significant passage
“A
man’s alter ego is nothing more than his favorite image of himself. The mirror
in my room in the Windsor Hotel in Paris reflected my favorite image of me- a
darkly handsome young airline pilot, smooth-skinned, bull-shouldered and
immaculately groomed. Modesty is not one of my virtues. At the time, virtue was
not one of my virtues…Oddly enough, I never felt like a criminal. I was one, of
course, and I was aware of the fact. I’ve been described by authorities and
news reporters as one of this century’s cleverest bum-check passers, flimflam
artists and crooks, a con man of Academy Award caliber. I was a swindler and
poseur of astonishing ability. I sometimes astonished myself with some of mu
impersonations and shenanigans, but I never at any time deluded myself. I was
always aware that I was Frank Abagnale, Jr., that I was a check swindler and a
faker, and if and when I were caught I wasn’t going to win any Oscars. I was
going to jail. (PG 1-4)”
I believe this passage is significant to the book because it outlines all of the author’s inner thoughts and feelings about himself. He knows exactly what he was to the public and the police, and he never really denied that fact. This passage is significant to the book because it sets up the tone for the book. The author does have doubts about his criminal actions and being caught but he is very aware that what he’s doing would get him nothing but jail time. He seemed to be aware of everything he was doing and did not seem to care about hurting innocent people. Another reason this passage is important is because it sets an idea in the reader’s mind that the author seems to live in a fantasy world. Frank Abagnale Jr. was aware of his crimes, but still had that ego in his mind of a pilot. The uniform gave him a boost, which is present throughout the entire book. He needs that confidence boost to go through with his plans. This passage should leave the image that maybe most people are aware of the things they do before they do them and that a boost of confidence is needed. In the author’s case, he needed it to carry out all of his big schemes. The same applies to people everywhere. Any person in the world needs a confidence boost at some point. It’s not great to rely on it though.
I believe this passage is significant to the book because it outlines all of the author’s inner thoughts and feelings about himself. He knows exactly what he was to the public and the police, and he never really denied that fact. This passage is significant to the book because it sets up the tone for the book. The author does have doubts about his criminal actions and being caught but he is very aware that what he’s doing would get him nothing but jail time. He seemed to be aware of everything he was doing and did not seem to care about hurting innocent people. Another reason this passage is important is because it sets an idea in the reader’s mind that the author seems to live in a fantasy world. Frank Abagnale Jr. was aware of his crimes, but still had that ego in his mind of a pilot. The uniform gave him a boost, which is present throughout the entire book. He needs that confidence boost to go through with his plans. This passage should leave the image that maybe most people are aware of the things they do before they do them and that a boost of confidence is needed. In the author’s case, he needed it to carry out all of his big schemes. The same applies to people everywhere. Any person in the world needs a confidence boost at some point. It’s not great to rely on it though.