Character Analysis : Finding Your Identity In Finding Forrester

Establishing and maintaining a certain identity mostly depends on the setting. The setting allows us to analyze someone at a deeper level. Considering the time, place and the circumstances around under which they respond allows us to explore them and determine their identity. In the short story “Sonny’s Blues”, James Baldwin conveys the message of how one goes about establishing and maintaining their identity on different levels by using elements of setting. The author uses elements of setting several times to convey the message but some of the prominent uses are the military service, life in Harlem and especially the use of

Everyone in the world has their own identity but some are still searching for it. Many base their identity on race, religion, culture and language because it’s easier to belong to a certain group. However, there are some people who struggle with finding where they belong. For instance, James McBride in The Color of Water wonders who he is through most his childhood and some of his adult life. Mcbride tries to find himself by learning about his mother's background. After evaluating his mom’s past,culture and race his own issues with himself were made clearer because now he finally knows where he came from.

Each and every person on this Earth today has an identity. Over the years, each individual creates their identity through past experiences, family, race, and many other factors. Race, which continues to cause problems in today’s world, places individuals into certain categories. Based on their race, people are designated to be part of a larger, or group identity instead of being viewed as a person with a unique identity. Throughout Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Richard is on a search for his true identity. Throughout Black Boy, one can see that Richard’s racial background assigns him with a certain identity or a certain way in which some

11. Forrest warns Jamal about bitterly disappointed teachers, like Robert Crawford, because some people like these teachers only see and believe what they think is right, and since Jamal came from where he did with a background like he has, there will be criticism and disbelief over his work, but Jamal is to stand by what he writes and feel proud over it.

On the other hand, Jamal is a sixteen-year old African American male who went to a private school on a scholarship and lives with his mother and brother. Unlike Forrester, he enjoys going outside, interacting with his friends from school and going to basketball games. Another difference between the Jamal and Forrester is his confrontational attitude. When harassed by another student from school on the basketball court, he handled the problem in his own way, proving his ability to do as well as the next person, which gained the respect from the coach and the other students.

Throughout history, different people have many struggles with their identity and trying to figure out who they are. When I was younger, I struggled with my identity and who I was to my family and my friends. I did not know how to be myself without being called names or being looked at funny. At the house I would act one way towards my parents and my siblings, and at school I would act differently towards my friends to fit in. This time period of my life is well conveyed throughout different characters in many books. Harper Lee demonstrates the struggle of identity greatly in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the novel, the author develops two characters, Calpurnia and Dolphus Raymond, that struggle with their identity to

In “Finding Forrester”, there were two main characters named Jamal Wallace and William Forrester. Jamal was an inner city teenager from Bronx, New York who had the gifted talents of being a basketball player and a good writer. While always a C student, Jamal received attention from a New York college prep school for his high standardized test scores. Even though Jamal wanted to partake this request, he was afraid of his 4 friends opinions. Unlike Jamal, his friends did not care about academics and thought of Jamal as being a nerd.

Identity is what defines a person, their personality, interests, and their ideals. For some people, it's easy to show off their personality, but for others, and can be hard. Some people see it as a way for people to criticize them based on who they are. In the movie, Finding Forrester, William Forrester is a well known author for his popular book, yet he hides away in his apartment because he doesn’t want to be judged based on his work. This leads to struggles that William deals with all because he wants to keep his identity hidden. A young boy named Jamal Wallace has a similar issue. He is academically gifted, yet he doesn’t show it off because he doesn’t want to stick out from his friends. The two eventually meet, become friends, and solve their issues together. Jamal helps William escape his apartment, while William gives Jamal tips on what makes a good writer. Finding Forrester gives a good lesson in being true to oneself and expressing personality. If someone is too self-conscious about their personality, it can be hard to keep their identity hidden, especially in uncomforting situations.

