The Connection Between Ugliness, Sinfulness, and Greed

When Forsyth pairs Darius and Erik he puts together two men who appear to have nothing in common yet they are more similar then they know. Erik has been treated cruelly his entire life because people are afraid of him when they see his disfigured face. The unenlightened people of that time period believed that ugliness was a sign of a person’s sinful nature. Darius also suffered cruelty in his childhood but the cruelty he suffered came from the hands of people who were religious. Both Darius and Erik grow up to love money believing that is the only way they can achieve power over their lives.

Both Erik and Darius were treated cruelly when they were children, treatment that resulted in their hate of humans. Erik was hate because of the way he looked. Forsyth points out in...