Advanced Essay #3: Amelia Benamara (One World Per Self)

Amelia Benamara

Mr. Block

English 3

07 March 2018

One World Per Self

Most of us have felt like we've been invaded by aliens at one time or another. I’m sure it sounds just as crazy to you, as it does to me, but we’re all living multiple lives in a world such as ours. Some might know it, others do not focus on the subject, and the rest simply are not fully aware.

It is more of a performance where you are executing a different self in different environments. Almost like Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis approach which is demonstrated through his book: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. It is well known for the use of imagery of the theatre in order to portray the importance of human social interaction. When you're at home, you perform your “family” self, where most are surrounded by family members in a house that contains different rules from the outside world, therefore your mind automatically knows to be more cautious whether it’s with words or responsibilities. When I walk into my home, I have gotten used to instantly speaking my native language to my family members rather than speaking with a certain slang the way I do elsewhere. Almost like a puzzle, our body registers a certain self wherever it might fit based on our surroundings, which we, of course, get comfortable with over a period of time.

On the street, outside of the home, you are surrounded by people who have also have multiple selves hidden under their physical characteristics. The public persona refers to the public image that you attempt to project to others, which in turn interacts with how other people actually see you. Just as you show them a certain self, they do the same to you. This public self is different based on the type of environment, for example, in low or middle-class neighborhoods, you will find personas that use a language known as “street slang.” Some personas also feed habits of addicts who are trapped with the uncontrollable cravings of addiction. However, that is the persona they are showing to the people they are surrounded with.

In school, it might be a mixture of both your indoor and outdoor self. Many schools have different environments, for example, most private schools have strict rules for students to follow, setting a guaranteed path to success for them. Other schools, such as the schools I am familiar with in a city such as Philadelphia. I grew up in South Philadelphia, where neighborhood middle schools weren’t very safe. Many fights broke out daily and teachers didn’t show much care towards teaching the curriculum the best they should. All of these negative components have an effect on students, giving them irrelevant issues to be concerned about when at school, rather than what is more important: their academics. Teachers do very little to encourage students to stay focused on their work. In an environment as such, people might perform a persona that isn’t “real” to their surroundings. This means that they might have their guard up and act like they don’t have much care about their academics, even if those aren’t their true emotions. Once one gets used to trying to fit in by changing many aspects of who they are, they eventually get used to it and it becomes a new self within them. On the other side, in private schools, one’s home persona comes out more than their street self. This is because the strict rules the school sets are on the same scale as the rules parents set at home.

When one is alone, perhaps in a state where they no longer feel the need to wear a different mask for others that surround them, a "true," "private," or "core" self which is not always seen by other people, is shown. This self is consistent with us at all times, even when we do not have access to it. Stephen Mitchell, a New York psychoanalyst, and author, suggests in her book Relational Concepts in Psychoanalysis: An Integration, that all of our selves are true. Some are more private or hidden than others, but that doesn't make them any more reals than those that are visible to the world. Although a true self is most important within the soul, the other different selves serve a very important function, as well. They represent our ability to respond and adapt to different situations and different people. Unfortunately, we begin to suppress some of the selves that get the least response in our lives as we develop into adults. So when these selves suddenly appear, we are taken back and have no idea what to do with them.

At a certain point in life’s growth — mostly during the late teenage years or early adulthood — an individual will notice the multiple personas that exist within them. How do we react to such news? We compare ourselves to others, and often times we wonder if we’re the only ones. Society portrays figures to be “flawless,” where being the heroes, models, singers, actors, and actresses, will be something we cannot accomplish. This is where insecurities play a role as we question our worth of identity. Superheroes are an example of ones who frequently lead double lives - think Superman and Clark Kent, Batman and Bruce Wayne, Spiderman and Peter Parker, and the list goes on. The poem We are Many by Pablo Neruda reads: “All the books I read lionize dazzling hero figures, brimming with self-assurance. I die with envy of them; and, in films where bullets fly on the wind, I am left in envy of the cowboys, left admiring even the horses” (Stanza 5). We pay a huge amount of attention to even the normal things like horses that we get jealous of just because they are in movies and they seem to be living fairytale lives when in reality none of that exists outside someone’s imagination.

Even those who might seem to live perfect lives have more in common with you than you think. Politicians, professional athletes, and actors are all famous for having public and private personas - although these days there's not as much to hide behind as there was before the days of the internet. Everyone, famous or not famous, performs multiple acts, even if it is hard to tell just by looking at them. Remember, if we can hide our true selves well, so can they.

Bibliography

Neruda, Pablo. “We Are Many.” PoemHunter.com, 3 Jan. 2003, www.poemhunter.com/poem/we-are-many/.

TEDtalksDirector. “Thandie Newton: Embracing otherness, embracing myself.” YouTube, YouTube, 20 July 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzKBGtf0i0M.

Goffman, Erving. The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books, 2008.

Mitchell, Stephen A. Relational concepts in psychoanalysis: an integration. Harvard University Press, 1995.