The Theory of Bad Faith and what happens when we desert our temptation to act in bad faith serves as an undertone throughout the whole book. The phrase ‘Bad Faith’ and its meaning were coined by the existential philosopher Sartre in 1943 to describe an odd characteristic of human behavior. Bad Faith happens when someone believes that an outside force impedes their choices, generally wrong choices, and freedom when really their freedom is always in their hands. Sartre believed that, without exception, humans always have freedom to act by their will; chained or unchained, knowingly or unknowingly.
Though the whole Glass family is a victim of acting in bad faith, Zooey in particular is the most affected by the theory. Zooey seems to have something to blame for everything he finds misfortunate or ridiculous. Firstly, he feels that the family’s misfortune is caused by bad karma from previous carnations: “…the family must have piled up one helluva lot of bad karma”. Zooey also blames his brothers and his spiritual upbringing for, what he sees as, his personality flaws instead of taking responsibility for his behavior and his choices. This is acting in bad faith and there are many examples of the Glasses surrendering to bad faith.
Lane at the beginning of the novel uses bad faith in order to fit into a curtain complex or view he has of himself. He is truly excited to see Franny but is unwilling to show her how he feels because of his ego (which I will describe in the next Book blog as a motif.)
The practice of bad faith is an important part of carrying a polite conversation though. Lying in order to make people feel better and to assimilate into a social group is a common practice among chief communicators. At the beginning of the story, Franny neglects the practice of bad faith when talking to her partner, Lane. By telling the utmost truth and acting on her will, she is in turn deeply offending Lane and causing strife among her social group.
Though the whole Glass family is a victim of acting in bad faith, Zooey in particular is the most affected by the theory. Zooey seems to have something to blame for everything he finds misfortunate or ridiculous. Firstly, he feels that the family’s misfortune is caused by bad karma from previous carnations: “…the family must have piled up one helluva lot of bad karma”. Zooey also blames his brothers and his spiritual upbringing for, what he sees as, his personality flaws instead of taking responsibility for his behavior and his choices. This is acting in bad faith and there are many examples of the Glasses surrendering to bad faith.
Lane at the beginning of the novel uses bad faith in order to fit into a curtain complex or view he has of himself. He is truly excited to see Franny but is unwilling to show her how he feels because of his ego (which I will describe in the next Book blog as a motif.)
The practice of bad faith is an important part of carrying a polite conversation though. Lying in order to make people feel better and to assimilate into a social group is a common practice among chief communicators. At the beginning of the story, Franny neglects the practice of bad faith when talking to her partner, Lane. By telling the utmost truth and acting on her will, she is in turn deeply offending Lane and causing strife among her social group.
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