Self-abasement and Self-confidence

Self-abasement and Self-confidence

            Various life encounters and family backgrounds largely determine self-abasement or self-confidence. This paper explores two separate narratives, including the “Trial by Kafka and Letter from an Unknown woman by Stefan Zweig.” In both stories, the protagonists present different elements of self-abasement and self-confidence. Although individuals face challenges of varying degrees in life, many researchers, psychologists, and psychiatrists agree that the development of self-abasement may lead to other psychological problems and, eventually, whole-body health and socio-economic concerns. As such, self-abasement can easily lead to poverty and begging or engaging in other immoral behaviors to support one’s life. While self-abasement occurs to some people due to religion or faith, it occurs in others because of guilt or inferiority.

On the other hand, self-confidence increases someone’s chances of success in life. Notably, confidence allows an individual to become creative and innovative towards confronting life-challenges. While self-abasement often influences people to run away from challenges, self-confidence strengthens people to face challenges and look for their solutions (Franz, 2015). This document explores these two books to identify various characters demonstrating either self-abasement or self-confidence and how these attributes shape their life.

In the Trial, Josef K., the protagonist, faces a series of life-challenging situations and more so in very critical days in his life. Josef depicts a clear picture of a self-confident and successful man despite the challenges. For instance, on his thirtieth birthday, Josef wakes up to find two officers who arrested him without informing him about his crime. Typically, the arresting officer must produce the charge sheet to the suspect before stopping him or humanly notify the suspect of their wrongdoings. In this case, however, the two warders capture Josef and proceed to the cell.

Interestingly, the officers release Josef before reaching the police cells and inform him that he will receive the information about the charges later. (Franz, 2015) Perhaps Josef’s self-confidence makes the police to release him without charging him.

Notably, Josef’s self-confidence makes him a successful chief banker. Also, through his confidence, Josef attracts many people ranging from his neighbors to prostitutes in the night clubs. Also, he tempts his uncle’s nurse.  Astonishingly, arresting happens “on the morning of his 30^th birthday.” Although Josef’s neighbor suggests that the warders arrest him because of his unbecoming behavior, his self-confidence proofs that he is innocent, ready to face the arresting police, and defend himself in the court of law. Therefore, when the officers mistreat him and walk with him for a distance so that he can bribe them, Josef demonstrates self-confidence and does not give a penny.

While demonstrating his self-confidence, Josef confronts a deaf court that is not only all-powerful but also uses rogue and invisible law. When Josef requests to understand charges against him, the judge colludes with the warders in Josef’s second arrest and determine to take him through circles while demonstrating an unwillingness to release him despite being not guilty of any crime. By understanding that the warders and the court are reading from the same script and are not willing to release him, Josef decides to hire an advocate. Pleaded by his uncle, Josef engages Hurr Huld to represent him in the case.

Both Block and the nurse presents some degree of self-confidence.  In many cases, people murmur or talk ill of others in their absence. However, Block stands Huld and tells him that his services as a lawyer are not worth the money he asks. Block claims that Huld is not a good lawyer as he has been making proceeds from the case against Block for nearly five years, and the case is yet to be determined, but Block is almost bankrupt (Franz, 2015). However, Huld depicts self-confidence in that he says that each case terminates depending on the manner it appears. As such, different circumstances take different durations. This kind of confidence by Huld increases the chance of Josef hiring him.

Unlike in the case of Josef or the entire picture from the Trial story, the “Letter from an Unknown woman” by Stefan Zweig paints a different image of the protagonist. The narrator or the unknown woman depicts herself as a simple and self-abased woman. Right from the beginning, the protagonist brings a picture of a young lady who cannot speak out his ideas because of her self-humiliation and a feeling of inferiority (Zweig, 2013). For instance, when she comes from school and finds the man stocking his items in their apartment, she could only stare at the things without uttering a word despite being amused by the man.  The latter shows a sign or a feeling of inferiority or self-abasement.

Besides, when her mother remarries, the unknown woman is not happy and somewhat not ready to call the old man stepfather. As such, she calls him so without any feeling of attachment, but she could not ask any question from her poor mother. From this perspective, her self-abasement may be due to increased respect for her mother. However, this kind of lack of respect for oneself results in self-abasement. As she narrates, the unknown woman is too much in love with the R., the “beloved man” or the writer. However, when they come together along the street, she cannot even greet the man and wait for the kind of response the man could give.  Self-abasement is explicit in this scene because she failed to welcome the “beloved” not because of any other reasonable cause but because of fear of how the man could think about her. This situation shows how the unknown woman degrades herself. Although she is genuinely in love with the man, she hesitates from disclosing her love to him.

Interestingly, when she gathers the courage to speak to the rich man (R), the unknown woman decides not to reveal about their past where they lived in the same apartment. Instead, she shies before the man she loves (Zweig, 2013). From a typical life encounter, the lady would have reminded the rich man about their past and perhaps what transpired since those days when the unknown woman was only thirteen, and now she is crossing from teenage. Nonetheless, she manages to keep secret of the past because of a lack of self-respect. Indeed, the woman lacked the confidence to tell the man about her background because they lived impoverished lives, but the man was rich to the point of helping the beggars.

Self-abasement is also explicit when she pushes herself to the man during their first date and happens to have sexual intercourse with the man. Humans and especially women, adore virginity. Even when a woman is not a virgin, it would not be easy to have sex during their first date, not unless the woman has no self-respect. By pushing herself to the “beloved” and sleeps with him, it shows how she could readily respond in favor of the other person. Therefore, the unknown woman showed low self-confidence in herself.

One of the most critical scenes that the narrator demonstrates her self-abasement is when she conceives a baby with the writer (R) but dares not to inform the man about her condition. Telling the father about being pregnant does not always mean that the woman wants financial support. However, the woman shows that her mind is confined within a particular mindset were telling the man could show disrespect for the man. In light of this, the woman loses her job and decides to give birth in a place where the majority of those in the labor ward is mainly prostitutes. Eventually, she could no longer value herself and hence begins to sell her body to get so that she could manage to raise her child in silence (Zweig, 2013). This kind of self-abasement haunts her to the point that she could not disclose anything to the man she loved until she dies, and the letter is sent using the addresses that she specifies in on the envelope.

In the Trial, Josef has exemplary self-confidence while in the “letter from unknown woman,” the woman demonstrates excess self-abasement. However, another character depicts either of these two attributes or other characteristics. For example, the nurse in the Trial shows some elements of self-abasement, especially when she decides to seduce Josef and have sexual intercourse in their first meeting. The latter is a sign of a lack of respect for oneself. Also, Josef’s uncle depicts some degree of self-confidence. For instance, when Josef almost decides to decline Huld’s services as his lawyer, the uncle insists on Josef while giving some reasons.

In conclusion, the two books paint a picture of two different types of individuals. On the one hand, some people have self-confidence. On the other hand, individuals have self-abasement. Usually, confidence increases people’s success and abilities to confront challenges in life while looking for solutions through creativity. However, self-abasement permits people to run away from the problems. As such, the unknown woman ended up a prostitute and silent about her agony in an unclear relationship. In light of this, it is clear to state that self-abasement influence more challenges than benefits in one’s life.

References

Franz, K. (2015). The Trial. Xist Publishing.

Zweig, S. (2013). Letter from an Unknown Woman and other stories. Pushkin Press.