Euler's Identity In The Housekeeper And The Professor By Yoko Ogawa

Who am I? This question asked so often suggests that there is actually a reasonable answer. Almost as if our own personal being were a fixed thing. Generally, people who ask this type of question are usually struggling with their identity and thus are looking for something to make sense of themselves. The irony is that the more you seek to identify who you are, the more you are exposed to being fragile. Some people spend their live looking for an answer that could possibly satisfy them but still never find anything. The main focus shouldn't be on discovering who you are but on considering the social influences that have affected you.

Does breaking the mold and speaking up for what is right always easy when shaping one’s identity? Society places norms that greatly impact someone’s personality, and how they identify as an individual in society. The protagonist in John Updike’s “A&P” is a young man working in a supermarket, who judges all the customers and see’s all the conformity that the store encompasses all while searching to be outside the conformist’s that exist there. John Updike uses Sammy to show through Symbolism the journey to self-identity. This coming of age story stands as a message of empowerment to all future generations.

In the short story “The Chrysanthemums” the author creates a dilemma in identity by displaying different personal conflicts involving the main character. The main character, Elisa Allen, seems to be discontent with her place in life. However, she seems to be aware that she is doing what is expected of her and is almost afraid to change her way of life. More than Likely, this is due to the influence her husband has over her. There are three main characters in this story, Elisa, Henry and a lone traveler that rides up to Elisa asking for directions. Elisa seems to be more interested in the wandering man she encounters than her husband. The traveling man seems to find Elisa more interesting and attractive than her husband. The traveler sees the

When a person becomes experienced in life, they sometimes reflect upon their childhood. Frequently, when individuals are older, they have a better understanding of events that occurred. Even as some become adults, they will not appreciate a new understanding of a particular situation that happened in their youth. For others, they will come to a realization and be happy with the new awareness they acquired. One such character is Peter, the protagonist, in Ernest Buckler’s short story “Penny in the Dust.” Peter discovers the penny he lost in his father’s pocket, at the funeral and comes to the self-realization his father cared for him deeply.

I remember when I was in the eighth grade, the entire class was assigned a project revolving around the Holocaust: each rotation of classes brought us all into the next level of this month-long project. In one class, we made scale models of what we thought would be a proper shelter for hiding in and in another, we read Holocaust era literature, such as Anne Frank’s Diary and Eli Wiesel’s Night. In what was normally our History class, we watched and read The Devil’s Arithmetic. Written by Jane Yolen, the story follows that of a young girl whose family is experiencing Passover. When showing her disinterest in the event, she is transported to Auschwitz during World War II to learn the importance of her heritage.

Young people don’t maintain the same personality, feelings and views throughout their life. At some point in their life, which very often starts during adolescence, they start looking for their true identity. The transition into becoming a more mature person may be very exciting and very uncertain at the same time. It is a process that involves many changes shaped by the family, friends, environment, community and culture. Young people become more independent, dream of living their life the way they always wanted to, they explore the world, look for new possibilities. At the same time they still ponder their personal identity, are vulnerable and easily influenced by others. They take on new responsibilities, face new challenges and make mistakes.

When people think about the meaning of American history, they tend to visualize it in a narrow context in which America formed and developed on its own. However, because the United States was involved in the oceanic revolution during the 15th and 16th centuries, its history intertwined itself with the histories of many other nations. Together, they were all involved in the formation of the New World. Therefore, Bender suggests that, “the story of North America and of the United States is part of that larger, more important history, not vice versa.” Bender emphasizes the idea of how the discovery of the ocean was the starting point of providing America with a basis of identity.

The death camps were horrid and prestigious about the Jews.Treating people like they are any less.

Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel by William Golding, holds truths about mankind’s true nature of existence. The novel explores the savagery in all men that lies dormant, yet when society’s rules cease to exist, the boy’s innocence perishes along with it. The boys attempt to band together and mock the society that they came from, but not understanding the complexity of the situation, results in their society falling into ruins. On the island the boys are returned to man’s primitive nature, without rules or discipline, and they slowly drift into anarchy. Without proper guidance, the boys resort to cloaking their innocence with body paint to survive. With the body paint coating their skin, the boys bury their old personas within and allow themselves to commit acts that society would frown upon. When Jack’s tribe uses the facade of body paint to dissociate themselves from civilization’s morals, they denote that hiding one’s true identity liberates them from the constraints of society.

In Amin Maalouf’s book “In the Name of Identity” Maalouf emphasizes that we should not judge people on one singular identity. He argues that, “Identity can’t be compartmentalized. You can’t divide it up into halves or thirds or any other separate segments. I haven’t got several identities: I’ve got just one, made up of many components in mixture that is unique to me, just as other people’s identity is unique to them as individuals.” The essence of Maalouf’s argument is that one should not define another based solely on a singular component of their identity but rather their identity as a whole.

consistent identity (Ketchen, Boyd and Bergh, 2008). It is no doubt that there are still many

All around the world people struggle with a sense of self-individualization, which is the internal battle each person has to face in order to discover ones true identity. The quest to find oneself is a difficult and lengthy endevor that can take a lifetime to accomplish. Some if not most people never reach a point where they can truly face who they truly are. In the Novel The Namesake by Lahiri, identity is illustrated by intensely examining the importance of ones background, name and culture. The main characters in the story try to uncover the reasoning behind their lineage, which they belive will lead to discovering the answer destiny in life. Playing on this belief the Ganguli’s sustain the element of traditions with them and practices

departure. Euler lost the sight of his right eye at the age of 31 and

Bernoulli was soon exposed to Euler’s brilliance in analytical science and presently saw his true potential, and gained a new respect for him. Euler procured his degree of Master of Arts in philosophy in 1723 by comparing and contrasting the ideas of Descartes and Newton. He then attempted to gain degrees in Theology and Oriental languages on his father’s request, but did not complete the course due to disinterest in the subject, and soon, with his father’s permission, returned to the study of mathematics.

Mathematics has contributed to the alteration of technology over many years. The most noticeable mathematical technology is the evolution of the abacus to the many variations of the calculator. Some people argue that the changes in technology have been for the better while others argue they have been for the worse. While this paper does not address specifically technology, this paper rather addresses influential persons in philosophy to the field of mathematics. In order to understand the impact of mathematics, this paper will delve into the three philosophers of the past who have contributed to this academic. In this paper, I will cover the views of three philosophers of mathematics encompassing their