Heroes and Hypocrites

In an attempt to understand the reality of hypocrisy and its relevance to our perennial desire for ‘a good life,’ this paper addresses three questions: ‘What is hypocrisy?,’ ‘What are the issues surrounding hypocrisy?,’ and ‘What is the antidote to hypocrisy and how can we gain it?’ First, I explore how the language of virtue and hypocrisy is situated in our current society in relation to a new surge of interest in superheroes in popular culture. Second, I look into two stories by Flannery O’Connor and see how the notion of ‘no one being immune to hypocrisy and everyone in need of grace’ is expressed through her narratives. Then, I discuss one’s divorce from self and lack of self-knowledge as common traits of hypocrites and why intellectuals or religious figures are particularly vulnerable to them as often portrayed as such in literary works. Lastly, as an antidote to hypocrisy, I suggest the courage to be vulnerable, proposing the necessity of relationships with others in order to restore one’s relationship with self: one can discover the true self at the mercy of others. As a whole, this paper attempts to shed a new light on the meaning of the biblical notion, ‘life through death,’ in our day-to-day context

Sociology · Flannery O'Connor and Thomas Merton · Leadership, Courage, and Heroism Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology