A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Stephen Daedalus is influenced by the people surrounding him, but that influence causes him to fear himself and hide his voice from the world. His Catholic upbringing causes him to repress his emotions. When he acts on his lust he feels incredible guilt and has trouble forgiving himself. He doesn't understand the world around him the way other people seem to, yet tries to to belong at the expense of himself. The society Stephen lives in forces ideas upon him, but Stephen must choose to accept or reject the ideas. As a boy, Stephen is docile and easily influenced by the adults around him. He becomes an incredibly pious boy after repenting for his sins, but his pious facade hides the power Stephen feels from knowing one bad act can undo all the pious work Stephen has done. Stephen is a stranger to society and represses himself until finally he takes control of himself to develop his needs as an artist. The relationships in Stephen's life influence him, but his perception of the world defines him. Stephen uses a woman he hardly knows, Emma, to idolize women in a perfect, untainted form. His perception of the world sets him apart from others. He greets the world with curiosity and wonder. His understanding is sensory, smells and colors sparking his imagination. His imagination divides him from others. Stephen doesn't know how to fit in, his view of the world preventing him from conforming. By overcoming the conformity of his religion and his country, the conformity he held to perfection in his youth, Stephen can become the artist. He realized that the priesthood wasn't his goal and used the mindset that separated him from his peers to his advantage. Stephen turned his understanding of the world into an art form. He used his voice. Stephen Daedalus used his difference to his advantage. He broke away from the beliefs that influenced his upbringing and followed his desire to understand beauty. He found his voice when he accepted his inability to conform to society. I want to focus my cumulative essay on the idea that what makes unique can also help them. What separates us from society can help us, whether we use that quality to find philosophical enlightenment (Meursault) or personal enlightenment (Stephen Daedalus).

Beloved

Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved, deals with possession, possessing others and self-possession. This concept define's the character's as they define themselves by their possessions. Sethe defines herself according to her children, specifically the daughter she murdered. Murdering the "crawling already girl" is an act of possession for Sethe. She hastily lays claim to her children rather than let schoolteacher take possession of Sethe and her family again. The guilt Sethe feels after the murder define who she is and how she acts throughout the novel, which picks up 18 years after the murder. She allows the past to hold on to her, to possess her. Sethe becomes an outsider in the community and makes her living daughter, Denver, an outsider as well. She refuses to face the community and they shun her because of her behavior. Sethe surrounds herself with the past, yet ignores past events in an effort to convince herself of a different outcome. She ignores the murder of her daughter while also trying to justify the murder. Sethe becomes lost in the past and ignorant of the present by refusing to leave the house at 124, relishing the presence of her murdered daughter's spirit. "Nothing ever dies" according to Sethe, rememory is always there long after a place has disappeared. Sethe's rememory traps her in the past, and the past becomes her life.
Beloved, the murdered daughter come back to life, holds Sethe hostage in the past. Time stops at 124 when Beloved comes. Beloved's fixation with Sethe and her past overwhelm Sethe. Beloved is obsessed and takes possession of Sethe. The mother no longer possesses herself. Beloved victimizes Sethe, bringing up the past with questions about Sethe's mother and her earrings. Each question Beloved asks draws Sethe deeper into her past and prevents Sethe from coming to terms with the past. Sethe recalls her past and tries to explain her actions but Beloved won't let Sethe move on. Beloved holds her in the past with the guilt that Sethe hurt Beloved and doesn't love Beloved. Sethe "loved too much" and her love became obsessive; she possessed her children in an effort to love them.
The longer Beloved stays the more she eclipses Sethe and Denver. Denver doesn't seem to matter to Sethe because Sethe's life revolves around Beloved. 124 and Beloved symbolize the possession that defines Sethe. Her inability to move on halts any progressive into freedom she could achieve. Sethe indulges the past and Beloved begins to get fat, like a pregnant woman, as Sethe turns bony and weak. The old life of slavery that deprived Sethe of self-possession is reborn.
Denver doesn't allow the past to become her life. She defines herself separately from 124 when she finally steps outside the boundaries of the house and seeks outside help from the community. She becomes her own person when she chooses to depend on other people. Neither Denver nor Sethe can develop as individuals while possessed by their crippling past. Sethe murdered Beloved and Denver dranks the baby's blood, the past is part of them. Unlike Sethe, Denver reaches beyond the past and steps out into the present. She becomes a free person with an individual identity. Sethe was not free to love as she chose and defines herself by that lack of freedom. Denver, born free, can see beyond Beloved and the dangerously indulgent past and finds self through the necessity of self-preservation.

The Stranger

Meursault in The Stranger is persecuted because he is an outsider to society. He does not embellish who he is, observing the world and reacting. His emotions are true and he doesn't exaggerate them to fit in with other people. Meursault's truthfulness is more than a refusal to lie, its a refusal to over-indulge. Meursault is judged and defined as a heartless criminal by the society that puts him on trial. They call him a "monster" and spend more time in his trial dissecting his reaction to his mother's death than the actual murder case. They define him as a heartless killer without truly understanding him. Society defines him based on his reactions to the people in his life. His interactions condemn him. Meursault doesn't dramatize his feelings; he doesn't cry for his mother's death, impersonally sprung upon him. He reacts naturally rather than behaving according to social law. His unintentional, honest refusal to adhere to social law labels him as an outsuder in society. His definition of self comes from the honesty of his emotion.

