The Loss Of Identity In Ferris Bueller

Wide eyed and bushy tailed, we begin our lives as impressionable adolescents on a journey to find out who we are. Though we may not realize it in the moment, we go through the stages of life one step at a time while making countless memories along the way. But there is always one memory in particular, a moment that we can look back on that remains near and dear to our hearts forever. Whether it be a night out with close friends, a funny moment at the lunch table, or an impactful life event that effected you or your loved ones- we have changed from it, grown from it, and thus it has played a significant role in shaping our identities. An important factor of this has to do with our environment, but more closely, our experiences. In Ferris Bueller’s

Day Off, Ferris endeavors in an elaborate plan to skip school and ventures out into the “real world” with his best friend and girlfriend. While philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah believes that we are a culmination of collective identities that are out of our control, Ferris Bueller proves that the needs of the individual surpass those of the collective persons and that finding one’s identity requires following your own path with an open mind and heart to attain a greater self-understanding of the world at large.
Ferris Bueller has a certain self-understanding that makes him confident in everything that he does.

While every student in his school carries on with their daily routine, Ferris decides that there is no harm in taking a day of leisure and fun to do whatever he likes. Ferris Bueller’s day defies Appiah’s argument stating “one thing that matters to people across many societies is a certain narrative unity, the ability to tell a story that hangs together” (73). Appiah is arguing in a sense that one’s individual identity should tie in with the rest of society. Though it is agreeable that Ferris’ day is far-fetched spur of the moment, this individual experience of his proves that conformity is not the only way to find one’s identity. Ferris understands the risk of missing school but believes the risk is outweighed by the benefits of exploring the social world in which he can learn first hand what skills and knowledge that a classroom cannot provide him

with.
Ferris Bueller has a sense of self worth that allows him to be open minded to world. He is so sure of himself and of his plans, that he is even able to persuade his deeply depressed and sickly best friend Cameron to accompany him. Ferris acts as a type of mentor not only by making Cameron get out of his comfort zone, and adventure into New York City with him, but also by helping him find it within himself to break past his emotional wall. Galileo Galilei once said “You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself” (goodreads). Ferris’ ability to mentor Cameron did just that, and in turn made him feel not only more confident with himself, but more valuable as a friend and in his ability to help others. Ferris’ mindset closely resembles Galileo’s as he relates, “A person should not believe in an ism- they should believe in themselves.” Ferris points out that seeking out and taking on new adventures and experiences adds more value to the individual self.
Ferris sets himself apart from his peers in his ability to recognize personally gratifying experiences. Ferris acknowledges that high school is merely a small time in one’s life, part of a much greater and kinder experience. Although education is important, in the grand scheme of things, his choice to be self-reliant and acquaint himself with experiences outside the classroom setting, gives him more fulfillment and enjoyment. Perhaps this is non-conformist approach, but had he not allowed himself this type of gratification, his identity would not have come full circle. backs up his argument that humans make up a collective identity by referencing Mills mention that humans are “familiar with the fact of cooperating with others and proposing to themselves a collective, not an individual interest as the aim . . . of their actions” (75). However, Ferris has already made up his mind to skip school before having consulted with Cameron or Sloane. This action was an individual decision that did not require the affirmation of his friends or peers.
Ferris’s identity is also distinguished through his ability to recognize an opportunity when he sees it. The movie takes off once Ferris parents leave for work so that he can begin his day. He opens the windows, exclaiming “How could I possibly handle school on a day like this?!” His exclamation speaks rather symbolically to the idea of real world experience versus school experience. He wants to “take the day” off from school as an opportunity to gain more solid life experiences and create memories with his friends. High school is a time of firsts and moments that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Ferris makes sure that during his day off, he will not conform to ideas of his teachers, telling him to not skip school, or the ideas of his peers who believe what he is doing is impossible. By living in the moment, he is not “looking for himself” per say, but his identity comes naturally as a result.
Pushing through the restrictions that society places upon him, Ferris sets and follows his agenda as he sees fit.

Throughout the day, he has the accompaniment of his friends, though he is in not reliant on them. Appiah believes, “We are social in many ways and for many reasons: because we desire company, because we depend on one another for survival, because so much that we care about is collectively created” (71). Though Appiah makes a valid point, it is not always the case especially in Ferris Bueller’s life. Ferris’s friends are considered more of accessories than vital people that define his character and he is anything but dependent. For instance, when Ferris becomes the main attraction at the New York City parade, his friends had nothing to do with it, and did not shape his decision to go through with it in any way. This stunt was entirely his own doing. Ferris is clearly a very independent character, whose actions are not consulted by his friends. That is not to say that he does not enjoy his friends’ company, rather he is not dependent on it for his identity

formation.
Finally, Ferris Bueller defy’s Appiah’s belief that we are all affiliates of a collective society by taking on the responsibility and having an insatiable desire to form his own memories in his four short years of high school. Rather than having a boring meal at the cafeteria lunch table, Ferris finds himself a seat under the reservation of “the sausage king of Chicago” at New York’s finest, Chez Quis; rather than spending his free period studying, Ferris becomes the main singer in a parade. Ferris is a free spirit who constantly pushes his limits in hopes that some good memories will result. Given that Ferris has had a total of 9 absences in that year alone, maybe each of those days accounted for the times he had been trying to find his identity. Perhaps Ferris breaks away form the conventional way of completing high school because he believes that that is what is holding him back from finding his true self. No matter which way they go about it, high school is where some people finally grow into themselves and figure out what they want to do for the rest of their lives or who they want to be. High school, in his case, and in the case of most students his age is the “collective. Appiah declares, “[collective identities] are constituted in part by socially transmitted conceptions of how a person of that identity properly behaves” (72). Some would argue that Ferris is a rebel for skipping school so many times in one year, but the conceptions associated with a rebel are not of Ferris’s nature. For instance, one may associate a rebel to be someone who has several tattoos and piercings--someone more closely identified with Charlie Sheen’s character, the boy at the police station. However, Ferris never affiliates himself with a particular “collective identity,” because he is an individual, regardless of the titles that society may label him with.
Ferris Bueller defy’s Kwame Anthony Appiah’s belief that we are a culmination of collective identities that are out of our control, in that he sees the needs of the individual to exceed those of the collective society, and that finding one’s identity requires following a path that strays from the crowd. In doing so with an open mind and heart, one can achieve a greater self-understanding of the world at large. Ferris has an unbelievable sense of self-understanding and self worth that gives him the confidence to stray out of society’s limitations. He sets his own agenda, and essentially makes the world his oyster. He takes advantage of every opportunity with an open mind and understands that even though there is a cost to not going to school, the end result will be more beneficial to him alone, apart from the rest of the students. Ferris is a prime example of individuality because he doesn’t believe that anything is out of reach, so long as you believe in your abilities to make it happen.