1C Lesson Plan: Narcissism in Brian Gold and Miller

 

 

Part One. The Narcissistic Traits of Brian Gold (from “The Chain” by Tobias Wolff)

 

1. Brian Gold is too focused on himself to the point that his intense self-focus results in isolating himself from others. He feels separate from others, which reinforces his self-focus, a vicious cycle.
2. Brian Gold chews on the gristle fat wad of self-pity, an indulgence that massages his narcissistic pleasure centers and elevates his status as an innocent victim, perhaps even a martyr. As a victim, he believes the world “owes him” to make-up for his unjust suffering.
3. As a cipher with no depth or core to his personality, he is like a reed in the wind, susceptible to the influences of outside forces and he compulsively conforms to whatever demands he believes will help bolster his image. For example, when Tom calls Brian’s masculinity into question, Brian is so insecure he will resort to a drastic measure to give credibility to his manliness.
4. Brian Gold is so narcissistic that he makes everything about himself. He can’t even look in his daughter’s eyes without being reminded of himself as a failure.

 

Part Two. Miller’s Narcissism Is Rooted in the Incorrigible Wish to Remain a Child Dependent on His Mother

 

1. When you’re a child, your mother loves you unconditionally and takes care of all your needs. However, there comes a time when you must grow up and break the tie from your mother. You must venture into a world that doesn’t love you unconditionally, a world that will not meet your needs. This is called adulthood. The narcissist refuses to grow up.
2. The narcissist, such as Miller, cannot have healthy relationships. He can only have sick symbiotic relationships, a diseased mutual interdependence that results in more and more dependence. The result is that both parties in this symbiotic relationship become emotionally crippled.
3. The narcissist is selfish and does not want his “host” or “hostess” to break free from the symbiotic relationship and achieve emotional health. For example, when Miller’s mother wants to start a life with a healthy distance between her and her son and remarry, Miller feels jealous and betrayed. He’d rather be his mother’s “little boy” forever and ever as the symbiotic relationship turns into emotional gangrene and eventually spiritual death.

 

Part Three. A Review of Your Essay Structure

 

In your first page, you will profile a narcissist you know, featuring this person with concrete details and a revealing anecdote that reveals the most malignant narcissistic impulses of your subject.

 

Then you will have a transition such as “Likewise” or “Similarly . . .”

 

Similarly, in Tobias Wolff’s The Night in Question, the characters are prisoners of their own narcissism, doomed to the private hell of their intractable self-centeredness. Wolff’s emotionally crippled characters show us the most salient elements of narcissism, which include ________________________, _________________________, ____________________________, ____________________________, and _____________________________________.