Sunday, November 9, 2014

Identity is all in perception

Upon debating with some of my fellow students, I have come to more questions than answers when it comes to the issue of what makes up a human identity. Truly, my belief is that identity is shaped by society's perception of a specific mannerism or stereotype attributed to a race. Because identity is what a person believes he or she is, in the physical and mental state, and can only be identified by pondering on what outside influences have shaped that person to be.

After some thinking, I concluded that once society begins its rampage on a victim, from the time of childbirth, that victim will begin to believe whatever they are told to be true, including what others perceive that child as.  Soon enough, the victim starts to define important characteristics such as beauty, humor, and morality and associate these qualities with others and not themselves.

For example, in a passage from The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison (the author) creates an admirable scenario in which she clearly highlights that the oppressed can in fact learn to oppress others by taking their own diffidence and forcing it onto a weaker object.

" 'They are ugly. They are weeds.' " (Morrison 50) says the victim.
This situation is ironic because the reader would expect the main character, Pecola, to be compassionate because society has perceived her to be ugly, but she instead is critical of "them" (them being dandelions) because she has determined what society's definition of beauty must be true.

This just shows that the hypocrisy of society can influence even the most victimized member. In the end, Morrison claims that the oppressed themselves can be the oppressor to those who are inferior, forcing an identity onto an individual who is vulnerable to injustice.


1 comment:

  1. I like how to connected the dandelions to your claim. I feel like some oppressed have to find a way to release their frustrations and as a result, it leads to a situation where the oppressed himself/herself oppresses another.

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