What determines identity? Dictionaries describes it as, “the fact of being who or what a person it.” However what makes you who you are? Or better yet, what you are? Your name, and the way you look make up the “who”, of whom you are; just the same, religion, culture and beliefs makes up the what. Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road was strongly based on the relationship between Xavier Bird and Elijah Whiskeyjack. It illustrates how their native cultural identity changes throughout the novel and shapes their personal identity into becoming something monstrous. Xavier becomes the person he loathed Elijah for being, and loses his most treasured morals, while Elijah loses all his culture and transforms into the type of being that harmed him as a child. Elijah’s self-identity is shaped through a battlefield setting, not only in war but in residential schooling. He learns to adapt to the new environment in order to survive, while Xavier’s was shaped in a home setting. The differences between the two boys help shape the similarities of them in the end. The three main key factors that differentiate Elijah’s and Xavier’s identity is their respect for Oji-Cree culture, their respect and love for other human beings, and their general personality traits. In the end, the culture of war has the biggest effect on their self-identity and changes Xavier into the monster he so desperately did not want to become.
Raised in an Oji-Cree household by Niska, a medicine woman of Oji-Cree decent, Xavier had an abundance of aboriginal culture in his lifestyle, he speaks almost pure Cree language and knows very little English; only enough to be able to communicate with the other soldiers, which is very little; the white soldiers only accept Elijah. Xavier’...
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...d, although addicted to morphine, he has much more a sense of place and of who he is. He can at least relate his experiences in the war to his present life, with Niska. Elijah clearly tried to assimilate too much into white culture and this caused his insanity and general negative behavior as a result of pressure. The way he responds to situations during the war shows that he responds to pressure in an intense way, and mostly in a way that the whites will approve of, and even praise.
Works Cited
http://brianl3dayroad.tumblr.com/
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Three-Day-Road-455278.html
http://threedayroadlitjgattoni.edublogs.org/theme-analysis/
http://www.nipissingu.ca/departments/student-development-and-services/academic-skills/resources/Pages/Criminal-Justice-Essay.aspx
https://blog.uvm.edu/pwmartin-180/2009/10/06/three-day-road-blog-prompt/ *****
In the novel, Three Day Road, the three main characters, Elijah, Niska and Xavier are Cree Indians. They are Native Americans that do not rely on Europeans and make their living by hunting in the bush. They are maintaining their culture and identity after the the Europeans come as before. However, Elijah and Xavier are volunteering in the First World War. They are losing their identity gradually in ways of culture, status, power, thinking, beliefs, etc. Xavier and Niska try to maintain their culture but Elijah wants to get rid of it totally.
One of the greatest fictional villains of all time, Joker, once said, “Madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push”. The quote is epitomized by the show, but sure, deterioration of the mental state of Elijah in Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road. It is easy to attribute Elijah's fall from the brink of sanity to the circumstances of war, however, it would be much more accurate to make the claim that Elijah’s insanity is caused by his own characteristics. Elijah metaphorically becomes his own enemy while on the front lines. His struggle with his addictions and his quest to prove to others and to himself that he is the greatest sniper in the war, lead to his lunacy and ultimately, his demise. There is no doubt that the war
To begin with, culture is something that may change evolve within time but culture is something that come with your heritage or your ethnicity the traditions and things that happen that make up your culture like how your parents raised you are culture. In the informational text “ What is cultural identity” by Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco, and in the personal essay “Ethnic Hash” by Patricia Williams, there are similarities and differences in how each writer conveys their message about cultural identity. Based upon their research, Trumbull and Pacheco present the idea that culture changes and that it will never stay the same, while Williams uses her personal experience to develop the idea that many things influence cultural inheritage but
The American Dictionary defines identity as the distinct personality of an individual. Many factors make up one's identity, such as race, one's relationship with society, and religion. People seek other people who with they can identify. One must interact with others and learn from his interests and their responses to find a suitable group. The process of finding a group allows one to discover his or her own identity. Through The Color of Water, James McBride demonstrates that one perceives his identity through feedback from others as well as through his own thoughts and emotions.
