Grace Donnelly
Mr. DeBella
Adv. English II
30 April 2023
Embarrassment, Secrets, and Shame One of the most daunting emotions is shame. At some point in their lifetime, people have shameful secrets to hide from the world. How people choose to deal with secrets and the resulting embarrassment takes a toll on their lives. In "The Nose" and Hamlet, the authors use the archetype of protagonists possessing a secret that they will do anything to cover up, which supports the idea that people prefer to keep a secret at their own expense and harm themselves by not receiving help rather than reveal the secret and be embarrassed. In “The Nose” by Nikolai Gogol, the author illustrates the idea that embarrassment from a secret is worse than the harm resulting from keeping it by the main character valuing secrecy over help. Occurring in Saint Petersburg, Russia, protagonist Collegiate Assessor Kovalyov suffers an inexplicable incident where his nose disappears. Before he leaves his home, he covers his face with a cloth as if he is suffering from a nosebleed to conceal his appearance. In his desperate attempts to solve the issue, he traverses the town, searching for his lost appendage. Once he arrives at the newspaper office to place an ad, he refuses to give his name because even though it would help him find his nose, he is too embarrassed by the situation to reveal his identity. Despite his obvious need
…show more content…
Dealing with an embarrassing situation is challenging and adding the fear of shame from the judgment of others make the situation even worse. In concealing their secrets, Kovalyov and Hamlet save themselves from embarrassment, but they struggle to overcome their situations without help from others. Even though the feelings of embarrassment and shame are overwhelming, disclosing secrets is a necessary part of overcoming a difficult