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"You wake up, put makeup on

Stare in the mirror but its clear that

you can"t face what's wrong

No need to fix what God Already

put his paint brush on"

- J. Cole

In this song by the artist J. Cole, he conveys the struggle to discover one's identity, specifically a female's identity in this verse. J. Cole points out the problem of people not being able to face who they really are and accepting their true selves. Through the use of makeup, people may try to mask or cover or recreate who they are when what they truly are lies beneath it all. These lyrics not only address the physical aspect of identity but the mental aspect. Struggling with ones physical identity/appearance often times goes much deeper to reveal an inner battle, trying to decide who you are. J. Cole is emphasizing the importance of not depending on material and worldly items to define who you are. No matter how much makeup, money, or clothes you have, you are still simply you in the end.

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"And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall like the ashes of cigarettes
And every wave drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question, "Is everyone here make-believe?"
With a tear in His voice, He says, "Son, that's the question."
Does this deafening silence mean nothing to no one but me?"

- Mayday Parade

This song by Mayday Parade can be looked at as a very complex song, just as life is complex. The whole song centers around the author basically looking from answers first from his girlfriend who just broke up with him and God. When the girlfriemd doesn't give him the answers he wants from her, he then turns to God and really shows his vulnerability. At the quoted section of the song, the author is sitting on the beach and he has this epihpany that this life he's living is actually real. For a lot of people, there are just these moments where you come to understand the reality and the intricacy of life, and it flabbergasts you that something so beautiful in all its tragic glory could actually exist. This is when he looks to God for the answers, just searching for the reassurance that we’re all pawns on his giant chess board. And when he’s not answered to his satisfaction immediately, he wonders if he’s the only one who isn’t content not knowing. But God actually does want him to find reassurance in him and only him. When he finally acknowledges God, that's when he realizes that hs true identity is actually IN God, not some girl. He then finally grasps this crazy concept of life. That is realizing that he’s never truly going to understand, but he has to trust in God’s plan.

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"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end."

-Nick in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Though the story is told through Nick's point of view, the story is about Gatsby, and trying to discover who he really is. Gatsby has a mysterious past to begin with, but we know that he has been split apart from his love, Daisy, and ever since, he has been chasing her, or the idea of her. He is so consumed with finding Daisy that he has lost himself, and hides behind an image that he has created for himself,  this rich, confident, stable minded character, when in reality, he is almost the complete opposite when Daisy's name is brought up. Fitzgerald poses the argument that we are not only a product of our environment (Gatsby is corrupt like the people he associates with) but we are what we make ourselves (in Gatsby's case, rich and delusional).

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"You don't have to be a good person to be a hero. You just have to know who you are and stay true to that. So I'm going to keep fighting for people the only way I ever knew how. By being me."

-Vriska / Andrew Hussie's "Homestuck"

Throughout the entirety of the webcomic by Andrew Hussie, Vriska's character slowly builds from a trolling.. troll(alien troll), to an girl who is lax with morals in order to protect people and get things done. At this quote's point in the story, a critical point has been reached in which, while her help is needed, she has very little trust from others due to past actions and current projects. However, she is embracing this fact that she may never be a "good" person, but that she has specific skills and knowledge that enables her to facilitate everyone else towards a common goal. Hussie specifically designs her to be annoying, overpowering, and majority of the time a cheater and occasional murderer, but her journey and the relationships she builds with other characters both human and troll transform her from a mindless, revenge-game-driven role playing tween to a mature teen who recognizes that no matter what kind of person you are, everyone has a proper place and time in a story, and no one is unimportant.

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"People live their lives bound by what they accept

as correct and true. That's how they define "reality".

But what does it mean to be "correct" or "true"? Merely

vague concepts ... their "reality" may all be a mirage. Can

we consider them to simply be living in their own world, shaped

by their own beliefs?"

-Itachi Uchiha (Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto)

Kishimoto's character Itachi Uchiha spent much of his early years

living in peace and happiness, but his reality was shattered after he

was ordered to murder his entire family, causing his idyllic existence to

abruptly end. He must now face the true world as he sees it, a world of

violence, plotting, murder, and sin. In his eyes, the previous existence that

he cherished was nothing but a mirage to cover the ugly truth of life. In many

ways, Itachi's situation mirrors our own. We inhabit a brutal world that experiences

countless negative things, ranging from death, to famine, to heartbreak, on a daily basis,

and yet everyone still manages to wake up the next day and go on, because our own existence

is free from many of these things. However, it is in our darkest hours of pain and sorrow that the

cracks in our reality start to appear, and we glimpse through them into the darkness, and we realize

the insignificance of our small, happy world in comparison to the real world that waits just beyond the horizon.

It is in these moments that true character is found. We can either succumb to the darkness and sadness and collapse

into ourselves, losing everything, or we can do as Itachi did and construct a new reality, find a new purpose, or discover

some new way to keep moving on, for it is in our greatest moments of pain that true strength is found.

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"Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever's worst. Perfection is a disease of a nation. We try to fix something but you can't fix something you can't see. It's the soul that needs the surgery."

Pretty hurts by Beyoncé knowles is saying that we hide behind our appearance to forget what's hurting us on the inside. We get lost and the only way we can fix ourselves is by realizing that our soul is what needs to be fixed and the only way we can really be set free to be ourselves is accepting ourselves and fixing our souls within. We don't have to be ashamed of who we are or hide behind what other people think we are

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“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.” -Chuck Palahniuk

In this quote by Palahniuk he explains that who he is, is not simply who he chose to be himself. Anyone that he has ever encountered and every situation he has been in, is what created the person he is. I believe that along with Palahniuk, we as people are never meant to be one person. There are certain scenarios and situations and even people that we encounter that change who we are in a significant way, they change the way we think, the way we approach things. Although in a way we have control of who we are by who we choose to surround ourselves with but in the end, without the decisions made in the past, there is no telling who we would be and what would have and will become of us.

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"Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret

of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school,

by teachers and classmates alike." pg. 45

-Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

In this novel, the author creates the main character, Pecola Breedlove as a

young female who can only see herself as ugly and undeserving. One of the

ways that Pecola is able to escape the reality that she is indeed ugly to those

around her, is by dreaming of having blue eyes and looking like Shirley Temple,

as she sees those characteristics as defining beauty. During the novel, Pecola is

raped by Cholly her father. When Pecola's mother returns home she doesn't

believe Pecola's story and beats her. Once Pecola is impregnated by her father

she is raped a second time and then loses the baby due to it being born prematurely.

Cholly, Pecola's father later dies when he runs away.

This overwhelming shift in plot causes Pecola to become mad towards the end of

the book. So, since Pecola goes through many psychological struggles

in the novel and allows for those around her to define how

she ends up, which was psychologically disturbed, I believe that Toni Morrison is

emphasizing that a person has a choice in how they find their identity. They can rely

on their past to identify them, or they can create their own identity. For Pecola, she

identified herself based on how others identified her and strived to be someone she wasn't.

Thus, she wasn't true to herself and wasn't able to fully answer the

question "who am I". She answered "What do others think of me?" which led to her

own psychological downfall.

