I'm reading Anna Karenina for an AP Literature class, and I have to do journal entries on the reading, which includes character analysis. One of the characters, Stepan, cheats on his wife.
Later he is described as "Stepan was a truthful man with himself. He was incapable of deceiving himself and persuading himself that he repented of his conduct."
Ironically, cheating on your wife is often seen as something dishonest.
A few pages later it explains Stepan chooses his political views based on those that suit his own personal beliefs (confirmation bias). For example, "The liberal party said that marriage is an institution quite out of date, and that it needs reconstruction; and family life certainly afforded Stepan little gratification, and forced him into lying and hypocrisy, which were so repulsive to his nature."
Okay, so we see the conflict: Stepan by nature is a truthful man, but monogamy is forcing him to lie and cheat, making him a hypocrite.
So given all this context, I don't know what the best adjective would be for the quote "Stepan was a truthful man with himself. He was incapable of deceiving / persuading himself that he repented his conduct." I want to say integrity, because he's staying true to himself... but how is he staying true to himself if he's in a marriage? Doesn't that make him a hypocrite? But on the surface, hypocrite isn't an apt description of that quote, because there isn't anything hypocritical about the quote itself.
I think I've just confused everybody who has read this. But if you think you understand what I'm getting at, feel free to offer some help.
