Can Identity Be Self-Created?: Characterization in 'The Alchemist' and 'Marriage-a-la-Mode' Josephine Coustet College

Identity is critical for our understanding of our everyday interactions with others. It refers to who we are and how we appear in a society. Who we fundamentally are, our personal identity, is based on intrinsic qualities that define us, such as facts about us, our genetics and personality, involving our actions and what we say. Our identity is also defined by the perceptions that other people have from ourselves. I believe identity is multiple, it refers to what define us as a person, and is therefore inseparable from how we are seen by others. Identity is dual: it is our personal identity, what we fundamentally are and cannot be detached from how we appear in society, our social identity.[1]By considering the concept of identity’s dual characteristics, its multiplicity and relative stableness as well as its social implications, I will present the extent of control we have over creating our own identity. Asking if identity can be self created is tantamount to asking whether we have control over who we are and how people see us. While exploring how identities are created by characters in The Alchemist, and Marriage-a-la-mode, I will argue that if we can partially create and control our own identity, it cannot be created without...