Vainity vs Honesty

Honesty is not the best policy, and being vain is not something to be ashamed of. However, too much of either of these things and you have a problem. There has to be an balance in your life of the two to get a positive result. Literature provides us with multitudes of examples on each scenario, whether it’s too much vanity, too much honesty, or the perfect balance of the two.

One example of when a character chooses vanity over honesty with themselves is demonstrated in The Scarlet Letter written by Nathan Hawthorne. The minister, Dimmesdale, sins against God and has an adulterous relationship which results in a baby. The “Man of God’ gives up his morals, and, instead, chooses to hold on to his place in society. Pride keeps Dimmesdale from confessing his wrong doings. In private he is completely honest with himself. We clearly see throughout the novel that he knows what the right thing to do is. Yet, the fear of being rejected holds him back just like it does with some people in our world today. Some people would say or do anything to be accepted. A good kid could be incited to drink or do drugs if they thought it would get them to where they want to be in life even if they don’t think what they’re doing is morally correct. This, of course, is vanity.

In contrast, there can be a lack of vanity in a person. Such a person is found in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. Elizabeth Proctor’s lack of vanity and, in its place, too much honesty was what caused her problems. In the play, there was an extreme witch hunt occurring and anyone who remotely looked, talked, or acted like a witch was taken into custody to be tried for witch craft. In a high tension moment Elizabeth is asked if she believes there are witches in the world. Ea...

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..., Hester had enough pride in herself to not let the government of that time walk all over her undeservingly. When they tried to take Hester’s daughter she fought for the right to raise her because she believed she deserved it. Also, when her (ex)husband threatened her lover she did not roll over and give up. She tried to save her family by fleeing to the old world.

The balance between vanity and honesty is not unreachable. Yet, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed. You have to be confident in yourself and your decisions but not so overly confident that you lose sight of who you really are. The same applies with honesty. You have to be honest for anyone to trust you with anything, whether it’s a job, a person, or even in a relationship. However, you can’t get so caught up in being honest that you condemn yourself or others for something that could be avoided.