Most of the time we tend to talk about the pleasant side of our characters and what they have to offer. Occasionally certain members of the fandom do not like a character for what ever reasons. Sam over the years has done some stupid things without really realizing the consequences of those actions, and sometimes he does. Hubris to me is an UGLY word, which on IMDb frequently comes up and towards one character in particular. Now I don’t see hubris in Sam, and have wanted in the past to discuss this, but for some reason I have bypassed it for another topic. Hubris is an interesting word, which displays several different words within its meaning. So do you think any of our characters display this human trait and if so, please give an example and lets discuss.
After looking up the word I felt some don’t understand what it fully means; so listed below are three different Dictionaries and all three have similar words, with some different entries noted.
Dictionary.com
Hubris is a Greek word
1. excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.
noun
1. pride or arrogance
2. (in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor’s ruin
Oxford English Dictionary.
noun
[MASS NOUN]
- Exsessive Pride or Self-confidence:
Collins Dictionary
noun
- pride or arrogance
- (in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor’s ruin
Synonyms
= pride, vanity, arrogance, conceit, self-importance, haughtiness, conceitedness,
Now 2 out of the three entries state pride and arrogance where the second doesn’t. Self confidence seems to be a trait in this word which I also get too. I can also see Sam having ambition, that he wants to get the job done, and get his brother back. But what I don’t see in Sam is arrogance? What motivates Sam is saving his brother and saving other lives? Does this make him arrogant?
If on the other hand that his arrogance comes into play where he knew that using the book of the Damned would release the darkness, but he didn’t. He said to Cas that we will deal with any repercussions after the event more or less. So does this put him above the law? Sam is mission orientated does this mean he’s arrogant? Time wasn’t on his side, and taking this into account, I can see WHY Sam rushed into the situation all guns blazing> so does this make him arrogant? Sam to me doesn’t carry the self importance tag I think, because he is taking on a case that doesn’t involve him, it involves saving his brother, or other lives. So he isn’t thinking about himself.
Sam is prideful and takes his job in saving Dean very seriously. He has been a bit bossy with people like Rowena and Cas, because he wants to get the job done, he needs to feel useful and that Dean will think well of him when he comes back home. Dean has praised him in the past, so to me Sam does have a certain level of pride and for Dean’s respect at the end of the day. I also think he never wants to repeat Season 8 and put right what he did on 2 accounts wrong.
Ultimately causing the transgressor’s ruin….
Now this one to me from the Collins Dictionary quote, sort of made me think more about Sam’s orders causing Rowena’s downfall. He was primarily using her to transcribe the Book of the Damned spell to free Dean of the Mark of Cain, so was this perhaps arrogance on Sam’s part. Was he so cock sure that her plan would succeed? Had he convinced himself to be so certain her efforts would work out? Does this really mean that Sam is ARROGANT>??
Excessive Pride:
Egotism implies an excessive preoccupation with oneself or with one’s own concerns, usually but not always accompanied by pride or conceit: His egotism blinded him to others’ difficulties. Vanity implies self-admiration and an excessive desire to be admired by others: His vanity was easily flattered.
Is Sam guilty of talking constantly about himself too much? Can we judge this characteristic within him? Is Sam blinded by others, does he block out Dean’s orders for example and do it his own way. YES, I think Sam sometimes does do this, in Paint it Black S10 Dean asks him to burn a journal, and Sam insists it might have clues on the persons character. So Sam doesn’t burn the book. In the car Dean realizes that it was a good idea of his NOT to burn the book? As it did solve the puzzle in how to kill the spirit that she was connected to the painting via her own bones and blood.
I think Sam does own up to Self-Admiration. When he solves a case and in particular when he saves Dean, he is pleased with himself to a degree. It does give him a buzz, and satisfaction that he’s done a good job?
An excess of ambition:
an earnest for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment: caused him to be disliked by his colleagues. 2. the object, state, or result desired or sought after: The crown was his.
I don’t think colleagues dislike Sam, I think sometimes Dean gets cross with Sam when he doesn’t follow his lead. But often as above Sam’s direction is often rewarded with the end of a successful case. Sam strives to find answers, and wants to see a case solved and that is his reward and he I bet feels honored at times that he’s done a good job, but I don’t think this leads to him being ARROGANT>? Sam has never been a person who has boasted about his wealth, and has never really talked about how poor they are either. He just gets on with his life in saving people and hunting things!
self-confidence: noun feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities, and judgement.
I would say that Sam is confident in his job, he has the ability to research a case, learn about the monster, and find out how to kill it. He also hunts the beast and puts it down. He has certain qualities as a hunter, he is quick, agile, fit, and a good fighter. And he can defend himself most of the time. He is a good judge of finding the solution and an end to the problem.
Had a good read, what do you think about Sam do you think he has Hubris? Jot me a line below, would love to hear from you…
Bella xxx
Written and Published: By Bella
Citing Sources: IMDb, Google for word meanings.
