Why Is It So Important to Look for the True Identity?

The term “identity” refers to a person’s individuality. All people have their own self identifications which make them different from others. Simply, the identity makes who you are. Some people just know their identities in the first place without searching for one, and some other people have troubles looking for their identities. Those who are confused about their identities usually want and force them to find their "true" identities. True identity refers to a person's realness. For instance, a person could be identified as a black to others because of his skin color, but he could be also classified as an American if he doubtlessly believes that his true identity is American. In literatures, many characters are portrayed as people who are so eager to look for their true self. Each novel illustrates the characters’ difficulty of searching for their realness and the importance of the true self and the process of looking for it.

Things Fall Apart characterizes Nwoye who suffers from an internal conflict of self-identification. Growing up as an eldest son under his masculine father, Okonkwo, Nwoye had to face a struggle which he had to please his father by acting and behaving like him. Since Okonkwo despised his father, Unoka, so he didn’t want himself to be like his father and he also doesn’t want his eldest son to be like his father. However, Nwoye is actually an opposite side of Okonkwo’s manliness. Nwoye indeed enjoyed his mother’s story of folktales and even preferred it more than his father’s story of war. Whenever he does anything feminine, which makes his father dissatisfied, Okonkwo uses physical abuses to Nwoye to make him awaken about masculinity. Nevertheless, he does not want to be like Okonkwo since that is not hi...

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...l identity of Oscar and Lola shows in the novel, but in the end, they did not find their specific identities of a country, and eventually they lacked the acceptance of both countries. The importance of searching for true identity that was described in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is sometimes the true identity gives a sense of belongings and acceptance to race and ethnicity.

These literatures give a lesson about the importance of exploration of true identity. Things Fall Apart showed the advantage of serenity, as a result of accomplishing true identity by characterizing Nwoye’s life under his abusive father. In the other hand, Giovanni’s Room and Redefining Realness displayed that true identity would lead to refreshing life with a new start, and The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao demonstrated the identity as culture, which feels an attachment.