Adoption as a Cause of Hamartia: A Critical Study of Franzen’s The Corrections

Abstract

Abstract

Hamartia, a highly contentious literary concept, signifies some underlying personality flaw(s), generally supposed to be hereditary, causing a tragic hero (in tragedies) to make an error of judgement leading to sufferings, and, in most cases, eventually, bringing about their downfall (Aristotle, tr. 1961). Hundreds of studies have been published over the centuries, from Shakespeare to the modern age, to study the role of hamartia in the downfall and destruction of tragic heroes. However recent studies in psychology indicate that adverse and unforeseen life events during early maturation, like adoption, may also cause personality flaws analogous to hamartia (Brodzinsky, 2011; Neil, 2012). Hence, this study investigates adoption as a cause of engendering hamartia (tragic flaw) in an adopted character (Billy Passafaro) in the novel, The Corrections (Franzen, 2001), by analysing and discussing some relevant dynamics from within the novel, including adversity of adoption, its calamitous psychosocial effects, and adoption as hamartia. This is done by the application of a triangulated mixed-method approach, providing theoretical insights, firstly, from related adoption studies, and secondly, psychosocial perspective; whereas, thirdly, for the validation of the first two approaches, the methodological implications of Yudofsky’s (2005) Table 1-1 is used. The results reveal that adoption (1) may be an underlying cause to engender hamartia; (2) the adversity of adoption, if unaddressed, may result in lasting personality flaws affecting the victims in their early and late adulthoods; and (3) adoptees may experience more psychosocial complexities than their non-adopted counterparts. Hence, to diminish the adversity of adoptive hamartia, the adoptive parents must ensure a healthy and fulfilling home environment for their brought up.

      Keywords: hamartia; tragic flaw; adoption; Franzen; The Corrections.