Identity

Matt Fetske

9/10/14

Professor Rasheda Young

Writing Skills

“Identity”

 

Identity is defined as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”. That means identity is what makes you, you and not someone else. Identity is composed of many different factors, such as, your language, your physical appearance, your morals, and your actions. Once you identify what identity you would like to become, you should ask yourself why it matters.  Well, identity is important as you make it. You may choose to embrace certain aspects of your identity above others, or you may not fully comprehend your identity yet and still find new stuff about yourself as life progresses. It is important to find your identity because once you do you will realize where you really belong. We will see this with Gloria Anzadua and James McBride's writings.  

There is a lot of debate on what makes up your identity, whether it is your skin color, the language you speak, or even your thoughts and morals that impact it the most. I believe most people try to identify others by their language. As Gloria Anzadua points out in her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” people have always told her she must change the way she speaks and that her current dialectic is flawed. Whether they are right or wrong in telling her this, she identifies with her new language and in turn feels more comfortable, proud, and powerful in doing what she wants. She also points out that her language has a colorful history and Gloria feels like she experiences the history first hand when speaking the language. Others identified her by her language and as a result her identity became her language and that is important to her.

On the other hand, in James McBride’s novel “The Color of Water” the main characters mother rejects her identity as a black woman and wants to be disassociated with African American culture. When her son asks about his family’s history she ignores the heart of the question and directs the answer elsewhere.  So she does not find identity in race but she focused on her identity as a mother. She sends the children to the best schools around; she works a lot to provide for her children, and sends them to church to make them better humans. This shows that your identity is not given at birth, but it is what you make it. That is important because it shows you that you can become whatever you want be and become happier as you get closer to your ideal identity.

In both these accounts of authors finding their identity, it is important to show that they gain something from their realization of it. Whether it’s an important language or a happy family, it was important to each to find. And it should be important to everyone so they have something they care about. But to the people like Anzadua who find a specific part of their identity superior to other parts of it, must not forget get about the other parts. The other parts that make up your identity must be acknowledged so you know yourself as much as possible. Identity is made up of your own traits and without different identities the world would be filled with the same people.