Self-awareness is hailed as the basis of emotional, mental, and physical well being. Problems arise when the self is neglected or misunderstood. Self-knowledge allows for virtuous feelings such as courage, love, and redemption, to flourish; self-ignorance leads to somber feelings of fear, pain, and guilt. Sydney Carton, the surly lawyer in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, is seen by is contemporaries as lazy, vulgar, worthless. Upon meeting Lucie Manette, he manages to see beyond the irascible façade he has created for himself to discover a kind heart, capable of feeling. In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Gene never learns of the existence and power of the darkness existing within him. Thus, he never learns to deal and
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