The Vulnerability in Arrogance

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Hally: The Vulnerabilty in Arrogance October 6th, 2011 Hally demonstrates his arrogance when Sam disagrees with him on the subject of Darwin. Full of pride and gratified by his perception of himself, he chastises Sam for the very thing that he himself is guilty of and tells Sam: “It's the likes of you that kept the Inquisition in business. It's called bigotry.” Yet he shows proof of his own bigotry when he admonishes Sam for being too familiar with him and arrogantly says: “You're only a servant in here, and don't forget it.” Hally cannot face the truth about his own shortcomings, so he projects his failings onto Sam. This can be seen clearly when a short while later, Hally condescendingly compares himself to Tolstoy and proudly announces to Sam: “It's deeply gratifying, Sam, to know that I haven't been wasting my time in talking to you.… Tolstoy may have educated his peasants, but I’ve educated you.” He never once questions the role Sam has played in his education. And finally when Sam tries to warn him that he may have damaged their relationship by demanding that Sam address him as Master Harold, Hally further demonstrates his arrogance by stating: “The truth? I seem to be the only one around here who is prepared to face it.” Yet despite all this, Hally is appealing to us as a young man who has been injured by the circumstances of his birth. When he describes how he approached Sam for help in fetching his father from the bar, we can empathize with the shame he must have felt at having to go and fetch his father who lay on the barroom floor. We can understand the relationship that builds between the young boy and the man when Hally reminisces: “Little white boy in short trousers and a black man old enough to be his father flying a kite. It's not every day you see that.” We have no difficulty understanding why the memory of the kite is
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