An American Tragedy
...el as he is at the end. Clyde Griffiths shows his first signs of change in the early stages of the novel. Clyde was somewhat of a pariah during his youth; consequently, he did not have the social life that most people his age had. Clyde did not have extensive schooling, and he grew up with few contacts with people other than his family. As a result of these few contacts and pleasures that Clyde had been deprived of in his youth, Clyde began to rebel against his religious background, and he, therefore, generated a will for himself to escape his current life. This abrupt change in Clyde’s beliefs and eventually in his lifestyle led Clyde to become a bellhop at the Green-Davidson Hotel in Kansas City. Clyde’s companionship with the other forward bellhops at the hotel brought about a further change in Clyde’s personality. He became a very selfish, greedy, self-driven person. As a result, Clyde began to do things against his Christian upbringing such as drinking, partying, and taking a heavy interest in girls. At first, Clyde was not comfortable with the changes that occurred in his life as he almost felt they were too forward, but Clyde still conformed to whatever his bellhop friends did. Accordingly, Clyde became more comfortable with the contemporaneous, more liberal lifestyle of his new friends. This change is the first major change Clyde experiences in the story of An American Tragedy. The second major change causing Clyde to be a very dynamic, complex character is his feelings toward Roberta. Clyde consciously disobeys orders to avoid contact with any of the girls under his supervision by beginning relations with Roberta. First, Clyde becomes infatuated with Roberta for a short time until he begins to see Sondra Finchley on a regular basis. As a result, Clyde’s feelings toward Roberta drift from feelings of love and compassion, to feelings of neglect and indifference. While Clyde’s feelings towards Roberta are drifting in a negative direction, he becomes aware of her pregnancy. Clyde, aghast by the news, begins to change into a very malicious person. He gets to a point where he cannot stand Roberta’s onerous burdens and constant nagging, and he begins to ponder evil ideas of killing Roberta that would have been absurd to him at any time in the past. These malignant ideas that Clyde begins to ponder and even plan eventually conclude with Roberta’s death. This drastic change in Clyde’s personality and feelings is the second major change that Clyde incurs in this story. The third crucial change in the character of Clyde Griffiths is his self-realization at the end of the story. Clyde had been a selfish, callous person throughout the novel, and his behavior eventually concluded in the death of a young woman. Throughout Clyde’s trial, he gradually gains a sense of self, meaning that ...