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Before beginning the explanation of how an identity is formed, one must understand what an identity is. So, what is identity? To answer this, one might think of what gives him individuality; what makes him unique; what makes up his personality. Identity is who one is. Identity is a factor that tells what one wants out of life and how he is set to get it. It tells what kind of a person one is by the attitude and persona he has. And it depends upon the mixture of all parts of one’s life including personal choices and cultural and societal influences, but personal choices affect the identity of one more than the others.
Context: Xavier and Elijah had been friends since they could remember. They would always hunt and live together. Xavier had always looked upon Elijah, since he was always the center of attention of the wemistikoshiw (white men), with his smooth talk and stories. However as the war progresses, Xavier notices a radical change in Elijah. Elijah slowly starts to drift way from their long friendship, now more interested into the world of the Europeans, rather than the Cree culture:
People identify themselves using not only qualities within them, but through culture and family as well. Through these few examples, it is easy to see some of the foundations that can foster an entire, complex identity. It is understandable how interesting and varied humans can be, drawing from so many directions to build who they are. Identity is not very complex at all, it comes through living day to day.
No human being is culture free. We are a product of the many different cultures which surround us. Our values, worldview and experiences are structured by the society and culture that exert influences on our lives each day.
Identity is a person’s socially and historically constructed concept. We learn and determine our own identity through the interactions of family, peers, media and also other connections that we have encounter in our life. Gender, social class, age and experience of the world are the key concepts which plays a substantial role in shaping how we are by facing obstacles in our lives. According to Mead (1934) as cited in Thulin, Miller, Secher, and Colson (2009), identity theory determines
Identity is a state of mind in which someone recognizes/identifies their character traits that leads to finding out who they are and what they do and not that of someone else. In other words it's basically who you are and what you define yourself as being. The theme of identity is often expressed in books/novels or basically any other piece of literature so that the reader can intrigue themselves and relate to the characters and their emotions. It's useful in helping readers understand that a person's state of mind is full of arduous thoughts about who they are and what they want to be. People can try to modify their identity as much as they want but that can never change. The theme of identity is a very strenuous topic to understand but yet very interesting if understood. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez and Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki are two remarkable books that depict the identity theme. They both have to deal with people that have an identity that they've tried to alter in order to become more at ease in the society they belong to. The families in these books are from a certain country from which they're forced to immigrate into the United States due to certain circumstances. This causes young people in the family trauma and they must try to sometimes change in order to maintain a comfortable life. Both authors: Alvarez and Houston have written their novels Is such an exemplifying matter that identity can be clearly depicted within characters as a way in adjusting to their new lives.
My culture identity, as I know it as is African American. My culture can be seen in food, literature, religion, language, the community, family structure, the individual, music, dance, art, and could be summed up as the symbolic level. Symbolic, because faith plays a major role in our daily lives through song, prayer, praise and worship. When I’m happy I rely on my faith, same as when I’m sad, for I know things will get better as they have before.
Identity is popularly regarded as a combination of personality, feelings and beliefs. Basically, identity defines who a person is. It is used to describe and distinguish the personality of people. It is what makes people unique. Some may believe that identity and personality are similar or the same, but personality is simply an insincere impression and does not involve a person’s hidden feelings and beliefs. That is, the way we are brought up is what defines us; it is what we become or what we are and that cannot be changed in any way until we embrace a different culture or decide to change our way of doing things.
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Culture and socialisation are the two major entities that help shape our identity. The culture one is raised in as a child, and the people we come into contact with in our daily lives, can all be classified as encounters we have with socialisation. As young children who enter this world, we imitate those close to us and behaviours begin to form. It is through this imitation we also discover to express our emotions. These characteristics are engrained in us from a young age and are the major basic building blocks to help us develop our individual identities.