Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

   James Joyce's "Potrait of an Artist as a Young Man" counters my past readings which contend overcoming adversity requires outside help. Frustrated and confused about his unorthodox, artistic personality, Stephen seeks "outside help" in all manner of places: his father, prostitutes, and the Virgin mary/ the Church. However, Stephen seems to come to terms with himself, and accepts both his religious and sensual tendancies without assitence nor guidence.
   This basically ruins everything. I can't write an essay argueing it is neccessary to have outside help when overcoming adversity with the glaring exception of Sthphen Daedalus illustrating the antithesis to my claims. What enabled Stephen to prevail over his internal struggle without any help? In ohter words, why couldn't he be whiny and helpless like Rodia and King Lear?
   I think the answer lies primarily in his creative and artistic character. His artistic development would not have been authentic or successful if he had not grown and matured on his own.
   Also perhaps, he did have outside help, but instead of it coming from one source at one time it was the amalgamation of the aforementioned disperate experiences which collectively represent the source of his outside help.

Beloved Big Question

Beloved by Toni Morrison demonstrates the emotional consequences of struggling with adversity and lacking a source of support.

Sethe's recovery from the death of her nameless infant and the pain of her past as a slave was dependent on Paul D, a dependence which deteriorated when Beloved forced him out of the house.

Beloved's jealousy of Howard and Buggs (who survived their mother's attack) drove the boys away. After reappearing, Beloved attempted the same thing with Paul D, who was sincerely trying to soothe Sethe's pain and quiet the spirit at 124. Intent on having Sethe to herself, Beloved made it impossible to enter more and more areas of the house, effectively chasing him off after their encounter in the barn. Paul D departure is marked physically in the book by the disappearance of punctuation, which mirrors the sense of loss of reality in the text itself. Without Paul D's presence, Sethe gives herself over to Beloved entirely, surrendering to the negative past she had hitherto refused to succumb to.

In the case of Beloved, the ghost Beloved was a physical reincarnation of past adversity and Paul D represented the force that would have assisted Sethe in prevailing over her adversity.

The Stranger

A trend has prevailed throughout the novels I have explored in this project. Oedipus tried (but ultimately failed) to overcome the adversity he encountered after realizing the truth of his birth parents for his family and his country. Rodia prevailed over his internal struggle with inspiration from Dunya and direction from Sonia. Edgar aassists Gloucester in surviving the despair of his blindness and past mistakes. Cordelia attempts to heal the weakened Lear and help him overcome adversity by forgiving  him. In every case, a loved one has been integral in a protagonist overcoming adversity, indicating perhaps that prevailing over adversity requires and outside source of motivation.
I think similar logic can be applied to Camus' The Stranger. Meursault does not overcome his adversity. The end of the novel finds him miserable and frustrated, with hope only that "cries of hatred" will greet him at his execution. One of Meursault's dominate traits is his indifference. He is emotionally detached from his surroundings, job, and most significantly, the people around him. Not even his mother's death, taking the life of another man, or separation from his love interest, Marie, induce any feeling. I believe it is Meursault's detachment and lack of relationships that cause him to fail in the face of adversity.
Odeipus, Crime and Punishment, and King Lear bear a commonality in the manner in which their protagonist attempt to overcome adversity. Contrarily, The Stranger is an example of a character lacking the tools imperative to defeating adversity.

Overcoming Adversity in Crime and Punishment

In Crime and Punishment, the prevailing instance of adversity is Rodia's emotional suffering after he murders the two women. He struggles heartily with guilt and an uncontrollable urge to confess. Since Rodia experiences adversity in the form of guilt, it follows that overcoming adversity would be in the form of redemption, which Rodia arguably achieves by confessing. What forces contribute to Rodia's redemption? In short, what causes Rodia to overcome his adversity?
Unlike the urban setting and Rodia's past as a student, there is one positive influence St. Petersburg has on Rodia: Sonia. He is initially attracted to Sonia because she endures a degrading job and the burden of a family, but can still function with dignity, unlike the emotionally crippled Rodia. The dignity with which Sonia carries herself, unlike the pride her step-mother exudes, heightens the guilt and insecurity Rodia harbors for his actions, for she has more cause for rage than he, yet she is tranquil and level-headed. Later, it is this growing attraction that causes Rodia to confess to her- a confession which initiates and completes his path towards redemption. Sonia's influence justifies Rodia's urge to come clean and it is Sonia who physically directs Rodia into the police station to confess. The integral nature of Sonia in Rodia's redemption implies that the redemption was dependent on Sonia's influence, and that perhaps redemption is a difficult thing to accomplish alone and that success is dependent on having support.
Rodia is able to commit the murders because of his generous perception of his intelligence and his capabilities  is dependent on the Overman Theory. He believes he has extraordinary intelligence and an acute sense of morality that enable him to transcend law and moral standard alike. My translation of the book does not include the quotation "there is an idea in suffering", in its stead it reads "take suffering upon yourself", however I believe the meaning prevails beyond the syntax; there is a purpose for suffering. The intense discomfort causes anyone with a well-adjusted moral compass to try and relieve their guilt by confession or compensating. If this logic follows, a criminal with no remorse has no chance at redemption. When Rodia is overcome by his passion and guilt, the Overman Theory (which requires a  sort of apathy towards the underman) fails him. Petrovitch underscores this failure when he reminds Rodia the the Overman needs the underman, despite his power. When Rodia realizes he cannot be an Overman because of the biting regret he carries, redemption becomes a possibility, no that he accepts his guilt.

