Part One. Lexicon
1. Condescension, condescending 79, 87 bottom, 88 top
2. Envy, hater 77, 86
3. Delusions of grandeur
4. Self-rectitude; the condition of believing that one is absolutely right with no doubts.
5. Unreliable narrator 80, 82, 92: truth comes out
6. Lachrymose
7. Captain Save-A-Babe 74
8. Peever 74; a “shut-in,” something who has been sheltered and therefore maladjusted to society; a helpless cipher.
9. Narcissism, lack of self-awareness, self-absorbed, no empathy, no identity: 74, 75, 77 bottom, 78, 82, 86, 91
10. Moral inversion of the narcissist 86, 87
11. Animus against poor: 74
12. Story’s metaphor 75
13. Needy 76, 86 bottomless pit
14. Provincial 78
15. Book smart, street smart (common sense, capable of intimacy)
16. Schadenfreude 80
17. Vampire theory of “love” 88, 89
Part II: The Narrator Embodies the 10 Signs of the Consummate Narcissist
1. The narcissist is so self-absorbed that she has no empathy or consideration for others.
2. She has no life, love, or fulfillment, so she is spiteful and hateful toward others. She is a “hater.”
3. She creates imaginary scapegoats to blame for her failures and she therefore feels justified in exacting revenge against her imagined adversaries.
4. She has no awareness of how evil she is; to the contrary, she actually believes she is morally superior to others and is entitled to “correct” their behavior when in fact it is she who is in desperate need of “correction.”
5. Her inflated self-esteem borders on delusions of grandeur; these delusions of inflated self-regard exist to mask her gnawing sense of inadequacy, failure, and lack of human connection.
6. She sees herself as an embattled victim and takes on a “me against the world” position.
7. She sees herself as a morally superior person who is not only unappreciated but unfairly persecuted.
8. She is so full of self-rectitude and moral self-righteousness that she constantly harms others with a clear conscience. See page 83.
9. She cannot see how other people see her—as a loathsome, obnoxious wretch to be avoided at all costs.
10. She conveniently fails to see the link between her misguided actions and others’ pain and suffering. See page 91.
Part III: In-class exercise:
Write about a narcissist you know who has at least 3 of the aforementioned characteristics. I will talk about Roland Beavers, the pool hog and self-described “pool monitor.”
Roland Beavers, a Narcissist I Once Knew
1. He hogged the pool from 7 to 7.
2. All his “pool accessories” took up 3 lounge chairs.
3. He talked to people about his “life story,” including his disability for a bad back, and didn’t see they didn’t like him.
4. He read newspaper and magazine articles to people as if they were interested.
5. He sprayed girls’ backs to “cool them off.”
6. He played with groups of people in the water, joining their water fights when he was not invited.
7. When the pool was crowded, he decided it was time to do laps for his training.
8. He issued rules without having any authority.
9. Chubby with thick tufts of hair on his back, he wore a terrycloth Speedo that looked like a load in his pants.
10. When he dove in the water, he splashed on nearby sunbathers.
Part IV: Study Questions for “Nadia” by Judy Budnitz 71
1. What evidence is there that the narrator, in spite of her pious, sanctimonious tone, is in fact envious, jealous, and spiteful against Nadia and, in turn, against Joel? Packed popcorn 72; observe her like she’s an animal. Her teeth 73; 77; they use every opportunity to criticize Nadia. 78;
2. What evidence is there that the narrator and her cohorts are needy and frumpy? Their obsession over Joel’s marriage suggests “not having a life.” 72; knowing too many details, like Joel’s earwax levels 72; they ask Joel for too many details about Nadia 73; they keeping asking Joel why he hasn’t had children 77;
3. How does the narrator rely on convoluted “reasoning” to punch a moral jab against Joel on page 76? What makes this type of reasoning so insidious? 77
4. What delusion do they cook-up in order to “save” Joel? 77 He’s unhappy, “frustrated.” No doubt he’s frustrated with these female charlatans. They shift the blame to Nadia when in fact they are grating on Joel’s nerves.
5. Why does the narrator have no credibility when she bloviates about the pieties of suffering on page 178?
6. How does the narrator unwittingly reveal herself a backstabber on page 78?
7. Read the narrator’s description of Nadia on the top of page 79. How does she achieve a tone of condescension, arrogance, and frosty heartlessness?
8. How does the narrator’s malice assert itself on pages 80 and 81? Also see 86.
9. What insidious psychological abuse against Nadia does the narrator use on page 81?
10. How are do-gooders so insidiously evil on page 82? “We’d done it for his own good.”
11. What makes the narrator so impervious to her own evil so that she can destroy others with a clear conscience? 82 bottom, 83.
12. Describe the one truthful moment the narrator has regarding her wretched existence on page 86.
13. In spite of the narrator’s claims to good intentions, what evidence on page 87 suggest that all her actions are motivated by self-interest?
14. How does the narrator and her cohorts suck the life out of Nadia on pages 88 to the end?
15. What infuriating lie do we see on page 91? That they nearly killed Nadia and that it was an “accident.”
16. How do the do-gooders reveal their true character on page 92?
Part V: Thesis Fill-In for “Nadia”
_________________________, ___________________________, ____________________________________, and ___________________________ contribute to give us a noxious character profile that contradicts the narrator's cloying, pious, do-gooder facade.
In the short story "Nadia" we see that the narrator, a frumpy, self-absorbed do-gooder, is the consummate narcissist, evidenced by _______________________, _________________________, ___________________________, and _________________________________.