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“Steven: Everyone expects me to be like my mom. What if I never get those powers?”-
Steven Universe (Episode: Indirect Kiss)

“Steven: There are other Gems out there that want us dead because
they think we're traitors. And they tried to take me hostage because they think
I'm my mom. And maybe I kinda am? *sigh* I wish I could talk to Garnet,
Amethyst, and Pearl about it, but I think they kinda blame me for my mom not
being around.”- Steven Universe (Episode: Joy Ride)

“Pearl: [to Steven] Sometimes, you even sound like her. Do you remember this place? Do you have any of her memories?”- Steven Universe (Episode: Rose’s Scabbard)

“Rose: Isn't it remarkable, Steven? This world is full of so many possibilities. Each
living thing has an entirely unique experience. The sights they see, the sounds
they hear. The lives they live are so complicated... a-and so simple. I can't
wait for you to join them. Steven, we can't both exist. I'm going to become
half of you. And I need you to know that every moment you love being yourself,
that's me, loving you and loving being you. Because you're going to be
something extraordinary. You're going to be a human being.”- Steven Universe
(Episode: Lion 3: Straight to Video)

Steven Universe is a show about a team of magical beings
called the Crystal Gems. On the team, there is a little boy name Steven who is
a half-human, half-Gem. At first glance, this show may seem like nothing more
than a cute kids show about magical adventures, but when you take the time to
delve, you discover that there is much more to this cartoon. After watching a
couple episodes, you will learn that there used to be another member to the
team, but she wasn’t just a member, she was the leader of the Crystal Gems. Her
name was Rose Quartz, and not only was she the leader of the Crystal Gems, she
was also Stevens’ mom, but she gave up her physical form to bring Steven into
the world.

Because of this, Steven is constantly faced with this
question of “who he is” and “who he’s supposed to be”. Not only is he constantly
trying to find a balance between being a human and being a gem, but he also has
the huge burden on his back of having to be compared to his mom all the time. His
mom was the leader of the team, and Stevens got to live with the pressure of
knowing that Rose is gone because of him. Steven is constantly trying to
improve his powers in order to become a vital member of the team like his mom
was, but often times, this leads to him feeling disappointed in himself when he
feels like his human side is holding him back. Sometimes he just doesn’t know
who he is or what he’s supposed to do.

But later on in the show, Steven finds a video tape from
his mother, and in that tape, Rose explains to Steven the wonders of being a
living thing. She tells Steven that, rather than holding him back, being a
human is actually what makes him so extraordinary. Rose also tells Steven that
“every living thing has an entirely unique experience”, and by saying this, she
enforces the fact that Steven is not expected to be his mother, he is going to
have his own life experiences that will shape him into the person he is meant
to be. I think this is the author’s way of trying to show the audience that
everyone in this world is beautiful, and that life is not about trying to live
up to anyone expectations. We are all human beings. That is the answer to the
question “who am I”, I am a human being, a remarkable, extraordinary human
being.

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"My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them." --The Monster, Frankenstein. The journey to self-discovery is never an easy one, whether the person undertaking it is a witless traveler tasked with spying on a prince or a giant of mismatched parts made in the first mad scientist's lab. Like all good authors, Mary Shelley is aware of this and uses it to her advantage. The Monster is created only to be immediately abandoned by his maker, left without explanation, basic language, or even a name. He travels the country and overtime acquires the first two, but the last is never given to him, and because of this and the lack of identity it represents, the Monster never truly becomes his own person. He learns, but he doesn't grow. Instead, he exists, as a person, in a void. His sole goal in life ends up being to get revenge against his creator, and once the latter is dead, the Monster has no reason to live. Had the Monster had a name, he would have had the chance to control his life and form his own goals and desires outside of his creator. Through his story, Mary Shelley is able to present the argument that one's name is what makes them an individual, and lacking it, they have no hope but to suffer from fate.

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"People often say this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates."

-Thomas Szasz

Most people are confused as to who they really because they're looking for themselves. But what Szasz realizes is that looking for yourself is a waste of time because as life goes on you build yourself into being whoever you wish to be. You can be whoever you want to be because you create the person you want to be whether that's someone who is popular and loved or someone is reserved and quiet, it's all up to you.

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"Let it go, let it go. Turn away and slam the door. I don't care what they're going to say. Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway"

-Idina Menzel, Frozen

During this song Elsa finally accepts who she is and feels free to release her power to the fullest potential. Throughout her life she was taught to conceal, don’t feel and had to limit herself. Because of that she was scared and ashamed of her powers, but now she finally answers the question “who am I?” and sees that she doesn’t have to be scared anymore.

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"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment"

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson is saying that everyone's true identities lie within themselves. True identity is determined by one's choices and morals. One gets caught up in the whims of society and is constantly changing themselves in order to gain approval. It's not that finding one's true identity is hard, its maintaining it that is a constant battle. Remain true to yourself and do what you feel is best for your well-being in order to maintain your true identity. We all know who we are, its just a subconscious thing.

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"Whatever life holds In store for me, I will never forget these words: with great power comes great responsibility. This is my gift, my curse. Who a I? I'm Spiderman."

Peter Parker "Spiderman" (2002)

Stan Lee does a great job in creating superheroes with identity crises. In Spiderman's case, Peter Parker is faced with being a superhero crime-fighter and a normal college student struggling to find time for all aspects of his own life. He must pass his college courses or risk being kicked out, maintain a job to keep a roof over his head, and please the girl of his dreams all while serving the city of New York from villains, robbers, etc.

In the end Peter realizes that his powers are ultimately a gift to be used to protect lives and realizes the selfishness of living a normal life and wasting his powers.

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"Does anyone know what I want. You can start by calling me Carter not Lynden. Do you understand that I just got my entire life ripped from under me, my name is all I have left."

-Kathryn Prescott, Finding Carter

This quote is from the TV series Finding Carter. Which is about a girl Named Carter Stevens who was kidnapped by a women at three years old from her front lawn. Fourteen years later her birth parents finally find her and she is forced to live with them and change her whole life from what she has known for fourteen years. Carter's real name is Lynden but she will not except being called any other name but Carter. She struggles with her identity because the women she thought was her mother is not and she has a whole new life and family with siblings and does not know how to find herself again. She struggles with drugs and has issues with her birth parents in the search for herself. As she continues her search for herself she realizes certain things about herself, her family, and her kidnapper that changes Carter from finding herself to everyone else trying to find Carter. This causes identity lost in many characters in this series which is why it is a great example of characters figuring out who they are and what the purpose of a certain event happening. which is what the author truly wants to convey to the audience

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“When she f*cked up, all those years ago, just a little girl terrified into paralysis, she collapsed into the enigma of herself.”

Looking for Alaska, John Green

Sometimes people are characterized not by who they are, but rather by what has happened to them. In John Green’s novel Looking for Alaska, Alaska Young is a deeply complex character, viewed as erratic and broken, whose actions match that of a person unappreciative of life. Alaska is viewed as alluring and intriguing by the bland and normal narrator of the novel, Pudge. Her characterization is further emphasized by her haphazard actions, such as smoking faster than necessary and drinking whatever she feels like. But it isn’t until her past is delved into that the reader actually understand why she is the way she is, and ultimately, who she is. When the reader learns that Alaska saw her mother die at a very young age, it become clear why she acts so erratic. However the deeply important part about this news is not only a justification for Alaska Young, but also an explanation for all of us. We as people or as characters have no control over what happens to us, and because of that, we have very little control over whom we become. John Green explained Alaska by her past to illustrate the lack of control we are allocated in answering the question, “Who am I?” which hits as a stark reality of our existence.

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"I've just accepted what you said
Keepin' me among the dead
The only way to know
Is to walk then learn and grow
But faith is not your speed
Oh, you've had everyone believed
That you're the sole authority
Just follow the majority
Afraid to face reality
The system is a joke"

-I Get Out, Lauryn Hill

This quote is one of Lauryn Hill's many songs that speak on having an identity in the music industry. In the context of the song she is saying how the music industry has made people in the industry be someone that they are not and that they have accepted it as their own way. She is singing against this because has figured out who she is as an artist and says that she will not be held down by the chains of the music industry. She's answering the "Who am I" question by saying she can be whoever she wants to be, no matter who it is and that she is breaking out of the mindset that they have trained her to be in.

