In literature, it is common to find main characters who display unusual strength or power. Rarely are major literary characters (with the exception of villains) weak figures. Authors typically create strong roles for their protagonists. This is not the case, however, with the short stories "Carnal Knowledge" by T. Coraghessan Boyle and "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The narrator of "Carnal Knowledge", Jim, and one of the main characters of "The Birthmark", Georgiana, have few outward similarities. They are both slaves by choice, however, willing to ignore their own desires and immerse themselves in the will of another person. On the surface, "The Birthmark" and "Carnal Knowledge" have little in common. One is the story of a man captivated by a young girl's passion for animal rights, the other is the story of a mad scientist whose obsession with perfection leads to the death of his wife. Jim and Georgiana are drastically different characters. He's your typical "every guy" who has a boring job and a mediocre social life. He's just waiting for someone to come along and spice things up. Georgiana is a young beauty and a devoted wife. Neither is particularly remarkable and they are not connected in any obvious way. Despite the major outward differences, however, there is a strong correlation between the characters of Jim and Georgiana. Both are relatively weak people who allow another person to direct, dominate, and exploit them. In both cases this willingness to submit to a will other than one's own is based on some incarnation of love or lust. Jim is immediately attracted to Alena, and that attraction turns into an addiction to the exciting life she leads. In the middle of his narration he reflects on his feelings... middle of paper ...... "Knowledge" are completely different stories, the connections between the characters contained in them and the situations in which they find themselves due to the their mutual fragility is unmistakable. Jim and Georgiana both allow another person to control them and justify that choice with emotional devotion. Both stories describe how this voluntary renunciation of free will results in bad luck and unhappiness authors to illustrate the dangers of putting oneself in such a position. WORKS CITED Boyle, T. Coraghessan "The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature 5th ed. 242-255.Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Birthmark" Introduction to Literature Ed. Michael Meyer, 2000. 277-288.