A character anylsis of Al Condraj from the book "Parsely Garden."

Parsley Garden

The qualities of carelessness and anger can be just as destructive as excessive pride. In Parsley Garden, Al Condraj has made many significant blunders due to his self-pride. In fact, his arrogance has gone straight to his head; Al thinks he is so great and is always right. Unfortunately, due to this absurd thinking, he makes many errors in judgment and doesn't fully think his ideas through before acting on them. Hence, this destructive frame of mind ends up being extremely hazardous to Al.

Due to Al's smugness, he makes large errors in judgment. When Al wanted the hammer, he didn't consider the consequences of stealing it. Because he is so arrogant, he automatically assumes he is the best thief in the world and that he would never get caught. However, even after getting caught the first time, Al goes back to the store and contemplates whether or not he should steal the hammer again. Al already knows that the workers at the store have a heightened awareness of his actions and that there is a good chance he won't succeed in stealing the hammer a second time. However, he still doesn't care and wants to steal it again. One can now see Al's detrimental thinking pattern.

Another pitfall in Al's judgment is that he doesn't think his ideas through before acting on them. When Al went back to the store to work for the hammer, he did a fantastic job and was even offered one dollar and the job. However, he refused to take the money and job, even though he could have used the extra cash. Al is too arrogant because he doesn't want to work for people he despises. His pride blocks his thoughts so that he doesn't even consider new options.

The last damaging cycle caused by Al's excessive pride is that Al refuses to do anything when there is a chance for humiliation. For example, he watched Johnny Gale nail boxes for ten minutes, but Johnny was too busy to notice him or talk to him. Al went home because he didn't want somebody working hard to notice that he was being watched and maybe say, "Go on, and beat it." Al didn't want to invite a humiliation. As one can see, Al's pride is so great that he will leave an opportunity when there is even a slight chance for embarrassment or humiliation.

Overall, Al's pride is extremely destructive. He is afraid to perform certain activities when he fears that he could be humiliated. Also, he makes large errors in judgment and does not fully think his ideas through. Hence, Al's frame of mind is created by his excessive pride and it largely affects and changes Al's life for the worse.