Scott Westerfeld Finding One's Identity

This novel was set during the post war period, this was a time when independence and rebelling against parents and law was more important than doing the right thing, during these times of independence, and teenagers needed friendship more than anything else.

In Uglies by Westerfeld, the main character, Tally goes through changes through out the book, like Tally’s decision on becoming a pretty and her choice of going to the Smoke. Tally Youngblood is the protagonist in the novel Uglies. Throughout the story, Tally Youngblood experiences a lot of changes. As Tally’s character experience these changes, her perspective on turning pretty had changed while meeting Shay helped Tally become more rebellious.

An identity of an individual may not conveyed to everyone in society, and they may possess unexpected qualities and skills. Throughout Finding Forrester, Jamal, the main character from the Bronx, meets a man who turns out to be William Forrester; a famous author. Jamal is intrigued to writing and is a skilled writer, enough to get him transferred from the public school to a private school. Jamal frequently visits William at his apartment that he never leaves to discusses literature and write papers. In the visits, Jamal and William discover each other's true identities through their writings. Jamal´s professor accuses him of plagiarism for using writing from Forrester, but is saved by William when he says he had permission to use his work. This moment shows the relationship they built by showing their true identity to each other. In the movie, Finding Forrester, a message displayed is that identity can be revealed through stereotypical based conflicts, and by individuals stereotyping another without further knowledge of their background.

What is personal identity? This question has been asked and debated by philosophers for centuries. The problem of personal identity is determining what conditions and qualities are necessary and sufficient for a person to exist as the same being at one time as another. Some think personal identity is physical, taking a materialistic perspective believing that bodily continuity or physicality is what makes a person a person with the view that even mental things are caused by some kind of physical occurrence. Others take a more idealist approach with the belief that mental continuity is the sole factor in establishing personal identity holding that physical things are just reflections of the mind.

The story is based on her life, how she meets new friends, and about her journey to “The Smoke.” In the book she shows three main traits. She's very caring, she demonstrates this when she tells Shay to be careful on her trip to “The Smoke.” Tally also helps David look for his parents. Another value she shows is a bad example, she exhibits a non-trustworthy person because she tells Dr. Cable all about “The Smoke.” She is also not fair due to her giving up “The Smoke,” that wasn't fair because other people lived there and they deserved to be happy, even though she did it by accident. Those are the main traits that she

The Novel The Outsiders reveals that it is the “real” and “raw” moments the define an individual as human. In these moments of authentic and selfless love the attributes of individual become more definitive then social class, or reputation. Through examining Dallas Winston and his love for Johnny and Randy’s emotional encounter with Pony boy Hinton’s most haunting and enduring argument become evident, that self discovery imposed by love and loss has no sides but the outside.

Most people strive to belong, to be someone or part of something important. People all around you experience different ways of belonging, such as cliques or social class. Others who are excluded, are simply left as outsiders, forced to make up their own groups, maybe just because of where they live, how much money they have, and the items they have and do not have. This is the case in author S.E. Hinton’s prominent novel The Outsiders. Within this well known book is a 2 week story of 14 year old Ponyboy, as he learns to mature in his rough, poor, East side neighborhood while also dealing with most of the rich, stuck up, West side kids known as the Socs. To rival the Socs are the Greasers, a tight-knit gang that includes many East side teens that have become almost like brothers to each other. Throughout this novel, Ponyboy learns many life lessons, while facing multiple obstacles and overcoming his own inner problems to finally realize a bigger picture in the end. S.E. Hinton focused deeply on symbolism to display these multiple themes.

In the 2009 novel Jasper Jones, written by Craig Silvey, an obvious theme of belonging emerges from the text. This story is set in a fictional small Australian town known as Corrigan, where many of its residents struggle to feel a connection with others and wish to move to the city, or any other place with more potential for success. While it is a key value that is demonstrated by Silvey throughout the text, it is clear that there are many disturbances within the community that prevent many from feeling a sense of belonging. Many of the Understanding each of Silvey’s characters personal idea on the concept of belonging is easy once it is determined who does not fit in. Each character represents a unique form of desire for human connection.

