Discovering Identity

Taking time to evaluate yourself and your identity is a very important part of “understanding” personal identity. Analyzing ones ethnicity, race, and beliefs is something everyone does in order to understand their portrayal to the rest of the world. But many of us do not identify with one ethnicity, race or belief. Many of us come to feel as though our life is “frameless” because of our inability to do this. For example when I am asked on surveys, applications etcetera to choose my race I am forced to pick what race I most identify with. This is complex for me because of my half Portuguese half English racial, ethnic and cultural ties. I cannot choose Latino and Caucasian simultaneously and this is very frustrating for me because I identify with both. I would like to select “American” but unfortunately we are forced to choose from a selection of non-American ethnic backgrounds to identify with.

            Bessie Head author of A Question of Power discusses the issue of a “frameless” identity in her novel, in order to show us the negative emotional effects this has on people. The main character Elizabeth has no links to her past, family, religion, or ethnicity. Elizabeth is essentially culture-less, “...when you were six years old we heard that your mother had suddenly killed herself in the mental home” (Head 17). It was things like this that Elizabeth has been dealing with since a small child. Bessie Head's novel is based on a personal struggle to find resolution and reconciliation of the past. Elizabeth did what anyone else would do in order to find substance in her existence, “frames are mental structures that shape the way we see the world. As a result, they shape the goals we seek, the plans we make, the way we act.” (Burton 60). Because Elizabeth has issues with identity she struggles to fit into Botswana's society, "...as far as Batswana society was concerned, she was an out-and-out outsider and would never be in on their things” (Head 26). Elizabeth believes that if she can find some sort of culture or identity that this will lead her to the "promised land" leaving behind the oppression she has experienced throughout her life so she can finally be "accepted" or at least understood.

            Elizabeth's experiences involving her search for identity spark questions I have about my own personal identity. She raises questions about identity that I have not given much serious thought and in raising these questions Elizabeth aids my personal quest of understanding my identity. Elizabeth is more or less a clean slate when it comes to belonging to a certain group or belief, “we are predestined towards certain frames depending on the circumstances of our birth and upbringing.” (Burton 62). She has the luxury of being more open minded to things such as religion or life principles because she never head predestined values, beliefs, or culture imposed on her. By observing Elizabeth's journey for identity it allows me to question my own principles and beliefs. People must understand that they can break free of their own principles, allowing them to adopt new principles that better represent their personal beliefs. Observing Elizabeth can give us ideas on how to accomplish this.