Crime and Punishment

In Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment Rodya is defined by his guilt. His guilt over Alonya's murder changes his behavioral patterns and his outlook on the world. He adopted the beliefs of nihilism and untilitarianism to define who he was and after the murder quickly realized he was not the super-human he believed himself to be. His guilt closes him off from other people and makes him paranoid. He fears every person he meets suspects him of murder which feeds his guilt and paranoia. Rodya defines himself by his actions and his projections of people's reactions. Murdering the pawnbroker racks him with guilt. His guilt drives him to believe people view him with suspicion when that suspicion is often only in his head. Rodya's paranoia manifests physically so that his behavior becomes more eractic and the suspicion he imagined becomes reality; people really do begin to suspect him of murder. The murder becomes all Rodya can think about - who he is.
When Rodya seeks redemption for his crimes his definition of self changes. He sees the importance of relying on other people and on faith if he wants to overcome his destructive guilt. He is not the super-human he hoped to be, so he must re-define himself. Rodya's relationship with Sonia opens him to faith. His relationship with her eventually leads him to acknowledge the guilt he felt in murdering a woman. He becomes a more spiritual and dependent person as opposed to a solitary introvert. Rodya defines himself based on the strong relationship he develops with Sonia through the course of Dostoevsky's novel.

Shakespeare's Henry IV

Prince Hal in Henry IV is a perfect example of a person who defines himself using the people around him. He associates with the pub crawlers in order to give himself a bad reputation and to feel better about himself. He wants to disappoint the country so he can redeem "time when men think least I will." I think he also has a bit of the rebel going on there too; he doesn't want to become his father so he acts in opposition to his father. His actions are defined by how he wants to impact other people. He knows he is at least socially superior to the pub crawlers, and hangs out with them to boost his self image by being better in comparison. His hopes revolve around other people: hoping to redeem himself to his father by killing Hotspur, hoping to become better than Hotspur, hoping to one day be a great and respected ruler. Hal is a "teacher and a learner," interacting with the the people around him and acknoewledging and amending his mistakes. He takes responsibility by leading part of the army and becomes more respectable through his role and his care for his father shown when he saves the king's life. Hal casts off the pub crawlers and Falstaff in favor of the court and his father, changing his associates to change who he is. He believes he is a better person because of the company he decides to keep.

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus' ruin lies in his true relationships with the people around him. He defined himself based on his belief that King Polybos and Merope of Corinth were his parents. He attempted to flee his fate based on this belief. Oedipus kills a man on the road to Thebes; the death itself didn't destroy Oedipus but the realization that the dead man was King Laius and Oedipus' father did destroy Oedipus. Oedipus was punished because he killed a king, not because he killed a man. Because the king happened to be his birth father he also fufilled the prophecy that he would kill his father and later marry his mother. The relationship between the two contributed to Oedipus' ruin, rather than the act of murder itself.
The discovery that Oedipus' wife is also his mother changes his idea of self. Until this realization Oedipus was comfortable with himself and confident in his abilities as king. When he discovers that he unwittingly ran into his fate after all his attempts to avoid it he is disgusted with himself. His relationship as son to his wife and brother to his daughters leads him to stab out his eyes. He goes into exile because his identity has changed; his actions (killing a man and marrying a widowed queen) have not altered but their meaning and impact has. He views his past actions differently now that he knows the full extent of his relationship with his wife and family. By going into exile, Oedipus must now redefine himself based on the relationships he left behind and the lack of human contact he now faces. The people surrounding Oedipus completely changed his view of self as he learned the truth.

How do we define ourselves?

I want to focus on how people define themselves. When you say you're a "good person" that goodness is relative to the people around you. Is it possible to define who you are separate of other people? Are we nothing more than our relationships? I chose this question because I think we define ourselves based on our personal interactions. I know that my friends and family are such a deep part of me that I would be incomplete without them. The strong relationships I have make material possessions meaningless. A few weeks ago I went to my cousin's wedding reception and being around all of my cousin I realized that I don't care what others think about me because I am loved unconditionally and these relationships give me the courage to be myself and actively participate in life. I let go and danced around crazily. I have become the person I am today because of all the people in my life. I'm funny because I make people laugh and I'm trustworthy because I'm always true to my friends. Without these relationships my characteristics have no meaning.
In the Odyssey Odysseus is clever because he outwits Polyphemus and disguises himself from the suitors. But without his interactions and circumstances what is he? Odysseus is the impact he has had on people just as he is the flesh and blood that make up his body. He is clever, proud, and strong but all because that sets him apart from other people.
The Help also has a strong focus on relationships and identity. Prejudice causes people to define one another based on race and stereotypes rather than the examples people set through their actions. Some of the characters are able to get past these generalizations and discover who they are through the way they are treating others. The maid Minny realizes that she has been so used to horrible employers she stopped viewing her employers as emotional human beings. She begins to see herself as a strong independent woman because her new employer views her that way and gives her the courage and the circumstances necessary for Minny to become strong.