Adversity in Oedipus

Instances of facing adversity are not few and far between in the tragedy Oedipus. More difficult to find, however, are examples of characters overcoming adversity, as any problem solving seems to revolve around suicide or deciet. Such behavior begin before the story itself, as Oedipus' marraige and monarchy are founded on his murderous past. Perhaps Oedipus' escape for death as a infant and again as an adult qualify as trancending adversity.

The Adversity Faced in King Lear

King Lear contains many examples of adversity, however there is a specific instance of two characters in similar and unfortunate circumstances. Despite the similarity, one fails in the face of his misfortunes while the other prevails. 

Lear is essentially a story of two aged fathers suffering at the hands of the children they thought they knew and trusted. In part, the suffering they experience they have brought upon themselves, as though they are paying for not genuinely understanding their family. King Lear illogically sends away the only one of his daughters that sincerely cares for him, and puts himself at the mercy of the eldest (and most heartless) of his three girls. Lear's unreasonable actions result in his homelessness, as his cunning daughters refuse to take responsibility for him. Gloucester endures a similar situation. His illegitimate son, Edmund, jealously plots against his legitimate counterpart, Edgar, and convinces Gloucester that Edgar plots to assassinate his father. Laying his trust with his treacherous son, Gloucester forces Edgar into hiding. Lear and Gloucester's homelessness becomes even more tragic when Lear loses his mind and Gloucester is blinded. They experience equal adversity, however there is disparity in their reactions to it. 

Gloucester, in a round-about manner, becomes reunited with his son Edgar, who is in disguise. As Gloucester prepares to take his own life, Edgar employs a harmless white lie, and convinces Gloucester of his worth. Gloucester declares: “I do remember now. Henceforth I’ll bear the Affliction until it do cry out itself “Enough, enough!” and die.” (4.6.93-95). Gloucester prevails in the face of adversity and pain with the help of his devoted son. 

Lear is not quite so reformed by his suffering as he bears it mostly in solitude. His daughter Cordelia frantically searches the countryside for her troubled father, but is unable to console him in the manner Edgar did for his father. 

Gloucester and Edgar illustrate that adversity is bearable with companionship. Perhaps adversity is easier to overcome when the sufferer has someone to be brave for.

The Big Question

 In the face of adversity, what causes some individuals to prevail while others fail? 

I have faced adversity in my life, maybe more so than others my age. When I was six years old my father committed suicide. 

Eleven years later I am a healthy, functional, happy teenager. I have proved that tragedy can be overcome, but what specifically made the loss of a parent only temporarily traumatic, allowing me to continue forward into my life in a productive manner? I have many times encountered others my age who have been emotionally crippled by a similar loss in their childhood, and I have wondered what has made our experiences in loss so different, that is to say, why have they failed to released their grief and why have I prevailed. Was it a quality in my personality or something exterior such as sympathy and support that was provided for me? A psychologist would ask 'nature, or nurture?'. 

Some introspection about adversity brought to mind the abrupt change in my family life following the death of my father, but a wide spectrum of misfortunes can qualify as adversity. No matter the gravity of the event, some persevere in the face of adversity while others crumble. This is especially true in literature, which seeks to illuminate the human condition. 

In The Magus by John Fowles, the adverse condition Nicholas Urfe must face against his will is manipulation. At first the lies and facades are straightforward and prank-like. For example Lilly is not actually a ghost that can be in two places at once, she just has a twin sister. However, when the stories Nick is expected to believe become increasingly more realistic, adversity comes in the form of mistrust, in that Nick no longer has any sense of what is artifice and what is authentic.