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"Don't lose who you are, in the blur of the stars
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It's okay not to be okay
Sometimes it's hard, to follow your heart
Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising,"

Jessie J -Who You Are

This song "Who You Are" by Jessie J refers to the struggles that she has had with staying true to herself while trying to please others. She urges people the ignore the the thoughts of others. Because those thoughts can manipulate your own and you will lose yourself. Although the lyrics apply to herself, it is also directed towards anyone who struggle to find who they are.

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"Even though I got my own CD,

Maybe even on tv

There ain't no changing me

I can only be me me me

Even though I might be on tv

Cause I got my own CD

All you will ever see

Same ol' G"

-Same ol' G by Ginuwine

When going from an average person to a famous singer, most to all artist experience an overwhelming time period when adapting to the fame. People think money changes people but it actually changes the around you. Ginuwine questions was becoming famous worth losing his old friends because of him gaining new celebrity friends causing him to go into a depression stage of his life. This song is about him explaining to his self and others that he went through a self realization period when he realizes that no matter what people say or how much money he makes, he is still the same Ginuwine.u

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"  “I am not the only one who sometimes thinks I came from the pages of a book my father wrote.

Maybe it’s like that for all boys of a certain —or uncertain— age: We feel as though there are no choices we’d made through all those miles and miles behind us that hadn't been scripted by our fathers, and that our futures are only a matter of flipping the next page that was written ahead of us.

I am not the only one who’s ever been trapped inside a book.”

- Andrew Smith, 100 sideways miles

In the book 100 Sideways Miles it combats the question of "Who am I?" through the point of view of a teenager who as a child suffered through a traumatizing accident that left him with epilepsy. Due to the main character Finn having lived the majority of his life with this disease he feels that it stops him from discovering who he is and who he is meant to be. He lets the disease define who he is for a long time. Until one day he decides it doesn't and sets out on a journey to find out who he is. despite his father and step mother trying to stop him and keep him at home where he's safe. On this journey he realizes he isn't just a boy with epilepsy and that he doesn't want to be known as that anymore. Near the end of the book he decides to do something different which leads him on the journey to find who he really is. Through all this the book is saying don't let things define you. Whether it be epilepsy or having your future mapped out. the things that define us aren't who we are, and finding out who we are can be difficult sometimes. All though it may feel as though are lives are mapped out for us that doesn't mean that, that is who we are. We have to find ourselves and not let other people decide that for us.

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The 24 Most Unforgettable Movie Quotes Of 2014

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I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd banish -- you know!

How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one's name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

~I'm nobody! Who Are You? - by Emily Dickinson

This poem addresses the question of if "I'm a nobody, you must be one, too." The poems acknowledges how people go throughout their day not knowing who they are. They wonder if people will like them. They are worried no one will see them for who they are. People are scared to show they really are because in this day and age people judge you without even knowing your name. Being a "nobody" in this world is seen as wrong and weird. The speaker in the story wants to know if there is someone out there who is like them. They don't want to be alone in this strange world. It would be boring if everyone is exactly the same. If everyone was the same, life would become "dreary." The speaker shows that they don't know who they are and want know if anyone else has the same feelings.

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“I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.” – Khalil Gibran, Poet and Author of The Prophet

These words make it very apparent that people are among this world for the sake of each other and that our identities are created based on the existence of other’s. Humanity establishes its unique selves in a constant cycle of individuals learning and teaching both simultaneously from one another and not realizing that either action is taking place. Also, if what Khalil says here is true, then identity and self is a concept very fragile to change and is constantly underdeveloped because we will forever meet new people and decide on new traits that lose and gain social acceptance rapidly. It is a mind-blowing thought that our greatest form of self-discovery comes from people who don’t themselves and will constantly be trying to figure it out. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can’t identify themselves due to the fact that the only possibility of doing so is evaluating each other when neither have anything to understand. It’s no wonder we are ungrateful for this idea, not only does it not always work, but we can’t recognize it when it does. So we will all continue on mustering our personalities and qualities based on the aspects of those we spend the most effort avoiding… puzzling.

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"In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her. This may seem like a ponderous weight of wisdom to descend upon the soul of a young woman of twenty-eight—perhaps more wisdom than the Holy Ghost is usually pleased to vouchsafe to any woman.
But the beginning of things, of a world especially, is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing. How few of us ever emerge from such beginning! How many souls perish in its tumult!
The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation.
The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace."

-Kate Chopin, The Awakening

This excerpt from Kate Chopin's , The Awakening is a perfect example of someone on the verge of self-discovery. Edna Pontellier is a women who lives in early society where women are expected to meet certain standards, behave a certain way, and have certain expectations. Though in her day and age this a practice that is expected to be followed , Pontellier feels as if there is more to her than just being another typical woman in her society. This quote embarks her journey to self-discovery. Chopin mentions how the road of finding oneself is a difficult, confusing, and heavy experience that people go through when trying to answer the question, "Who am I?" Many people end up with quite the opposite of finding themselves, rather destroying themselves in the process. The excitement and passion in discovering yourself is something that pulls you in and draws you to it. Knowing that when you figure out who you are there is a since of freedom and a since of purpose and importance; however when trying to reach these things it can consume a person and leave them lifeless. In Edna Pontellier's case that is exactly what happened to her. Her attempt to reach self-fulfillment and self-discovery eventually lead to her suicide. The message in this quote is that finding yourself can be an exciting journey but there must be enough control to not let the adventure consume you in the end.

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"I am not the special... I'm just a regular ordinary guy."

Chris Pratt (Emmet), The Lego Movie

*NOTE* Major spoilers are in this.

For those of you who have seen the Lego movie you understand the quote and its meaning around the plot. Emmet is an ordinary guy living in an ordinary world with everyone else the same. With all of this it becomes difficult to understand what makes him different than they guy or gal next to him. Even after he is told he is something special he cant believe it because he has been living in an ordinary life for so long. It takes many events for Emmet to finally realize he is special.

In many ways Emmet is like a lot of us. He has ideas that he thinks are amazing to him but others think they are bland. He knows he can do better but doesn't want to leave the comfort of ordinary. He is acting like someone he is not because he is afraid of what life may be like when it is not ordinary.

The connection between this and identity is that humans will take the identity that society gives them before expressing the one they want to be seen as.

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"I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations no no
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am a soul that lives within"
- I Am Not My Hair, India Arie

In this song, India Arie is proving to society that who you are as a person should not be determine by the way you look on the outside. It shows to society that who you are is more then skin deep and you have to work hard to find out  who you are.

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"Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors."

~ (Rahim Khan) Khaled Hosseini

Throughout The Kite Runner, Amir struggled to find himself; whether it involved being the son his father always wanted or doing the right thing when it came to Hassan's rape. This quote is from a good friend of Amir's father. His father is worried about the identity his child will take on, especially since it looks like it won't be similar to his. Hosseini shapes Amir's life to be a journey to find who he truly is and puts him through many hardships. He takes the reader through Amir's life to show how certain events, as horrible as some were, helped Amir discover his true identity, which was comprised of bits of his father and bits of Hassan. Hosseini uses Amir to show how an entire lifetime can pass by before discovering one's true identity.

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"It all works. Everyone knows where they belong. Except for me."

-Divergent, Veronica Roth

This is a movie about a society divided into factions based on, things that make you different in a dangerous way. Also, once you turn 18 you have to pick a faction and be apart of it. One of the characters who was forced to do that was, Tris and she doesn't know where she fits in, so she continues to try and figure out which groups/ faction she belongs in, only to find out that she is different from everyone else and she'll never fit in with any of the factions because she is divergent. However, once she figured out who she was she had to hide her identity otherwise she would be killed.

