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Example Of Narcissism In Literature

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Narcissism in Literature
Literature is amazing because it covers all sort of topics from real life stories to epic tales of the hero versus the mighty demon. It also covers real life psychological disorders and while a lot of characters in fiction may be made up they can have very real psychological problems. This paper will be looking at Armand from “Desiree’s Baby”, Montresor from “The Cask of Amontillado”, and Sykes from “Sweat” and determining if they are indeed narcissistic and if so determine if it is just narcissistic traits of their personality or the psychological disorder. To start we need to cover what narcissism really is and at its base “Narcissism is a term used to describe a pre-occupation with the self, and on one’s own wants, needs, and desires” (clevelandclinic). Question now is how we might measure that, and the best way is to look at the traits of narcissism and “the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is the most commonly used measure of the trait” (Webber 74).
The ego is the first thing we associate with narcissism and every single person on the planet has an ego, so can we all be considered narcissistic? Because it is how the ego affects us and how it is applied that makes it narcissistic. Egos can make people more judgmental, manipulative, approval hungry, a need to always be right, and feelings of superiority.
Young children face a real challenge with parental influence and influence from other children and adults. In fact, “the present

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