.? He just never considered that his ?bad luck? with women may be his fault. All of these were caused by solipsism. He believed that he was the center of the world so whatever he did and thinks is right. He is the only righteousness in this world. Th erefore, he does not take others? advices or consider others? opinions. He believed that he had a certain reputation or image in others eyes, which is probably knowledgeable and educated. He read a lot of books, he was never absent at school, he believed that the lectures he gave his students were interesting and useful? So he thought that lying about how he got hurt is better as this won?t harm his image nor affect those black students in his class. His self-centeredness even made him emotional, whenever people disagree with him, he becomes mad. For example, he considered telling the truth as not right so he ended up in an argument with his best friend?s wife whom he liked. Gold and Wiley are both emotional and full of self-pity resulted from their different level of self-esteem. Gold was lack of self-confident so he wanted chances to show his masculinity. And Wiley was too self-centered that he considered himself as the only ?correctness.? All these combine to shape their narcissistic personalities.