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"You are not possessed, and you're not almost dead these games that you play are all in your head you're not Vincent Price; you're Vincent Malloy you're not tormented or insane; you're just a young boy you're seven years old and you are my son I want you to get outside and have some real fun" -Vincent's mother, in Tim Burton's Vincent This is a short animation made by Tim Burton in 1982 about a young boy named Vincent. Vincent is a big fan of Vincent Price movies and Edgar Allan Poe books. At the beginning of the animation, he wants to be Vincent Price (for those of you who aren't big on watching black and white movies from the 70s like I was for a long time, Vincent Price starred in a lot of creepy suspenseful horror-like movies). He daydreams about doing the things that Vincent Price does in his movies, and they aren't good things. They are things like killing his aunt by dipping her in wax. After a while, there is no differentiating between his daydreams and his real life. He digs for his dead wife, the one that he read that he had in Edgar Allan Poe's poem. He lamented the loss of the wife that he lost in The Raven. He becomes the tormented souls that he reads and watches. His mom intervenes, trying to snap him back into reality, telling him who he is. That is not who he is, though. He is the man in The Raven, that is insane with grief, and he is Vincent Price, who is mad for being a sick and twisted scientist, or the last man alive on earth, or several other reasons. So if Vincent is asked who he is, he will say that he is Vincent. He will not say that he is Vincent Malloy, however. If his name is called out, he will respond, only because he believes that he is Vincent Price. Vincent's thoughts perfectly illustrate his transformation into a different person: "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted, nevermore."

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“Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

“You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

“Finally, the truth. Lying with his face pressed into the dusty carpet of the office where he had once thought he was learning the secrets of victory, Harry understood at last that he was not supposed to survive.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

In the Harry Potter series, the “who am I” question is a common theme. Harry is thrown into this magic filled life and doesn’t know what to do next. J.K. Rowling highlights that as a child we should strive to be the best we can be, no matter our past. That we have control of our lives and by that we are who we are (first two quotes). But eventually, she conveys one message, that no matter how much it hurts, you should always strive for a better society, for the greater good. So to answer the “who am I” question, she highlights how we will never know the actual answer till the very end, till death, just like Harry did in the third quote.

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"And since you know you cannot see yourself, so well as by reflection, I, your glass, will modestly discover to yourself, that of yourself which you yet know not of."

-Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare

In this quote from the play Julius Caesar written

Shakespeare, he addresses the question often

asked about ourselves of who we are. In this

quote it talks about how we cannot see ourselves

besides reflections which do not show everything.

Even by looking at ourselves it does not tell us exactly

who we are, this is because we are defined by things

we do and say and events that happen around us.

It is these things that truly define us and not simply

our reflections in glass. often times, as seen in this quote,

others can define us more then ourselves. It is this

reason why the question of "Who am i?" is asked so

often because it is not as simple as looking at a

reflection. Rather we must look at our actions and all the

events that define us.

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"I'm the voice inside your head
You refuse to hear
I'm the face that you have to face
Mirrorin' your stare
I'm what's left, I'm what's right
I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that'll take you down
Bring you to your knees

So, who are you? Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you? Yeah, who are you?"
-The Pretender, Foo Fighters
-------------

The lyrics to this piece of music deal with

the inner conflicts that they narrator and

everyone has or will have to face about

who they are and how they see themselves.

Part of the owners self conscious is fighting

back against the "pretender" who is trying

to act as the real original when the original

clearly stating who the real person is. This

is done to show there are two parts to every

person; the true being and the one they

pretend to be. This ties back to R&G are dead

because the two men are simple actors who

have know idea who they really are and have

to play the role they were given or follow the

path that is being choosen for them with no

real identity and free will.

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"I'm just one of those ghosts,

Traveling endlessly...

...And we just go in circles."

-Misguided Ghosts, Paramore

-----------------------------------------------------------------

This is a song about being lost and no

longer knowing who you are anymore.

It's about running away to find your

true identity and question the world.

However, in the end, the singer realizes

that it is a never ending cycle. She will always

be searching for her identity and end up

in one big circle. This ties into R&D are Dead

because their whole life is one neverending

circle that just keeps playing on a loop.

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"Sometimes I wish my skin was a costume
That I could just unzip
And strip
But who I am is who I'm meant to be..

...So now, I don't negotiate with insecurities
They're gonna have to take a back seat
I know I have to love myself, the way I want you to love me"

- Love Me, Katy Perry

Despite the fact that this song is about "losing oneself" inside of a relationship, the lyrics of this song convey a feeling of having to find oneself again. In this specific excerpt, Katy wants to "unzip" and remove the costume that she has had on while in this relationship. In the context of this prompt Katy is admitting that she has not been able to be honest with not just herself, but with the world, and having an inability to unfold who she really is and how she feels.

After those lines, Katy goes on to sing "who I am is who I'm meant to be" by saying that, she is saying that no matter what, one knows exactly who they are. The implication behind this quote is that she was apprehensive about revealing herself at one time, and is realizing that not being true to who you really are is not a path that is easily navigated.

Perhaps the best example of having to "unfold" is the line " I don't negotiate with insecurities .They're gonna have to take a back seat" this line is saying that the insecurities that come with life are going to have to be pushed aside in order for a person to truly reveal themselves and be who they are.However, the specifics of the lyrics make a much better point. Katy says that her insecurities "have" to take a back seat, not that they are "going" to. The use of that word is saying what has to happen in order for one to be secure with themselves, and it is implying that it is an "easier said than done" situation where one realizes the steps they have to take to achieve a heightened self esteem, one just has to make the attempt

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"The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it. Its only job is to eat or consume everything around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city. While consuming its environment the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive. One thing it noticed is how much the world shuns him, but praises the butterfly. The butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar......... Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same." - Kendrick Lamar

This quote is off of one of Kendrick's most influential albums in where the entire piece is about finding yourself. In this quote he discusses the simple yet unique transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly and how it is presented for the world in each form. Most notably, his use of a caterpillar is essential because it is one of the most well known examples of change and transformation in the world today. This transformation, I think, is symbolism of how he himself has evolved from boy into man and from local rapper into a household name. This quote is him finding who he is and his purpose in life, whether it be through music or simply being an advocate for black empowerment.

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Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, 'cause "the West is the best." And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the Great White North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild. - Christopher McCandless

Throughout the non-fictional book, Into the Wild, Christopher McCandless sets out on a journey to discover his self as a person, and his place in society. Chris's sister says that after Chris found out his parents were not married when he was born, and his father had another child with his ex-wife, Chris felt like his childhood was a lie. This led to Chris leaving behind his whole lifestyle and setting out to discover a new meaning to life and a new identity for himself. Chris changed his name to Alexander Supertramp and began to travel the country by foot and hitchhiking. Chris himself, and his journey, was majorly influenced by his favorite works of literature, such as Call of the Wild. These influences led to Chris's infatuation with the wild, and the belief that "the wild" offered more than his life at home. The places Chris traveled, the people he met, and the voyage he experienced, all shaped his identity and who he was. Many of Chris's views changed throughout his life due to new experiences. This shows that who we are is a combination of all of our encounters with people and places throughout our life.

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“Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself.” - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Dorian’s attitude is derived from the commentary that dominates his life. He is told youth and beauty are the only things worth having. This perception is emphasized by the dialogue that transpires between him and his friends (which revolve around some superficial aspect of himself). Since others are unable to care for him in any other manner, but shallowly, he is forced to redefine who he is. Society dilutes his innocence and his sense of self so deeply he can't value anything beyond his looks. His inability to see any potential in himself prevents him from growing and achieving self-actualization.

