Should Richard Dalloway be in GOAT conversations?

    When we talk about the GOAT debate, the usual contenders are names like MLK, Confucius, Jesus, George Washington, Albert Einstein, Lebron James, or names of that sort. Does Richard Dalloways's great qualities as a human being warrant a spot for him in the GOAT debate? To set the premise, we are treating Richard Dalloway as a real human being rather than a fictional character. The fictional character GOAT debate would be very different as it would consist of people like Batman, Spiderman, Harry Potter, and it would be very hard to fit Richard into this conversation. 

    Richard Dalloway, from the book Mrs.Dalloway, is a side character that doesn't actually get that much "book time". However, from the limited words spent on his depiction, we see many qualities that I think objectively make him a great human being. First, Richard is a very successful person. He is a Member of Parliament, and the Woolf made sure to show his importance. He sits on committees, and he spends time with other important figures in town such as when he spends an afternoon at Lady Bruton's lunch helping her draft a letter to the Times about her emigration plan. People with money and influence lean on him to get things done, and he did all of this while being the husband of one of the most sought after hostesses in the city, whose parties are attended by the Prime Minister. 

    Secondly, the book displays Richard as a great husband as well. On the way home from lunch, he buys Clarissa a bunch of roses, and he wants to tell her he loves her. He can't quite get the words out, but he holds the flowers out and she understands (which says a lot about how well the two of them know each other). He also insists that she rest after lunch because she has been ill, and he does it out of care, not control. Clarissa herself thinks a marriage needs a bit of independence and privacy, and Richard gives her that without asking questions. I think Richard's love and respect for Clarissa is kind of cute, especially when he couldn't tell his wife that he loves her. Besides his taste in jewelry, he seems to be a great husband.

    Lastly, Richard has a very amiable personality, and the party near the end of the book shows it best. Out of everyone in that room, Richard is the one who is actually enjoying himself, and he is far more at ease than Clarissa, who spends most of the night worried that the whole thing is a failure. He is also kind to the people most guests ignore. Ellie Henderson, a poorer guest who stands alone in a corner watching everyone else, ends up talking with Richard, who is the only person who bothers to speak to her. Then there is Elizabeth. While Richard is talking to the Bradshaws, he looks across the room and thinks, "Who is that lovely girl?" and only then realizes it is his own daughter, who looks so lovely in her pink dress that he didn't recognize her. By the end of the night, the book says he is proud of her, and he tells her what he thought when he first saw her. A man who is relaxed at his wife's party, kind to the guest nobody talks to, and openly proud of his daughter is the kind of person anyone would want in their life.

    When we look at the greatest humans of all time, the successes of these people often overshadow their negatives. For example, despite Einstein's greatness as a physicist, he was not a good father, and he even married his cousin (who was his first cousin from his mom's side AND his second cousin from his dad's side). Even MLK was caught having extramarital affairs, and George Washington had slaves. No one is perfect, but I think the personality and qualities of a human should be evaluated just as importantly as their successes. 

    This brings us back to Mr. Richard Dalloway. When we purely look at impact, Richard's greatness is nowhere near the likes of Confucius or Jesus. Despite being a very successful person, he didn't change the world. However, if we judge a person by both what they achieved and how they treated the people around them, Richard holds up well. He was a good husband that loved his wife in his own quiet way and a great friend to everyone around him, even the ones people often ignore. Richard's greatness goes beyond the stats that commonly define success. His impact can only be seen by those who are actually around him. So now, when we compare Richard to the likes of Einstein, MLK, and Washington, I think his lack of a major flaw could potentially give him an edge over these people in GOAT talks. Richard Dalloway will never reach impact levels of an all time great, but he certainly is one of the greats that you'd actually want to know personally. 

Works cited:

Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. 1925. Harcourt, 2005.

  (Clarissa if she was talking Angela the cat)