Emotional Intelligence




        Admittedly, I have a bit of difficulty trying to find examples of emotional intelligence.  I speculate that Vivi is able to perform the lowest level:  perceiving the emotions in herself and others accurately.  Her thoughts, in the novel, reveal that she is aware of the sadness she suffers from years after the death of her first love; she is aware of the regret and guilt she feels over harming her children during her nervous collapse.  She is also aware of how others feel:  in one instance during a flashback, it is revealed that she perceived the sadness her nanny felt while they were traveling far from home.
       This prompts her quite often to engage in seeking out the answers why.  In the same example as the previous, she begins to talk with her nanny to discover why she is upset and crying.  Vivi's empathy towards her caretaker leads her to stay a bit and comfort her.  Similarly, as an adult, Vivi would drink heavily to deal with the emotional traumas she endured in her youth.  However, her drinking was affecting her family.  So, she decided to seek out help.  I believe that these examples may constitute the highest level of emotional intelligence:  using emotion to achieve goals. Her goal in the first example was to comfort her nanny.  Her goal in the second was to improve her family life.

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