Jamal also has better resources to deal with the struggles of adolescence because he has a close friend. William Forrester, who helps him in his school. We can see that in the film, Forrester, being a writer, helps Jamal improve his writing skills. Forrester also helps Jamal against his teacher who believes that Jamal is plagiarising his work from someone. Forrester does this by coming to his school and showing them how good of a writer Jamal actually is by reading out his

The award-winning author, Luis Alberto Urrea, creator of The Hummingbird's Daughter, Into the Beautiful North, and The Devil's Highway, describes The Devil’s Highway which occurred in May of 2001, one of many that impacted the desert on undocumented immigrants. which is a desert located beyond Sonora, Mexico. It is a desert which few turn to in able to cross over. A group of illegal Mexican were left for dead after attempting to cross; they were left stranded after traveling for days in the wrong direction, through mountains, desert and only a small amount of water along with a few personal items. The Devil’s Highway name was set out to one’s belief “bad medicine” (5). Even though the desert is an obstacle itself, there are still other physical

There are many external and internal factors that shape and form our identity, which is knowing who we are or who someone else is. In the book, Mississippi Trial, 1955, the main character Hiram Hillburn goes through many ups and downs in order to determine who he actually is. Achieving this takes time and many changes in people’s characteristics. Intertwining this to the book, identities are formed and shaped by parents, personal experiences (good or bad), and independent decisions. Hiram exemplifies these changes throughout the book by guidance from certain adults such as his father, making very salient decisions, and past incidents.Hiram goes through an exploration through this book about race, relations, and dishonesty. A murder of an innocuous

In the late 1960s, Nathan McCall was a smart young African-American living in an all black neighborhood called Manor Cavalier, located in Portsmouth, Virginia. McCall was one of the five young children being raised by his mother and stepfather. First of all, he had two older brothers named Dwight, and then there was Billy, followed by McCall himself, a younger brother Bryan Keith and eventually a stepbrother named Junnie. In a family there is always that person that loves to absorb knowledge; that person was Nathan the one that enjoyed school and books. However, being surrounded by bad influences, living in a bad neighborhood and not to mention living in a time of racism affected his motivation to succeed in the future. The purpose of this essay is that it will demonstrate that someone being labeled as something they are not will affect that person’s future life. Using the labeling theory, the paper will explain that being insulted, humiliated and treated less than a person can lead a youngster to become an aggressive and careless child. Therefore, strategies that will help these youngsters to overcome these racial abuses and false libeling’s are by giving equal opportunities and treatments to anyone, no mater of their past mistakes when they simply want to adjust back to society.

black man fights against, constantly trying to identify himself. At the same time, black men have found approaches to detach from this narrow minded image that society has created for them including; sports, education and family. The black male struggles to gain his own identity because there is already a firm image created for them that the white man visualizes the black male and the expectations of the black male. However, it isn’t just the society that plays a role in the development of the black males identity, there is also the consideration of how black males are brought up or raised in their current lifestyle situations. For example, athletes,

Outside influences have a strong capability to influence and alter our personal identity. Both directly and indirectly, the social contexts in which we live can change the way we think and feel, and by extension how we interact with other people and places. Immediate family, friendship groups and the physical environment are all factors which contribute to our ever changing perceptions of ourselves. Sometimes personal identity can be subtly reshaped over a gradual time frame, as our sense of who we are is modified without personal recognition that we are changing. At other times we may be able to notice our personal identity changing, through important life decisions.

What makes your identity? Is it your past, your family, your hopes, dreams, fears? It is all that and more. Your identity makes up who you are. It is always growing and ever-changing. Your identity is what makes you human. Finding it can be a struggle, maintaining it can be even harder. Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games were two examples of finding and holding onto your identity. Katniss was the girl who had to grow up to fast. She had to learn how to provide for her family, to be strong. Katniss thought to do this she had to create a wall to hold back all the childish things that were apart her. She put on a mask to grow up but to also protect herself from those who would wish to abuse her innocence. The mask, the wall they kept her