"The Bourne Identity" Critical Analysis

1259 Words3 Pages

A sense of belonging will often emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities, and the larger world. The Bourne Identity is a novel, written by Robert Ludlum. The main character in this novel is Jason Bourne, a broken man, not only in the physical, but also in the emotional and psychological sense. Throughout the entire novel we see a man who is attempting to put the pieces of his life back together after suffering from a sudden onset of amnesia. There are several ways that this text relates to belonging and not belonging, all of which become increasingly obvious as the novel progresses. Through the loss of memory every aspect of an individual’s sense of belonging is completely removed, and as Bourne struggles to reclaim these aspects he struggles to reclaim his sense of belonging.

One of the main aspects of belonging is the connections we as humans make with other people, our relationships. Without this connection an individual cannot belong anywhere. At no point in time does Bourne share a connection with more than a handful of other people. He meets a woman by the name of Marie St Jacques and while initially he only makes contact with her to escape a hotel “ ‘I don’t want to use this (a gun). I don’t want to hurt you, but I will do both if I have to.’ ‘My God ….’ ‘Be quiet. Just do as I say and you’ll be fine. I have to get out of this hotel and you’re going to help me. Once I’m out, I’ll let you go. But not until then.’ ”. However, the situation he finds himself in becomes more complex and so he refuses to let her leave until he feels safe “ ‘For God’s sake, let me go!’ ‘Not yet.’ He meant it; there was another exit somewhere, men waiting outside for the target from Marseilles.” In the events that...

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...al without an understanding of their own identity has nothing in common with anyone, nothing to connect them with these groups, communities or the larger world. They cannot belong.

In closing, Jason Bourne has his entire world, his memory, shattered into a million pieces. This results in a man physically, emotionally, and mentally broken struggling to piece together the life he once had. Through the connections he makes with people and places, a sense of belonging begins to emerge. Yet his lack of understanding, of his connection to individuals such as Carlos, groups such as Treadstone, society and the larger world in general mean that Jason Bourne cannot truly belong anywhere. “In a way, he’s a functioning microcosm of us all. I mean, we’re all trying to find out who the hell we are, aren’t we?”

Works Cited
The Bourne Identity: Novel, written by Robert Ludlum

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