Creating an Identity

Maria Muia

ENC 1939

Paper 3 – Final

11/1/17

Creating an Identity

        In the story Jon by George Saunders, there are many different examples of how someone’s identity is created. Your identity starts to form when you are a child and changes nonstop throughout your whole life. The way people are raised has a huge impact, when growing up your parents are your role models. The way they act is going to be how a child learns to act, children learn through observation so it is important to set a good example. Also, in this day and age social media has a huge impact on the way people live their lives. Social media makes it easier to form an opinion because of the exposure to infinite different opinions. Education is important because it can shape someone’s identity forever, especially during your adult life. Saunders’ stories exemplify how education, social media, and personal exposure to all types of media create your personality and identity.

        You begin shaping your identity when you are a child. It comes from what people watch on tv, what their parents told them along with how they acted, and the friends they grew up with. Tv is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in today’s society and it has a huge impact on the way people look at and live their lives. One bad outcome this has is giving people an unrealistic perspective about the world. The news especially shows current events but can twist the words and force people to see it differently. There are also many different news channels and every channel can have a different perspective on the same situations. Each channel will give different opinions on the same stories so it’s important to watch as many as possible to broaden your individual opinion. CNN is one the most well-known news broadcasters in America, they are known for being a predominately liberal channel. If someone were to only watch this channel they would not be properly informed thus would not be able to form a true opinion. In the story “Jon” the characters are only shown certain tv shows and commercials and it blinded them from the reality of the real world. In the story when Randy looked out the window he thought this, “I had a look and tell the truth it did not look that good, such as the Rustic Village Apartments, out of which every morning these bummed-out-looking guys in the plainest non-designer clothes ever would trudge and get into their junky cars” (Saunders 47). Randy is only able to see what is visibly accessible to him from that window, he does not realize that there is so much more world out there that he does not know about. Also, in the story, they were only allowed to watch certain things on tv which made it hard for them to have a full understanding and grasp of the world. If you only watch certain programs then you do not get to form a complete opinion. Just like when people are kids, if their parents only let them watch certain shows they might grow up not being able to form realistic beliefs. Growing up like this may shape them into being narrow minded as adults.

 Throughout my life, my friends have been one of the most important factors in becoming who I am today. I moved around the country several times when I was growing up and I always associated myself with the same type of people. Once I realized what I was doing to myself I wanted to expand my horizons, I started talking to people I would have never talked to before. It opened my mind to so many different views, altering my thought process. The great thing about moving around was being able to experience the different environments and people. I realized that everyone is unique in their own way and this really helped me accept who I am. I began to choose friends that accept me, help me grow, and make me a better person. It pushed me to make amazing friends that I never thought could be so important to my identity and individuality.  Even though, I did not always agree with the opinions of others it forced me to look at the world from a different perspective. Every person I have come in contact with has had an impact on my identity and made me the individual I am today.

        Social media has the biggest impact on this generation because it is one of the easiest and quickest ways to communicate and connect with the world. Young adults are the ones who use social media the most and they are easily influenced by it. It is one of the quickest ways to figure out what you like and do not like in the world and constantly looking at other people’s opinions and pictures makes forming your identity easy. For me, social media has shaped the way I dress a lot. Instagram and Twitter have many fashion and style pages that influence my personal style every time I go on. Fashion being something that’s so important to me, I like to keep up with the currents trends and social media is the easiest way to see what’s in style. Online shopping has also made it easy because a lot of the times when I see pictures of clothes that I want, there is a link of where I can buy it and have it delivered to my house within a week. Social media has also affected the way I eat. There are a lot of videos and articles that migrate around the internet about animal cruelty and it changed my thought process when I was eating meat. At first, I became a vegetarian because I was so disturbed by what I saw. I did not eat any meat for 2 months, but during those months I continued to research and was horrified by what they do to animals, not only for meat, but all products that contain animal substances. I learned that it is completely healthy for humans to have a plant based diet so I converted into a full vegan. I have been a vegan for 5 months now and it changed my life forever. Being a vegan is a huge part of my identity and I would have never done it if it was not for social media.