Ryan Boden

1/27/12

First Year Seminar

Questions on Identity

1. I noticed that at the beginning of the book Marjane seemed to be confident in her convictions having declared that she was going to be a prophet at such an early age, but as the story goes on I think that she begins to conform and retaliate against those to wrong her. (ie. Chasing after the boy with nails between her fingers) As the story closes, though, Marjane realizes, once again, the importance of staying true to one’s self and shifts character again. She realizes this after speaking with her grandma before she leaves for Austria and when she feels as if God is no longer there. I believe that there are many physical parts of her identity that she cannot control such as the family she was born into or when her birthday is, but I think that identity is defined more by internal factors such as how one responds to a situation or how much compassion a person can give. 

2. Personally, my identity is something that is very important to me. I feel that it is all we truly have. I got the words “Born This Way” tattooed on the inside of my finger to represent the idea that who I am goes above all else and staying true to my personal vision and loving who I am is more important than anyone else’s opinion of me. I believe that there are controllable factors in our identity (another reason why I got the tattoo was because I believe in the idea that birth is not finite, it is infinite. I can be re-born again and again until I become the person I am ultimately destined to or truly want to be) but there are some components that aren’t alterable. We cannot change our family, our birthday, or our sexual orientation, but I believe that those physical factors make up only a fraction of our identity on a larger scale and what is more important is how we treat people and how much love we give. Decisions we make are also part of who we are and you can always use your actions to change or help you become who you’ve always wanted to be.