Cristen Lauck

December 10, 2011

Essay #2- Identifying Ourselves and an Other

            When reviewing the texts we’ve studied this semester, one main theme stands out to me and that is the idea of the self and other. This focus on “otherness” seems to be prevalent in many of the texts we’ve read since the mid-term. I found this to be a major concern for the characters in the novels Heart of Darkness, Things Fall Apart, Jasmine and also in Derek Walcott’s poem “A Far Cry from Africa”. I thought of Objective 1 when I noticed the similarities and intertextuality that existed between these texts. I also saw Objective 2b which shows how novels and poetry can connect to one another. These objectives were realized because all these stories touch on this idea of the self/other but each bring a different understanding to it. In the end, all seem to come to the ultimate conclusion that in order to thrive in this world, we need to look past our differences or “otherness” or it will lead to our ruin.

In Heart of Darkness for example, Marlow comes to realize the “savages” are not a different and awful as he was taught to believe. He saw the inhumanity that was being done to them and felt sympathy for them. Once he realized they were not as “savage” or as different as he was, he was able to feel sympathize for them and realize they were living in the “Heart of Darkness”. One example of when Marlow starts to see the natives as being human beings like himself is on the boat when he realizes the natives are starving because they have not be allowed to eat anything. He shows his compassion and admiration for the natives when he says, “It takes a man all his inborn strength to fight hunger properly. It’s really easier to face bereavement, dishonor, and the perdition of one’s soul – than this kind of prolonged hunger” (38). Although Marlow could have completely shut off this feelings toward the natives because they were cannibals and hungry for human flesh. Instead, he chose to focus on their strength and resilience instead of focusing on their “otherness”. Marlow lets go of his preconceived notions that the natives are different than he. He even says earlier in the novel that what was thrilling about his experiences was the fact that he could associate with them. He says, “what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity - like yours- the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate roar” (32). Marlow begins to realize that he can identify with the natives and they are not so different as he once thought. This realization seems to be the primary message of the novel. That we must overcome our sense of self and realize the “others” are really just the same as us.

Jasmine in Bharati Mukherjee’s novel of the same name also is consumed by the idea of the self and other. However, her experience is somewhat different than Marlow’s because she is the “other” in the story. She is the “outsider” who is entering the American way of life. For Jasmine, her accomplishment in the novel seems to be that she is able to escape her “otherness”. Through the course of the novel, Jasmine is able to escape her role of foreigner and find herself. For her, becoming genuinely American meant she could escape her label of “other” and she is able to do this when she runs away with Taylor. She loves Taylor because he sees past her differences and foreignness and just sees her, another human being. Jasmine says in the novel that she enjoyed not being looked down upon by Taylor. She says according to them she “was a professional, like a schoolteacher or a nurse. [She] wasn’t a maidservant” (175).  With Taylor, Jasmine was able to escape her traditional, expected roles and reinvent herself to be whoever she wants to be. At the end of the novel, she says that being able to change who she was and who she was expected to be was thrilling to her. She says, “I realize I have already stopped thinking of myself as Jane. Adventure, risk, transformation: the frontier is pushing indoors through uncaulked windows” (240). For Jasmine, the accomplishment she has in the novel is that she is able to escape her “otherness” and create an identity that is genuinely her “self”.

Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart also is obsessed with the idea of self and other but his difference is that he is unable to reconcile his beliefs about the others. His problems start in the novel because he is unable to cope with the changes around him and he cannot accept the “others” who are the Christian missionaries. Okonkwo cannot look past the missionaries “otherness” and changing ways and instead of understanding them from an understanding and humanistic viewpoint, he just dismisses them as ridiculous. That is why he cannot cope when his son decides to join them. Okonkwo’s world begins to “fall apart” because he cannot accept anyone else differences. Not only does he disown his own son for becoming a Christian but he also says that if his grandchild follow their father’s path, he would “wipe them off the face of the earth” (153). He cannot handle the changes around him and cannot understand anyone who is different than he. Okonkwo holds on to his “self” and cannot accept anyone else’s “otherness”, which in the end is what led to his downfall.

There is also a sense of “otherness” in Derek Walcott’s poem “A Far Cry from Africa”. This poem, like Okonkwo, has a difficult time reconcile his otherness to those around him. Walcott shows the difficulty in trying to resolve his mixed feelings about the British who have come to rule his native peoples. He laments about thins difficulty saying “I who have cursed / The drunken officer of British rule, how choose / Between this Africa and the English tongue I love? / Betray them both, or give back what they give? / How can I face such slaughter and be cool? / How can I turn from Africa and live?” (Ln. 28-33). Walcott shows the difficulty in looking past ourselves and to start understanding the “otherness” of those around us. Walcott understands the difficulty in doing this; however we know from the other texts that it is necessary or our worlds will fall apart as it did for Okonkwo.
            When reading these texts, it is apparent the idea of a self and other is necessary in understanding ourselves. One has to wonder why it is such a common issue. Why are we so focused on finding the differences between us and everyone else? It seems only natural that we would associate ourselves with others like us and look for those that are different. Perhaps it is because we think of the world as a survival of the fittest. Perhaps we as humans have to single out those that are different and look for flaws or weaknesses. Or perhaps we try to elevate ourselves n order to stand out from the rest. All of this could be true but what is beautiful about these texts are that they go against this belief. These novels show that when we look past our differences and realize others are just like us, we show a sign of maturity. These stories show that when we start to look for the humanity in others, we free ourselves from hatred and when we don’t, things fall apart.