This is highlighted in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which states that belonging and esteem are necessary to be able to transcend further in one’s lifetime. As for Dorian, his feelings of acceptance and self-esteem are based solely on what other’s cherish about him. One could assert that Dorian can’t figure out his identity because without someone else there, he has none. This loss of self -- this hollowness is evident in the way he regards others. His love interest, for example, enchants him because of her wonderful acting skills.  Without that one attribute, she is nothing to him. Due to these personality flaws, he becomes as narrow minded as society. Oscar Wilde’s commentary on identity seems to be that if we overwhelm ourselves with the shoddy opinions of others we will lose ourselves.

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"Who are you today?
Will you be the sun
Or the pouring rain?
Who are you tomorrow?
Will you make me smile
Or just bring me sorrow?
Who are you gonna be
When I'm lost and I'm scared?
Who are you gonna be
When there's nobody there?
Who are you today?" Who Are You, Fifth Harmony

Although the context of the song is referencing the struggles of a relationship, the quote directly relates to the prompt. The reoccurring "Who are you?" question implies that the significant other has a mercurial personality, one that is ever-changing and has no set structure. Even though the lyrics are directed towards a seemingly villainous person of interest, the same can be said for each and every individual as well.

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Who Are You Lyrics: Uhh uhh uhh / Uhh uhh uhh / Uhh uhh uhh / Monday, you sent me flowers / Tuesday, made me feel stupid / Wednesday, the world was ours / Thursday, you didn't prove it / Friday, fell

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"Things weren't supposed to turn out this way."

"It's a strange twist," I said, trying to turn it light.

"She won't try to keep us apart, will she?"

"No," I said. "Remember, she's pretending to be someone better too."

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

Here, the once bumbling, cheating husband, Nick, finally
comes to what would prove to be his most important discovery. This discovery,
or rather, this realization being  that despite all of his wife’s
faults – and there are many – she is just, ultimately, attempting to be a
better person. The presentation of Nick’s realization at this point in Gillian
Flynn’s novel, Gone Girl, touches on the very premise of identity. Although, in
this context, the question “Who are you?” becomes “Who do you think you are?” A
transformation that emphasizes how easily we as people tend to forget that who
we actually are is not analogous with who others think we are or, more
importantly, who we think we are. In her book, Flynn highlights this concept by
first creating a dialogue between three separate voices in the novel. First,
the audience is presented with the character Nick who portrays his wife as eccentric,
bubbly but as someone who, over the course of their marriage, undergoes a
drastic transformation into a bitter and cold woman. Then Flynn allows her
readers to delve into the journal of the wife, Amy, and as a result our
perception of Amy completely changes as the voice of Amy tells a totally
different story. Finally, near the end of the book, the audience encounters the
real Amy and learns that she is not the woman that Nick presented her as nor is
she the woman she presented herself as. In
addition, at some point, the author hints at another version of Amy and her identity
by detailing the character Amazing Amy, who was a more adventurous and
successful Amy, that had been created in a children’s book by Amy’s parents during
her childhood. The interaction of these characters
i.e. Nick, Amy, and Journal Amy a.k.a. Cool Girl showcase how difficult it is to discern and
determine our true selves. Thus Flynn underlines the complexity of identity by
presenting it as a multifaceted and fluid entity that relies heavily on perspective
rather than reality. While
the plot of the novel is far-fetched to say the least, the underlying message
is that identity is not defined by who we are but that it is more of a compilation of our
true selves, who others think we are, and most significantly, who we think we
are and who we “pretend” to be.

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"My name is Thomas, he thought.

That ... that was the only thing he could remember about his life.

He didn't understand how this could be possible. His mind functioned without flaw, trying to calculate his surroundings and predicament. Knowledge flooded his thoughts, facts and images, memories and details of the world and how it worked. He pictured snow of trees, running down a leaf-strewn road, eating a hamburger, the moon casting a pale glow on a grassy meadow, swimming in a lake, a busy city square with hundreds of people bustling about their business.

And yet he didn't know where he came from, or how he'd gotten inside the dark lift, or who his parents were. He didn't even know his last name. Images of people flashed across his mind, but there was no recognition, their faces replaced with haunted smears of color. He couldn't think of one person he knew, or recall a single conversation."

James Dashner - The Maze Runner

In Dashner's novel, the question "who am I" and the struggle of knowing what was and what is supposed to happen appear often and as early as the first page. All of poor Thomas's personal memories have been wiped from his mind, leaving him with basic knowledge and only his first name. It is the same case for the rest of the kids in the Glade, they make-do with what little they have. They don't know their purpose in life and therefore don't know who they are. Yet, as they made their way out of the maze and into the scary world with more challenges for face, the memories slowly start coming back and the truth in unraveled. They learn the truth of what the world has become, it is not as lovely as they have imagined. Near the end of the kid's journey, it is revealed that they are the creators of the maze, which is the thing they hate the most. The creators put the kids in the maze and made them do many difficult tasks, while losing some along the way. Once they learned their true identity with the journey complete and the memories they got back, they were completely devastated because they had no idea who they were what they were capable of. Basically, memories make you who you are, without them who are you?

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"And she says, "You don't know how good it is to be your cause you're him"

And I say, "Well *******"

Then ask myself, "Who am I gonna be, when it's all over?

When it's all over?

Who am I gonna be, when it's all over?

When it's all over?"

I don't wanna think about that right now, heat of the moment."

Heat of the Moment - Drake

Drake struggles with his identity because he has so many people deciding for him.
He lives a life of fame and wealth and is always in the spot light so he doesn't get to truly be the person he wants to be without commentary from a third party. On one side, he has to live a certain lifestyle to be criticized as little as possible. His biggest criticism is the reputation given to him that he is overly sensitive and overly emotional when all he is doing is expressing himself through his talent. Like everyone else, he can't please everyone. On the other side, he has people telling him about himself when they only know what they think they know. Drake's questionable identity is merely the price that comes with fame so he has to ask himself what his real identity will be once his music career dies down. To answer this question, he chooses to answer at a later time, to just take life as it comes, because at the end of the day he has to live for himself and once the fame is over all he truly will be left with is himself.

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“There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” - J.R.R Tolkien, The Hobbit

Everyone in this world at some point has or will question their role in life. They want to be themselves but at the same time fall in line with society however for many this scale is tipping over to relying completely on society. In this story Bilbo is different from his people given that hobbits are known to live quite and relaxed lifestyles while he craves the adrenaline that comes from adventures. Since he is the only one that acts this way the other hobbits wouldn't really view him as a fellow hobbit and to Bilbo not having that title means having no identity. So in order to fit in normally with the others he gives those dreams up, falling into another role that doesn't necessarily complete him but satisfies his desire to have some sense of an identity. We rely so much on others to give us an identity and directions in life that we are blind to ourselves in a sense. People are capable of so many things, we can write, build, and possibly save hundreds of lives but none of that matters if we don't believe in ourselves.

People are divided by prejudice and hatred, in the story Thorin despises the elves and likewise the elves mainly the King of Mirkwood despises dwarves. However there is always that one person who befriends or falls in love with the said enemy. In terms of The Hobbit if that person was an elf the dwarven side not including the one who was befriended  would still identify them as an elf therefore that person would receive even more hatred. On the elven side the group would see this as being traitorous so they no longer identify that person as an elf. For that one person the question becomes, who am I really? Your no longer with your group but others still view and treat you the same as if you never left.

