Identity About Identity

The Real Definition of Identity
What truly makes up someone’s identity? “The characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is.” This definition is outdated. A person’s characteristics are not the only thing that defines them. Events in someone’s life affect who they are as a person more than their characteristics do. Identity is how life experiences shape a person.
Certainly, starting dance has shaped my life and identity greatly. I first started dance when I was three years old. The sound of tap shoes and music was something I heard most nights of the week. On the weekends I would smell the hairspray my mom coated my hair with, so that it would not fall out on stage. A few years ago, I started going to a new dance studio. This

Mayella is questioned during the trial. Bob Ewell’s identity changes when this happens in the story. “What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why don’t you tell the truth, child, didn’t Bob Ewell beat you up?” (Lee 22) Everyone realizes what has actually happened. Tom is still going to be accused, but they now know that Bob beat his daughter. Mr. Ewell is already seen as a lousy person by the town. This just assures that he is trash. He is humiliated in front of all the townspeople. He is no longer seen as just as careless, alcoholic father. He is also seen as an abusive one. This turns him into an even more bitter person. Undoubtedly, Tom Robinson’s identity also changed when he was accused of the crime. Tom has been accused of raping Mayella. Atticus is explaining to his children who Tom is, because he is defending him. “Atticus sighed. “I’m simply defending a Negro - his name’s Tom Robinson. He lives in that little settlement beyond the town dump. He’s a member of Calpurnia’s church, and Cal knows his family well. She says they’re clean-living folks.” (Lee 22) This is how Tom is seen before the trial. The white townspeople still treat him poorly before the trial, because of his skin color, but after they are told that he raped a white woman they hate him. He is viewed as an awful person. This life event shaped Tom’s identity. He gave up hope after being convicted and changed as a person. People treated him even worse. His wife could not get a job, because she was connected to him. His name was tarnished. He and his family were seen as terrible people. Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell’s identity in To Kill a Mockingbird prove that identity is shaped by life events, because their identities change after the trial, which is a major life event for both of