Essay 2

Rick Gramazio

Professor Brady

English 102

March 16, 2011

“Identities in Crisis”

            Identity crisis can best be defined as distress and disorientation resulting from conflicting pressures and uncertainty about one's self and one's role in society. In both works of literature “Hills Like White Elephants”, written by Ernest Hemingway , “The Storm” written by Kate Chopin and the film “Shawshank Redemption”, written and directed by Frank Darabont, characters face situations which drive them to question or ignore their own identities. This identity crisis causes potential tension for themselves and other characters in the story.  The characters show a common disability when identifying or finding a sense of belonging in terms of themselves compared to civilization.

 In “Hills Like White Elephants”, The American and his partner Jig have conflicting identities. While Jig identifies with the thought of being a mother and setting down with the American, the American clearly identifies himself as being a free soul without any real responsibilities. “The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees. ‘And we could have all this,’ she said. ‘And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible” (Hemingway). Jig while she is in love with the American, is having a tough time agreeing with him on getting rid of the baby. She wants to have a family with him but not if it means him losing his love for her and their former freedom. She is clearly trying to show him that they could still be happy even with the baby in their life. “I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural. "Then what will we do afterwards?’‘We’ll be fine afterwards. Just like we were before. ‘What makes you think so?’‘That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy"(Hemingway). The American is desperately trying to get Jig to have an abortion. He uses a friendly child like approach to try and convince Jig that this is the best for their relationship.  It is obvious that the American cannot identify himself with being a father and a husband.

 In “The Storm”, While Calixta is married to her husband Bobinot she is having trouble seeing herself as a house wife and mother. She needs more excitement in her life so she continues to see and have sexual encounters with Alcee a man whom Calixta has been with before. This is evident when she is juggling doing house chores and accompanying Alcee during the rainstorm. “Calixta put her hands to her eyes, and with a cry, staggered backward. Alcee’s arm encircled her, and for an instant he drew her close and spasmodically to him… He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss” (Chopin). Calixta shows that she is not ready to settle down with her husband yet. She still has feelings for her former lover Alcee in an almost immature way. “Oh, Bobinot! You back! My! but I was uneasy. W’ere you been during the rain? An’ Bibi? he ain’t wet? he ain’t hurt?” She had clasped Bibi and was kissing him effusively” (Chopin). Even when Bobinot comes back she clinches him and shows his affection even after her sexual encounter with Alcee. She is not set on where she wants to be in life. She has conflicted identities with both her husband and Alcee.

In Shawshank Redemption a character in the movie by the name of brooks was an older gentleman who had been in prison nearly his whole adult life. Finally after being released he was having difficulty identifying himself as a functioning member of society. He was not used to the invention of cars and other technologies. Also, the faster pace of society in that time period was also mentioned. This ultimately forces brooks to commit suicide just a few weeks after being released. In a note to his friends in prison, Brooks writes, “Dear fellas, I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid, but now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry.”… “Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway so they'd send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense any more” (Shawshank Redemption). Brooks can’t find his niche in society. He is considering committing a crime to get back to prison which he now calls home.  After being confined by the prison wall for so long he lost the ability to identify himself as a free human being. “I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me” (Shawshank Redemption) Brooks can’t find his true identity. He has lost his sense of social skills. His failure to identify himself with the free world is almost forcing him to commit suicide, instead of dealing with his problem.

The characters highlighted in each work have shown traits of identity crisis. Their actions or lack thereof, presents to us a certain weakness. In some cases Identity crisis was shown by one individual who couldn’t decide between two identities, or like in “Hills like White Elephants”, where the conflicted identities was not just for one person but two peoples identities clashing in a relationship. Also, in Shawshank redemption Brooks wants to identify himself with being a free man however he can’t seem to break from his prison state of mind.  Every character has their own unique sense of crisis.