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“Bad man don’t exist

No evil man exists

I know good man don’t exist

No righteous man exists

Strong man don’t exist

No undying man exists

Weak man don’t exist

No just flesh and blood exists”

Frank Ocean – Wise Man

Humans are unlike any other species that dwells the Earth – we were gifted the ability to observe higher thinking and the capacity to question what ourselves and those around us experience. With this knowledge, though, came the ultimate burden: we are left with a multitude of questions that have answers unbeknownst to us. Thoughts of “who am I? Am I  a good person?”, and “what is my purpose?” plague our very existence, often times leaving us dumbfounded. Some people spend their entire lives searching for the answer to this question while others believe they’ve figured it out more quickly. Then, there are those who take this notion of finding out the purpose of our existence and the societal construct and demolish it – for them, we simply exist. This is what the ingenious lyricist and performer Frank Ocean highlights in his work “Wise Man”, a song that reveals the ultimate arbitrary nature of our existence while criticizing the vanity of “civilized” society.

The song begins with Frank Ocean explaining the different types of people that we and humans typically identify as and use to categorize ourselves – good, evil, righteous, bad and so forth. He takes these constructs and tears them down by saying that they don’t exist, we all simply die and we are all “just flesh and blood.” Ocean goes on to criticize our vanity by sarcastically softening the blow of that revelation with a cold “but your mother would be proud of you,” falsely giving humanity the constant validation that we constantly hope for.  After crushing the mentality that we have held all of our lives, Frank Ocean proceeds explain the fundamental principles of life – we struggle through life “crawl[ing] this earth” until we die and nothing remains but “glorious bone.” He perpetuates the idea of the simplicity and futility of life by making constant jabs at our ideals and mannerism as a society. By the end of the song the listener is left with a humbling set of mind, though temporarily, finally realizing that not all questions we have about our existence are meant to be answered.

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Wiseman Lyrics: Wiseman closes mouth / Madman closes fist / Young man shows his age / Judge man named it sin / Bad man don' exist no / No evil man exists / Good man don't exist no / No righteous

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“I don't know who I am. I look at myself in the mirror and I see Stephen Herondale, but I act like a Lightwood and talk like my father—like Valentine.” -  City of Fallen Angels

Jace, from Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments, has more identity crises than anyone should ever even consider (even for a fictional character). He begins thinking he is a Wayland and that his father was murdered. Then Jace learns that his “father” was actually Valentine Morgenstern. Lastly, he discovers that his real father is Stephen Herondale, and that he died before Jace was born. But the problem doesn’t stop with surnames: Jace’s name isn’t his real name. Jace was intended to be a nickname for Jonathan Christopher. However, the real Johnathon Christopher was never Jace (he is an antagonist in the series). Jace thought he knew who he was, and one day he learns that everything he thought he knew was wrong. Learning that your name is not really your name, or that the person you thought was your father wasn’t, naturally brings a loss of self. If I’m not actually who I was supposed to be, then who am I? Am I supposed to be as sarcastic as the person I was? Or more serious? Outgoing or reserved? These are the questions that Clare attempted to have Jace answer throughout his journey of self-identity. Jace eventually learned that, much like calling an apple an orange makes it no more of an orange or less of an apple, changes in his name didn’t require changes in him.

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“I write differently from what I speak, I speak differently from what I think, I think differently from the way I ought to think, and so it all proceeds into deepest darkness.”
― Franz Kafka

Kafka is pretty much stating how he holds himself back due to the confinement and situation he's in, the depression and anxiety he went through. If it were to refer to us, one could often use society as an example. People are often scared to speak up, be themselves, and do what they want due to the fact that they believe they will get judged. The "deepest darkness" which Kafka is referring to is depression. In Kafka's book Metamorphosis Gregor turned into a bug and had no way to communicate with any of his family. He was stuck in a situation he couldn't control, he fell into a depression after he couldn't say what he wanted to say, or do what he wanted to do. Afterwards he died.

People lose themselves because they're afraid of the outcome, therefore their identity becomes unknown.

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"Till this
moment I never knew myself."  –Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

In this novel, set in 19th century England, the
social classes are already understood. With these classes set in stone, an individual’s
agency to choose where they belong is stripped away, becoming subjected to the
social order. Elizabeth Bennet, a young character born into higher status where
people tell you what to do and how to do it and the proper way to go about it,
already deciding what her upbringing will include, is shaped to be this
character who has a non-serious approach to all that is expected of her.
Through the story, Elizabeth becomes blind with a pretty face only later to
become embarrassed of her actions and lack of discernment, and because of her prejudice and pride, she became caught up with social order. After Elizabeth has made a few mistakes, she has several self-revelations, discovering who she truly is, not who society wants her to be and deciding for herself how her
future should be. With this character, Austen answers the “Who am I,”
advocating a lifetime of mistakes that only help a person grow and become morein tune with who they are and who they want to be, not letting the corrupted
society decide for them.

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"America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.'…But there was one yet - the biggest, the most blank, so to speak - that I had a hankering after." -Joseph Conrad, Heart Of Darkness

In Jospeh Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, Marlow is explaining how he wants to fill what seem as blank spaces on the map with all his discoveries, and so he's drawn to the 'most blank' or the most undiscovered to his knowledge of them all, Africa. Perhaps he is so drawn to these undiscovered places because who he is himself, he has yet to discover too. He wants to fill the empty spots in his life with the great discoveries he hopes to find in the empty spots on his map. Then during his journies not only will he find new cultures and new people, but he will also find himself.

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"Been fighting things that I can't see

Like voices coming from the inside of me and

Like doing things I find hard to believe in

Am I myself or am I dreaming?

I've been awake for an hour or so

Checking for a pulse but I just don't know

Am I a man when I feel like a ghost?

The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes"

"Thrive" By Switchfoot

Switchfoot writes these lyrics in hope that people relate to their message, that the person on the outside may not be the person you want everyone to see, the person you are ashamed of. Throughout the song the repeat a lyrics, "I want to thrive, not just survive". There are multiple meanings to this song just like many others. There are many decisions we make that we don't "believe in", but find ourselves being the selfish ones and chasing after wants that end up being let downs.

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"Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly.

That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money – that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it… high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl." -F.Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Throughout The Great Gatsby, we see a struggle with Gatsby's identity as he identifies himself only with the extent of his wealth and its effect on Daisy as a result. There is a lack of identity in this way because he holds materialistic views and measures himself through them. He even goes so far as to change his name to portray more sophistication. The inevitable downfall of Gatsby creates a cause and effect relationship for the reader. Without a true identity, Gatsby lacked direction in not only moral values but from point A to point B. When he believed that he had achieved his goals with Daisy, he lacked any sort of plan after the fact. Gatsby's identity is further muddled by Nick's biased narration of events. Gatsby is portrayed in a light that is greatly shadowed by Nick's own ideals and thoughts on the situation making it even harder for the reader to assume an identity for Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald offers an answer of identity through this. Identity cannot be assumed through materialistic means or through another person's eyes. It comes solely from within that individual and cannot be created by external factors.

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Current: eBooks@Adelaide has now officially closed

We are very grateful to you all for your patronage and support over the years.

The University of Adelaide Library is proud to have contributed to the early movement of free eBooks and to have witnessed their popularity as they grew to become a regular fixture in study, research, and leisure.

There are a number of reputable alternatives for free access to material within the public domain:

Project Gutenberg

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eBooks@Adelaide has now officially closed

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We are very grateful to you all for your patronage and support over the years.

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"Without light I am not only invisible, but formless as well; and to be unaware of one's form is to live a death. I myself, after existing some twenty years, did not become alive until I discovered my invisibility."-Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

Throughout Invisible Man, the narrator describes how he has become invisible to the world around him. He is not literally invisible but others refuse to see the real him because of the color of his skin. He has escaped society and their demeaning ways by hiding underground. The reader never learns the narrator's name. The quote above is saying how if we can't figure out how to get through life by knowing our own worth then we might as well be living to die. If we don't realize who we are then how do we expect other people to see us. Excepting the fact that everyone has their own individual complexity is the first step to finding yourself instead of letting society tell you who you are. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are following directions on what to do with their life and because of this the question "who am I" will never be answered. they will die and nobody will care because they were invisible.