Photographs: Property of ‘The CW’
A Blog devoted to J2 and Friends! 
When a character thinks he/she is the only solution to a problem and then acts on that self told tale, consequences are usually bad for that hero. I can think of a dozen times that our heroes have acted with the thought that he/she alone has the solution. Even the anti heros suffer from huberis. Most recently, Cas suffers from it. One can feel expendable and have huberis at the same time. Rowena as well.
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Hubris does not just mean arrogance or ambition. It is the feeling of superiority which someone has and it is caused by their possession of great power. That is what leads someone to be pride and generally to cross lines which they shouldn’t cross.
Personally, I think that a lot of characters have committed hubris, not just Sam. Lucifer, Metatron, Castiel and Dean are also examples of hubris, but I have to say that, in Sam’s, Castiel’s and Dean’s case, there aren’t bad intentions from their part. However, they have crossed lines.
Lucifer had committed hubris against God when he denied to bow before humans. He was too proud of himself. Metatron took advantage of his knowledge as God’s scribe and he banned all the Angels from Heaven. Also, he used the angel tablet’s power to be the new God, deceiving both Angels and humans.
Sam had committed hubris when he was powered by demon blood and he opened Lucifer’s cage. He thought he was the only one that could defeat Lilith and generally, he was pleased by Ruby’s blarney and, in the same time, displeased by Dean’s lectures.
Castiel had committed hubris when he pretended to be a better God when he took all the souls from purgatory and had started to punish all of those who he thought as wicked in his own name (before the Leviathans take him over).
Dean (in some way) had committed hubris when he killed the horseman of Death. In my opinion, in that moment, he crossed a fine line, because this particular horseman was a powerful and a special creature. It was different from all the other supernatural creatures that Dean is used to hunt and kill.
As for the general story-line of the Mark (seasons 9 and 10), I think that Sam and Dean didn’t commit hubris, because they were both desperate. In season 9, Dean felt guilty for Kevin’s death and for lying to Sam that he took the Mark without thinking. On the other hand, in season 10, Sam was so desperate to save his brother that he didn’t think the consequences of his actions. In my opinion, in this case there wasn’t any kind of feeling of superiority in their actions.
(I’m sorry for my English)
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Saying that Sam has hubris would be saying that Lucifer is nice. Sam has never been self serving, it is not in his nature. Everything he has done across 11 seasons has been with the idea of either saving the world, or saving Dean or Cas, never a thought about how anything might affect him. He almost sacrificed himself at the end of Season 8 just to please Dean, to earn his forgiveness. How could anyone ever say that that is hubris? That is love, a love that is so difficult to come by it’s a legend.
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The idea of saving the world and self sacrifice can come from huberis. It is not to say that Sam had bad intentions. He is basically supposed to be a decent guy. None of his good qualities disqualify him from having a case of huberis from time to time.
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But mostly hubris is used in a negative context, which is why it would be incorrect for someone to say that Sam has hubris.
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MacBeth is hubris. Lady MacBeth is hubris.
Crowley is hubris. Under the influence of Sam’s blood Crowley came near to humanity. However, human blood became a fix Crowley rejected. Crowley had a crush on Dean and took the Hunter as a pet. Crowley made it plain to Sam and then to Dean, the King of Hell was no longer Mr. Nice Guy, the King of Hell was back. The King told Sam he did what he wanted, got what he wanted and did it his way and those eyes flashed red.
Luce is hubris. Pride turned Lucfier against the “new baby” God brought home. No going back, no regrets. It is not possible. That would mean humiliation, saying he was wrong and that is no longer possible for the former archangel. Better delighting in wickedness, and rule in Hell than submit in Heaven.
Sam and Dean are not hubris. They become angry, pride and passion can over take them, and when hurt they can hurt back. None of these vices dominate their lives. The world does not owe them anything. Sibling rivalry does knocks them about. They know what pain is and they have sympathy, even mercy. They long for their mother and mourn their lost apple pie life. Both repent, feel remorse and ask for forgiveness.
The brothers are humble. That is one characteristic hubris abhors.
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You can be humble and then huberis makes you act to fix a wrong.
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What others consider hubris , I consider desperation. Sam is often desperate to get the job done, no matter what it is. Sam,unlike Dean, likes to fret about things. He’s the kind who would worry himself into a state if he could.
If anyone could be said to have hubris, it’s the overconfident Dean. He’s not quite arrogant or prideful enough for the term but he is much more so than Sam.
Is this just another way for people who don’t like Sam to bash him again? Not that it matters to me. Sam has a lot to be proud of, but his perceived failures detract from any arrogance he may have about himself. Sam believes himself to have failed too many times to ever be considered arrogant.
I don’t think that word means what, whoever said it, thinks it means.
Have they seen the show?😕
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