George R.R. Martin once said, “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” In both stories of Mirror Image by Lena Coakley and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes they have a common theme of identity and about how you find yourself. For both the characters in the story they find themselves finally by first losing themselves. For example in the short story of Mirror Image, Alice is a character who struggles to find herself and tries to understand if this is truly who she is. The situation of Alice is that she is the first to successfully have her brain transplanted in a new body, and due to this she is struggling to find her own identity. …show more content…
The relationships that she has with others are affected due to her change, however through this struggles and meeting the parent of the body she inhabits she finally discover that she is not Gail Jarred, but she is actually who’s she been all her life, Alice. Alice finds peace with herself and her identity when she has a talk with Mr. Jarred when she hears him say to her, “I’ll tell her I looked into your eyes and that I didn’t see my daughter” (Coakley, 18). Alice’s journey to find herself and her identity was a long where see was lost, but she shares a similar journey to others. It also seems like this story can be considered an allusion and share a common theme to Flowers for Algernon where Charlie Gordon is struggling to find
As George R.R. Martin once stated, “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you” (“Quotes About Identity”, 2017). In the short stories, David Goes to the Reserve, and Compatriots, characters struggle with their sense of identity. Some know who they are, but lack the knowledge of who they want to be; while others do not perceive any identity, but know they can be so much more. To find their true selves, the characters have to confront and overcome the obstacles that hindered them in the past.
Self-identity is a major part in the art world as well as the world in general, usually portrayed or captured as a portrait - either photographed, drawn, painted or sculptured - of oneself or another to represent their identity. As Brett Whitely said “There has to be a deepening quality of self-revelation” meaning there should be more then just a face on a canvas but rather portray the identity of the individual like their attitudes, private feelings and thoughts revealing more then just a blank face.
The discovery of oneself is a very prominent theme throughout the stories of Pleasantville and Autobiography of a Face. It’s not just the word self in these pieces of literature it’s more like discovery and how the characters in these pieces find themselves as they thought they were and in new ways. It’s about facing difficulty and challenge to see what lies ahead on the other side of the wall we call adversity. Looking at the movie Pleasantville the theme of self occurs constantly. In the beginning, in their normal world, Bud and his sister are both just trying to fit into whatever crowd they can.
Discovering our own identity does not come from being in isolation, but when we experience new things and meet new people. Our identity is bound up with our surroundings. Bethia, in Caleb’s Crossing, longed to discover her identity and make sense of the life she lived. She engages in new experiences and is brought out of her comfort zone by a local Indian boy, Caleb. She steps out of the isolation of her small village and ventures into what she hopes will help her to understand herself. Saidiya Hartman, in Lose Your Mother, though similar to Bethia in the way that she is trying to figure out who she is, but different in the way that she wants to discover that through slavery and her ties to slavery. Hartman travels great distances trying to
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a piece of literature that asseverates that perhaps intelligence is a seamless fundamental. Precisely, for 34 old Charlie Gordon who initially wants to attain intelligence because he has been dimwitted throughout his whole entire life. Mr.Gordon is given an opportunity to be chosen for an operation. Fortunately for Mr. Gordon he happens to be the perfect candidate for the operation that will result to be semi-successful. As for Charley a 1968 film that portrays a 34 year old who seeks
Also, the character of Alice has some interesting meaning to the story. The character of Alice may be modeled after the author Alice Munro because they have shared similar experiences between men. Apparently, the author had been through a divorce and many of the
Understanding there’s been a change in her body, Alice questions the probability that she might not be herself any longer. She believes she may have become someone else through the transformation, another typical child theory when growing up. If your appearance has changed, it may be likely that you’re not who you used to be, so of course, you must be someone else. This is also portrayed in the instance when she meets the Caterpillar. When asked, “Who are you?” by the Caterpillar, Alice honestly answers, “I hardly know”. The Caterpillar represents Alice as well, as it will also transform into something greater as it ages.
beginning of the book, into a rebel teenager who has let herself be influenced by friends.
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
In the book, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys, the formatting of the story supports a theme of identity. There are multiple formats that support the theme. The first being the narration in which the story is written in; first person. The reader is allowed to experience the story through the main character’s eyes, Charlie Gordon. Charlie is a 32 year old man with an abnormally low I.Q of 68. In order to increase his mental capacities, he is the first human to have his intelligence increased by surgery. Secondly, is the formatting of the book in chronological order. While undergoing this surgery, Charlie must write progress reports, each labeled with their own date. The first progress report is written on March 3rd. The last progress report is written on November 21st. It gives the reader a sense of time and progression. And lastly, is the author’s writing style of changing Charlie’s spelling, grammar, and punctuation in his progress reports. Each report is written according to his level of intelligence at the time. In the beginning of the book Charlie has not been surgically changed, and therefore, his spelling, grammar, and punctuation is poor. However, this later changes dramatically.
Dilemmas happen everyday. Some dilemmas can be good, and some can be bad. A dilemma is a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives. In the story, Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes wrote a story about a 37 year old man named Charlie who has a disability, he doesn't understand thing that normal people can. He then is encouraged by his teacher to get a surgery done to become smarter. Some people think that the surgery was a good idea,or some think it was a bad idea. In my opinion, I think that Charlie made the wrong decision about the surgery. Some people think that Charlie should of have the operation to make his dream come true In my opinion, I think he shouldn't have had the surgery because, people weren't expecting him to be new, it would not be permanent, and he put his life in danger.
How do we lose our childish way of seeing the world? How can we suddenly they see the world as it is, in all its evil? ‘The Flowers’ is a story about a young girl who goes through an experience that forces her into changing her way of seeing life, and it presents themes like growing up and loss of innocence.
In Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist, identity is connected to one’s social standing. The characters behaviour and personalities are ways for the characters to not face their actual selves. Jonson gives the characters “double identities” to fool the others and those “double identities” prevent the characters from improving and changing their internal selves (behaviours and personalities). In The Alchemist, fantasies can lead to the loss of personal identities and will cause trouble that will come with consequences.
After someone accepts what he or she have become, that someone and his or her family must deal with it. The rest of the story depicts one's life after this turning point.
She becomes very reactive and unapologetic. Her final step in harming her marriage is stonewalling. Alice starts to pull away from Michael and his love. He wants to help her, but she is not ready to accept that yet. She makes is difficult for the entire family to heal by doing this. She becomes withdrawn and pushes away those who love her. These things are very are very apparent in this couple’s relationship.