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“I saw a momentary flicker of the man who had preached the Terrible Sermon way back when LBJ was president.

...

Sometimes… he got a look in his eyes that didn’t seem sane. It was not unlike the way he looked when he preached himself out of a job in Harlow.”

Revival, Stephen King

Stephen King’s novel Revival reveals how little it takes to push our psyche into an unpredictable abyss and lose our identity as we know it. In this, our identity is the sum of our experiences, with years of identity, entire personalities, obliterated in single catastrophe moments.

Reverend Jacob’s identity before the incident which fueled the Terrible Sermon was in his loving family, his deep faith (and consequently his job), and his fascination with electricity. In losing one, another was destroyed, shattering Jacobs. With much of his identity stolen from him in that tragic moment, his identity is consumed by all he has left- his fascination turned fanatic obsession. He is no longer a man with depth, capable of active love, but a prisoner to the fragments of his previous identity, a servant to the purpose of understanding electricity. In this, who we are is only the sum of our experiences, with single events capable of destroying identity as we understand it- who we are as defined by our actions, beliefs, and purpose.

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There is a children's joke that goes something like this: Why was Dr. Frankenstein never lonely?

Answer: Because he was good at making friends.

The same might be said for novelists, whose solitary days of writing can lead - if the work is going well - to the creation of amusing companions. From Mary Shelley's monster to Bram Stoker's vampire, every variety of bizarre creature can come creeping up when a writer closes out reality and lets the imagination take over. If loneliness is to blame, then Stephen King, who has created some of the most entertaining characters of any writer of his generation, must be one solitary guy.

"Revival," King's 55th novel, introduces a fellow solitary genius, the Rev. Charles Jacobs, a Frankenstein-like mad scientist who sets out to decipher the "secret of the universe" and the "path to ultimate knowledge" by harnessing and using a "secret electricity" to open "doorways to the infinite." Jacobs is a man obsessed, ready to sacrifice the entire human race to get what he wants.

But first things first. Before divine knowledge, Jacobs needs to understand the basic principles of his special electricity. Thus Jamie Morton, the book's narrator and a longtime observer of Charles Jacobs, finds himself a guinea pig in Jacobs's evil experiments. Before Jamie realizes the true nature of the work, Jacobs puts a plastic mouth guard between Jamie's lips, slips on some headphones and shoots a powerful dose of electricity into his brain.

The shock is meant to cure Jamie's heroin addiction, but - this being a Stephen King novel, and Jamie being our only window into Jacobs's derangement - the effects are far more nefarious. Jamie wakes up disorientated, his thoughts scrambling: "Something, something, something. Happened. Happened. Something happened. Something happened, happened, something happened. Happened. Something."

The something, at first glance, appears to be that Jamie's "brain had gone wrong." In fact, the reader soon learns, Jamie's trauma has little to do with brain freeze and everything to do with Jacobs's secret electricity, which isn't just a supercharged panacea but something far scarier. Jamie's 30-second detox has made him an integral part of Jacobs's sinister master plan.

Their relationship began long before, when Jamie was 6 and Jacobs was the minister of his community parish in small-town Maine. In the beginning, the reverend was a good and holy man. He led the Harlow Methodist Youth, where he taught the children the mysteries of God via lessons in electricity. Back then, before disillusionment and madness set in, Jacobs's interest in electricity was purely metaphorical; lightning was an analogy for the divine. Explaining electrons and atoms, he would conclude that "science is fine, but it's also finite. There always comes a point where knowledge runs out." And into this vacuum divine knowledge rushed. Electricity led to the infinite. Open the door and there waits God, a big grin on his face.

While Jacobs may have started out with good intentions, these quickly turn dark after a random auto accident on a quiet country road kills Jacobs's family, destroying his faith and maybe his sanity. (King's longtime fans will recognize shades of "Pet Sematary" in the accident and the hand of fate.) Jacobs loses his religious conviction, tells his parish that "religion is the theological equivalent of a quick-buck insurance scam," and spends the next several decades working amusement parks and carny circuits, healing the sick by administering small amounts of electricity to their brains. Jacobs's belief that "all diseases are electrical in nature" and "electricity is the basis of all life" proves correct, and he becomes a miracle worker, healing the sick as he pursues his private - and much less altruistic - experiments. Jacobs's purpose? "I want to know what happened to my wife and son," he explains. "I want to know what the universe has in store for all of us once this life is over." Jacobs has lost his faith in everything but science.

Readers will find in Jacobs's behavior echoes not only of "Pet Sematary" but also, and more strongly, of "Frankenstein," which King openly references. Whereas "Frankenstein" is subtitled "The Modern Prometheus," a reference to the dangers of approaching divine knowledge, "Revival" could easily be subtitled "The Modern Frankenstein." Like Jacobs, Dr. Frankenstein uses electricity (or galvanism, as the occult study of electricity was called in the 18th century) to power his experiment. Frankenstein, too, is grieving untimely deaths in his family. And like Frankenstein, Jacobs is none too happy with the ultimate results of his experiment.

Yet "Revival" is pure Stephen King. Like many of King's novels, it is filled with cultural allusions both high and low: In addition to the Bible and "Frankenstein," there are references to Thomas Edison's work at Menlo Park, Dan Brown, "The X Files," the "Forbidden Books" (that is, grimoires banned and burned by the Catholic Church) and particularly Ludvig Prinn's "The Mysteries of the Worm," which the American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft used as the basis of his fictional grimoire "Necronomicon." If you're one of those readers who, like me, look up references as they read, you'll find that most of these story elements are - as Jamie tells us - easily verifiable. As the Kingian references pile up, and become layered into the events of the fictional world, you fall deeper and deeper under the story's spell, almost believing that Jamie's nightmarish experiences actually happened.

That said, while I love a good mad scientist, I found Charles Jacobs less harrowing than other of King's characters. He doesn't linger with the grim malevolence of, for example, Jack Torrance ("The Shining") or Annie Wilkes ("Misery"). Perhaps this is because the target of Jacobs's madness is too often abstract - he's aiming to understand divine knowledge and death itself, and will go to any lengths to do so, even if he destroys humankind. I may be alone here, but the threat of species extinction felt far less terrifying than the act of strapping Jamie Morton down and frying his brain until he couldn't put a sentence together. Jacobs is more brutal, and thus more thrilling, when his lunacy finds an individual outlet and we, the readers, experience the particular dangers of that lunacy. At times like these, one can't help feeling that Jacobs enjoys the pain he causes, that he's having some really twisted fun.

And so too King. Reading "Revival" is experiencing a master storyteller having the time of his life. All of his favorite fictional elements are at play - small-town Maine, the supernatural, the evil genius, the obsessive addict, the power of belief to transform a life. King even plays games with his characters' names, calling one character Shelley, another Victor and another Mary, recasting his inspirations - Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein - into his own fictional universe. For the reader, it is fun to map it all out, to experience King's mind at work. For King, these inside jokes might offer some relief from the solitude of writing, a way to laugh alone at the keyboard when nobody else is watching. I'd like to imagine all of these characters keeping vigil at the edge of Stephen King's desk, keeping him company as he writes them into existence.

Danielle Trussoni's most recent book is the novel "Angelopolis." Her memoir "The Fortress" will be published next year.

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There is a children's joke that goes something like this: Why was Dr. Frankenstein never lonely? Answer: Because he was good at making friends. The same might be said for novelists, whose solitary days of writing can lead - if the work is going well - to the creation of amusing companions.

