Perfection: Perception Vs. Reality

People are essentially flawed. I know this and I hope you've realized it by now. That's why, in working on my new novel, when my protagonist came across a guy who started out as just a hookup but has come to read like the perfect guy, I got worried. The character is flawed, but since he's hooked up with my protagonist, he's only looked perfect and I'm afraid that what readers will take away from this is that one person can complete another. I am very wary of giving anyone this impression because even if it happens every now and then, it goes against my beliefs to write an example of such an instance.

I doubt very much that one person can "complete" another because I think that despite the fact that we, as humans, have flaws, we are complete persons. We might feel that we have holes, but these are essential to the human condition, I think. If none of us felt like something was missing, if we all have perfect lives, we would get quite bored quite quickly. If there was nothing to send us hurtling through life, no feelings or illusions of emptiness, nothing would ever change. Immanuel Kant believed life is the continual struggle to achieve perfection and once this was achieved, the universe might cease to exist. I'm really starting to believe it.

So to solve the dilemma of not appearing to tell people that it takes one person to complete another, I texted my friend Jenny, who I've known since middle school and who in freshman year was the first to read my first attempt to write a novel. I told Jenny that I thought the guy is too perfect and she asked if she should come up with some flaws for me. I told her it's weird because I've shown him to be flawed and I will show other flaws later on, but I feel like he's too perfect with my protagonist and I worry about the message that could send. Jenny eventually said, "It means that everyone is flawed but when you meet the right person, they see only the good so therefore you seem perfect."

It made amazing sense. Perception of perfection is completely different from the reality or presence of perfection. God, Jenny's a genius!