Journal 9: Naked Ambition
By: Isis Alexander
Tags: Personality

Session Two

Complete Parts 6–8 on this link to “El Muerto”.

“El Muerto” is an opportunity for us to think about why someone seeks a leadership role.

Part Six: Otálora and Narcissism

Otalora fits the narcissist character almost completely. He thinks so highly of himself that he is blinded by the fact that those he encounters are not his friends but indeed against him. He feels no sympathy towards Azevedo who is on his death bed, but instead feels jealous. He lets his jealousy of others motivate him to perform foul behavior. He wants the admiration that everyone else has, and does anything in his power to try and achieve high status.

Part Seven: Otálora and the Antisocial Personality Disorder

Otalora fits the antisocial personality disorder almost perfectly. He shows a reckless disregard for the safety of self or others when he continues to go towards danger. He sees two men fighting on the corner for no reason and instead of trying to help or deescalate the situation he enjoys watching the trouble — despite who could get seriously hurt. His consistent irresponsibility is shown through him not being able to maintain friends and good relationships. He has a lack of remorse, he does not feel bad at all for forcing himself on the red-haired lady. He is deceitful as he tries to befriend Suárez, not to actually be his friend but in order to try and perform his plan of taking Azevedo down. He is also very aggressive as he provokes one of his companions to fight and then kills him to take his place, this also demonstrates his failure to comply to the societal norms and all these examples demonstrate his failure to plan — as he does not fully think anything through and the consequences.

Assignment: make a list of all the leaders we have discussed so far in this class. What is your best guess for why they seek their own leadership role, i.e., what was their motivation and what is the evidence for your conclusion (cite specific passages)? (Note: you may suggest more than one motive for each leader.) What do you feel are your own motives to lead and how have you discovered these motives over time?

Ida B. Wells: I definitely believe her motivation was to genuinely help her community. The lynchings were a race issue and were harming the black communities. She points out how these men were not given a trial and were hung like animals. Any black person in their right mind would want to help stop this. Her anger and disgust towards the issue was so clear and evident.

Telemachus: He sought leadership because of his father. Telemachus himself did not lead, he only began to lead once Athena told him he had to — as the son of Odysseus. Telemachus then began to lead because he felt like he owed it to his father.

Athena: Athena leads as a mentor to Telemachus because she feels it is her duty. She is a Goddess had was close to Odysseus. Seeing what is going on does not sit right with her and the Greeks are known for davine intervention, so Athena felt she needed to intervine to correct the situation. Athena leads for her own morality — it’s what she believes to be the right thing to do.

Neoptolemus: Neoptolemus wasn’t much of a leader. When he did try to lead he did it because he felt pity for Philoctetes. He was not much of a leader because he let Odysseus influence him and control his decisions. His pity for Telemachus is shown when he’s disgusted by the way his ankle is and wonders how he has survived so long. It baffles him that someone can continue to live in such his conditions.

Odysseus: Odysseus could be seen as an evil leader. He betrayed Philoctetes and tried to get Neoptolemus to do the same. He does these things because he wants to be the one in a powerful position. He wants the sword Philoctetes has so that he can be the winning warrior. He lets his envy and desire for power lead him to lead in an evil way.

Cyrus the Great: Cyrus the Great is a leader because that’s all he knows. His father and grandfather were leaders, and he went to schools where leadership was taught. It is almost natural for him to be a leader because that is all he was ever surrounded by. He grew a love for leadership and felt he could be one of the greatest leaders.

Lysistrata: Lysistrata leads because she does not like the events taking place around her. She hates that the men are at war and instead of sitting back and doing nothing she decides to finally take action. Her deciation to her plan for the women to deprive their men of sex shows how serious she is about the issue taking place. She leads because she has to and wants to be apart of the solution, not a bystander.

Virtue’s of Women: The women often lead because they did not like the events taking place around them either. In order for them to take such risks to lead (because the women could’ve gotten punished), they had to really be passionate about their cause.