My Lifes Experience and Identity vs. Elaine Risley - Essay Example

My life’s experience and identity vs. Elaine Risley Identity development is shaped by various factors ranging from individual experiences, interactions with their environment, their memories and even timelines of the incidences shaping their lives. This essay will consider the experiences and the events that have helped shape the identity of Elaine Risley in the novel Cat’s Eye, from her childhood to adulthood. The essay will compare the experiences of Elaine to my own life. As seen in the novel, childhood experiences indeed shape an individual’s life in the later stage. This can be validated using the example of Elaine who goes through lots of tribulations in her life as a child, and the same is replicated in her adult life. My case is no different since the person that I am today has greatly been determined by the experiences and the socialization processes that I went through as a child. Evidently, the childhood stage determines how one interacts with others, and even shape the kind of personality that an individual acquires. As seen in the novel, Elaine joins high school and it is at this point that her personality completely shifts from an introvert to a social person and an extrovert (Atwood 22). This transition can be related to the fact that in her childhood she did not have the right people and opportunity to converse with and even interact with. This is similar to my situation. When I was a child, I could barely communicate with others because my parent always questioned my doings, and I was, therefore, afraid that everything I did was wrong. Upon joining high school, my confidence was restored, and I began talking to people often. An individual’s experiences have major effects on the identity of individuals. In the novel, Elaine is seen to lead a very happy life before moving to Toronto despite her having friends (Atwood 22). In the course of her childhood, Elaine goes through terrible experiences such as being put in a hole in the name of game playing (Atwood 120). It is in this hole that she went through terror, fright, sadness and betrayal. Her friends take advantage of her naivety and innocence to take advantage of her; though Elaine believed that her friends wanted to include her in the game. It would take time for Elaine to be embraced in the group since her fellow finds like Cordelia think that she is not normal (Atwood 134). Elaine stands the bullying from her friends and does not tell her parents or even the teacher. Her self-esteem is then damaged, a fact that determines her identity and personality. I also share the same experiences with Elaine. As a child, my uncles and aunts were left to take care of me since my parents’ jobs were very demanding. My aunts used to beat me up and even deny me food. They threatened that if told my parents they would actually lock me up in a room the following day. My days were full of pain and suffering, and I could not share the same with any one, not even my mother. I therefore became a person with a very low esteem and an introvert. I could not take when visitors came to our house as I thought that everything I did was wrong. My mother did not have time to spend with me as she was always locking for money. My grades in school were also very poor. Nothing in life was good for me. This had a major impact on my identity and personality. As seen in the work of Atwood, upon reaching high school, Elaine rediscovers her lost self through changing her relations with her friends and her peers (225). She goes through a process that helps her forget her terrible past and even gets the right attitude to face the future. Elaine claims only to only have good times, and even feels insulted when someone reminds her of her past (Atwood 225). She deals squarely with her fiends such as Cordelia who make attempts to outsmart and demoralize her (Atwood 262). Actually Elaine uses the tactic of only speaking when spoken to avoid chances of being hurt and even hurting others with her comments (Atwood 263). At this point, she is able to get as many friends as possible; other seeking support from her and others simply to be beside her always (Atwood 263-4). From these developments, it is evident that Elaine is restructuring her terrible past and even fights back with those who took advantage of her in the past such as Cordelia who has to put up with Elaine’s verbal wars (Atwood 264). In the 13th grade, we see Elaine struggling with her career choice and hopes to shift from a biologist to a painter (Atwood 287). This choice later shapes her identity and personality especially with the choice of friends and partners in future. Just as Elaine struggled with her past, I also struggled with my new life in high school. I used to wet my bed and hoped not to associate with other people for fear of ridicule. In my second year after joining high school, I already had a solution and I no longer had to air my bedding outside. I now began to reshape my identity and personality and even swore to never let anyone bring me down. I became very aggressive to a point that I was made the head prefect in my school. I took my revenge on my fellow students that ridiculed me as a bed wetter and even gave them harsh punishments to prove that I was now in control. Conclusively, it is evident that an individual’s childhood is a major determiner of one’s identity and personality. Elaine results to being a bully after being bullied for a long time. She becomes more aggressive and dominative. This new personality is unlike her; thus, making her do many mistakes and live with regrets later on in life. I also took the same path since my abusive childhood led my revenge on other innocent persons in high school. Our experiences can then be said to be the major determiners of our identity, harsh experiences may lead to an angered, and bitter person and vice versa just as would be argued in the case of murderers. Work Cited Atwood, Margaret. Cat’s Eye. Toronto: Emblem, 2011. Print. Read More