The Outsiders is a story regarding the privation and accomplishments experienced by the Greasers and the Socs, two rival gangs living in the inner city in the early 1960’s. The novel The Outsiders is about two groups of teenagers of bitter rivalry which was due to socio-economic differences.The Outsiders takes us through a journey of violence, struggle and death. It examines the life of a recently orphaned young man born into poverty confronted with the prejudices that he could not change. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his conflicts between the lower and the upper class youths and struggles and with the right and wrong in a society in which he considers himself an outsider. The society is divided in two groups Greasers and Socs, ‘Greasers’ are those who are from East side and belongs to a poor section of the society and ‘Socs’ a short word for society used in the novel, means those who are from West side and belongs to a richer section of a society. The greasers and Socs also have somethings in common like Cherry Valance, a member of Socs, and Ponyboy Curtis, a geaser discuss their love for literature, for popular music, and sunsets. A view of honorable action appears throughout the novel, which works as an important element of the geasers behavioral code.

“The functions of intellect are insufficient and useless if you are without courage, love, friendship, compassion, and empathy,” says a quote by Dean Koontz. Throughout S.E. Hinton’s book The Outsiders, there are many themes that she conveys in the book as she narrates the experiences of a greaser named Ponyboy who is a member of the Social group (Socs). Ponyboy meets many people and witnesses many difficult situations throughout the book. This inspirational book teaches the reader crucial lessons that are very important for everyone, even if their lives are not anything like Ponyboy’s. Three important themes in the book include friendship, courage and empathy.

How much do people base their lives off of survival rather than living in the moment? In the novel Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, many characters lives revolve around this. In the novel, many characters often mention that survival is insufficient, so much that they do not find a point in life. The author uses memories of Kirsten to signify hope and resilience. Kirsten’s memories are not just a symbol of hope and comfort; as Kirsten moves from being an afraid person to a woman who is strong and seeks hope, the author uses Kirsten’s symbolic memories to demonstrate how experiences from one’s past can define one’s identity.

As homo- sapiens, we have been designed to question our reason for existing. What have we contributed to our society? Who will we become in the future? And most importantly, we question what makes us who we are. Identity is not what we look like, who our parents were, or the grades we make. However, identity is defined as a distinguishing characteristic or personality of an individual, which is established by psychological identification. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses the antithesis between Mildred isolating herself from the outside world, and masking her true unhappiness, and Clarisse, who is considered “unsociable” for asking real questions such as whether or not Montag is in love or happy, to demonstrate the theme of the importance of discovering your identity.

As humans, we normally grasp onto certain characteristics that gives us a unique identity. In the pieces “The Outsiders”, “The Green Killer”, and “Cutting of My Long Hair” we see characters that each have an identity influenced by their surroundings. In accordance to the article “Ponyboy Curtis”, “Thus Ponyboy’s experiences, as he transforms from misfit to criminal to hero, represent both his own coming-of-age and a hopeful commentary on the need for tolerance and social justice” (Hinton 1). It is described that he not only changes from an outsider into the class-bridging hero of the story. Ponyboy changes his perception on how society judges people based on factors such as social class, appearance, and wealth.

A Journey to Acceptance: A Comparative Analysis of Eden Robinson’s “Traplines” and Joseph Boyden’s The Orenda Humans tend to have the instinctive desire to belong and be a significant member of something greater than themselves. This sense of belonging is usually provided by family; but what happens when this vital component of an individual’s development is flawed? The main characters in “Traplines” by Eden Robinson and The Orenda by Joseph Boyden suffer from this exact predicament.

Caitlin initially begins to transition through her increased understanding that her own values do not align with the constrictions of her social context. The listing of segments of her impeccable uniform,“tartan skirt/… clean white blouse/… shine my shoes” coupled with the disparaging tone embodied in “feel like a real dork” paints an incongruous image of the surface prestige she exemplifies compared to the dissatisfaction she feels on the inside. Despite her claims to not share the same judgements as other people in her social class, when she is confronted with the reality of homelessness, she cannot cope and runs away, “ And i stay in the shadows/watching/ billy and the old man... I turn and run to school without ever leaving the shadows”. The repetition of “shadows” exemplifies how the physical shadow leach into the figurative with the second mention being a metaphor of her worldview in conjunction with the use of enjambment in