Tragedy In Mark Twain's 'The Refuge The Derelicts'

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“Common men are destined for tragedy” “There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy” (Mark Twain, “The Refuge of the Derelicts”). In this chapter, Miller argues that the common is just as suitable for the role of a tragic hero as a king/queen. Moreover, tragedy ensues when a man’s impulse to evaluate himself “justly”. I believe tragedy is, indeed, ignorant to social class. It’s a human thing. The reason being that tragedy is relatable. Generally, many of us are flawed, have experienced or been threatened by displacement or degraded, and require some magnitude of revolution to reach full potential or enlightenment. These are essential to a tragedy, so who better than the average person to exhibit these? …show more content…

The flaw could merely be “his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity…” (Miller, 4). He continues on to say the passive are flawless, and most fit this description. I perceived his statement to be about man’s overall modulated self-respect and self-esteem, also the embrace of normality. However, it’s important to note, there are many that are flawed – those take arms against attacks on their dignity. From my viewpoint, flaws are essential for a tragedy, but it’s not necessarily grand. Pride is a man’s strongest opponent, thus a predominant, unbiased flaw. I believe being overambitious is good enough to be a flaw. There are various degrees of pride that vary based on

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