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"'Satan has his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred'"

Shelley's attempt on answering the universal question "Who am I?" reveals insight on human nature through a non-human medium. Frankenstein's monster has no guidance after his creation and is battling existentialism from the very beginning. With no direction in life, he is forced to wonder who he really is and where he fits in society. With the observation of the family, that creates his identity as he learns from their behaviors; your identity is a product of the environment you are in and the experiences of others.

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Themes

Nature as a revitalist

The comforting and soothing qualities of nature revitalize the characters. This romantic theme is present though out the novel as both Victor and the monster return to nature to be comforted. Nature seems to sooth both characters and this is strange because Victor is a man of science and the monster is most defiantly unnatural.
"About this time we retired to our house at Belrive. This change was particularly agreeable to me. The shutting of the gates regularly at ten o'clock, and the impossibility of remaining on the lake after that hour, had rendered our residence within the walls of Geneva very irksome to me. I was now free. Often, after the rest of the family had retired for the night, I took the boat, and passed many hours upon the water" (62). *Dover-Thrift ed.
Call of Duty

There is a sense of duty and responsibility in creating something as important as a life. Victor, almost as a parent, births a creature then fails to take responsibility for the life he has created. He does not realize that his actions of creation have consequences. Victor fails in his duty to care for the life he has created. Because the monster is not loved or cared for he unleashes a string of violent acts on his creator's family. Victor, like a father has a duty to care for the life he created and consequently he lost all he truly cared for.
"I expected this reception," said the daemon. "All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends" (68). *Dover-Thrift ed. Nature vs. Science (the natural vs. the unnatural)
Throughout the novel, there is this constant battle between science and nature, that is, the unnatural and the natural. Victor's creation represents science, or the unnatural. Frankenstein's creation of this monster throws nature into a state of imbalance, which causes the eventual destruction of Victor and his entire family. Also, as this is a frame tale, Victor's loss in the battle between nature and science is shown to be a warning for Walton as he too probes dangerously close to discovering nature's secrets.
"It's productions and features may be without example, as the phenomena of the heavenly bodies undoubtedly are in those undiscovered solitudes. What may not be expected in a country of eternal light? I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle; and may regulate a thousand celestial observations, that require only this voyage to render their seeming eccentricities consistent forever" (16).
"You seek for knowledge and wisdom , as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been" (31).
Repetition of the use of Heaven "Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery and be overwhelmed by disappointments, yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit, that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures" (30).
"[Elizabeth's] brow was clear and ample , her blue eyes cloudless, and her lips and the moulding of her face so expressive of sensibility and sweetness that none could behold her without looking on her as of a distinct species, as being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features" (36).
Inside vs. Outside
Throughout this tale, one of the prominent themes was inside vs. outside . That is, instead of judging by the character and goodness of the man, many characters- especially Victor Frankenstein's creation- were judged by outward appearances. This story is loaded with the concept that people will draw conclusions based on the looks of others and will not be persuaded against their notions unless proven otherwise (and sometimes not even then). From Frankenstein's mother choosing Elizabeth because she was blonde with blue eyes to Frankenstein's meeting of M. Krempe, Shelley stresses the seemingly importance of looks as an appropriate means of judgment. Rarely did she stray away from this ideal way of thinking. The creation of Frankenstein was beheld with hatred and disgust by all, not excluding his own creator, without a care for his feelings and emotions.
"...I beheld the wretch- the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtains of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped... Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance" (57). Passion
Passion plays a large role in this story. Almost every major character had an obsession that he or she allowed to drive their existence. Caroline Frankenstein thrived from visiting those less fortunate than herself. Henry Clerval obsessed with things of the romantic realm such as the arts and literature. Elizabeth had a zeal for life itself. What drove the title character, Victor Frankenstein, was a desire and craving for knowledge of the unknown. The creature's one driving desire was to be loved and accepted. The story of Frankenstein revolves around the thirst to have more, the need to fill the void within oneself.
" Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition; but with all my ardour, I was capable of a more intense application, and was more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge." This quote speaks of passion, of an unaltered need for an understanding greater than could be imagined". Social Acceptance and Belonging
A major theme in Frankenstein is the issue of social acceptance and belongingness. In the novel, Frankenstein's creature is created and immediately after, left alone to fend for himself. He alone learns how to control and understand his senses, impact his environment, and skills such as reading. It is also around this time that the creature begins to observe human behavior and social structure, made possible by a tiny hole in the wall of the De Lacey house that allowed the creature to watch the family engage in their daily routines. During the time the creature spent watching the De Lacey family, he learns from them and also analyzes his own situation in life: "Fatherless and motherless, the monster struggles to find his place in human society, struggles with the most fundamental questions of identity and personal history. Alone, he learns to speak, to read, and to ponder "his accursed origins." All the while, he suffers from the loneliness of never seeing anyone resembling himself" (NLM lines 5-6). After reading Frankenstein's journal, the creature realizes he is all alone in the world. The creature does not belong to any group and has no family. It is later through the realization that the creature will never be accepted among humans that prompts him to demand a female counterpart from Victor. Without a counterpart, the creature engages in violence as a means of lashing out. The two most primal instincts for any animal are sex and vengeance. If one cannot be fulfilled, the other must. As we see throughout the novel, the creature continues to lash out against Victor and human society because he is not accepted by humanity and has no other means of satisfying his belongingness needs that he so desires
"'Satan has his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred'"
-The Creature (93) Dover-Thrift ed.
Queer Theory
Another major theme in Frankenstein deals with queer theory. In queer theory, the text in Frankenstein is examined from a different standpoint. In the novel, there exists a relationship between Victor and the creature. In queer theory, the male hero, in this case Frankenstein, is in a close, usually murderous affiliation to another character of the same sex, which in this case is the creature. In the theory, the two characters usually are connected mentally, or share the similar thoughts and feelings. Some people, like James McGavran, even think that Frankenstein created his creature to satisfy a homosexual desire: "For James Holt McGavran, Victor is driven to create a giant male who would adore him because of his own unconscious "homoerotic desire" - desire that turns quickly to panic" (Schor 58). Schor believes that Victor has unconscious homoerotic desires that he tries to fulfill in the creation of his creature, and this does have some validity. The quote spoken by Victor proves that he wants recognition, but why from a male? Why also does Victor create the male creature of such gigantic proportions? It could not just of been for the minuteness of the parts because the monster is not too much bigger than a normal human being. Also, the queer theory can give an explanation as to why Victor kept putting off the wedding between Elizabeth and himself. Perhaps Victor had unconscious homosexual desires that made him uncomfortable at the thought of marriage to Elizabeth .
"A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me"
-Victor Frankenstein (32) *Dover-Thrift ed.

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Themes Nature as a revitalist The comforting and soothing qualities of nature revitalize the characters. This romantic theme is present though out the novel as both Victor and the monster return to nature to be comforted. Nature seems to sooth both characters and this is strange because Victor is a man of science and the monster is most defiantly unnatural.

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"Who am I, that the Lord of all the Earth would care to know my name?" Casting Crowns, "Who am I"

Casting Crowns wrote this song out of the belief that people alone are small and insignificant. The band regards Jesus as God, who gives people their purpose. Without the love of a God to guide people, they would have no purpose or direction, nor know who they are.

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"I am a piece of all I have met" Tennyson, "Ulysses"

Tennyson, speaking through Ulysses from The Odyssey is an old man. He has come to the realization that he isn't really a person, but he's a little bit of every person he's ever come in contact with. His mind, soul, identity has been created by all the human contact he has had in his life- good or bad. We are all a piece of someone else -biologically through DNA, emotionally/mentally through culture and metaphorically through a shared human experience.