The Road to Character - Subject

In The Road to Character written by author David Brooks, the author presents the concept of two parts of our personality called Adam I and Adam II. He explains that Adam I promotes "résumé virtues" while Adam II is all about eulogy virtues. At this time and age, we're taught from a young age to pursue goals such as higher education and high-paying jobs and this is where Adam I steps in. It provides the drive to pursue our careers and achieve our goals and obtain a high status. It also supplies the motivation needed in order to pursue and and be successful in our career-driven world. On the other hand, Adam II focuses heavily on the morals and strives to make us better people. Through hardships, the lessons we learn from them is what sets us apart from others. In the novel, Brooks highlighted individuals that struggled with maintaining a balance between the two personas. They had to overcome their egos, step back, and see how they could work on their weaknesses. Humility and perseverance are what helps you push past being vain and thinking about just "me, me, me". After the individuals' respective journeys, the readers can see how they've grown and developed more desirable qualities like maturity and self-respect. Throughout the whole book, the readers can really appreciate the effort that these individuals had to give in order to become the person they wanted to be. The qualities of Adam I are the ones we actively seek because it's what we're taught and think is right but the qualities of Adam II are the ones that leave an impression on others and are what matters more in the end.