3. Yes, I think tragic flaw or hamartia is an issue in this novel. Truthfully, I wanted to write on Patrick’s, but I was not too sure. So, I will write on Clara’s tragic flaw. This does not mean I am confident in my answer. I am just more confident in what I have to say about Clara than Patrick and I have more to write on her than him.
I think Clara’s tragic flaw is that she cannot stay faithful and love one person. It is because of this flaw of hers that many people have to suffer. Because Clara could not stay faithful to her husband Ambrose Small, Patrick experiences extreme pain and has a really hard time. Patrick is unable to handle Clara’s leaving. If she had just stayed with Ambrose the whole time, she would not have caused an innocent man to experience so much pain to the point where he almost died. All her experiences seem very superficial. Even though she returns to Ambrose, we do not get the feeling that she is returning because she truly loves him. I think that we kind of get the feeling that she is able to love a single person wholeheartedly through her intimate relationship with Alice. Although the book only contains a short sex scene between the two, I got the feeling that their relationship was bit more special than compared to Ambrose or Patrick. I thought that Clara was actually revealing a lot more about her than she normally does and made herself a little vulnerable, which love makes one do. I thought this intimate scene foreshadowed the possibility of Clara to actually true love a person. I think this is shown at the very end of the book when she calls Patrick. After many years, I think Clara had the chance to really understand what love is and changed. We start to have some hope in her changed life that she will have with Patrick.
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Sung Guk, I like your assessment of Clara's ability to love, and how you tie that into her call to Patrick at the end of the novel. It does offer some sense of hope, doesn't it, even though we get the feeling that somehow Clara is involved in the death of Ambrose? Maybe her ability to love, or to be true to herself, is related to a sense of freedom. And perhaps she can only be free when Ambrose (and all he symbolizes) is gone.
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