Identity In Margaret Atwood's Cat´s Eye

Pipher gives some compelling stories about the behaviors of some pre-adolescent girls she has encountered. Her cousin, Polly, was an energetic and opinionated girl when she was young. Upon puberty, Polly felt unable to connect to boys and girls her age until she became stylish and more subdued in her language. This gives the reader the feeling that Polly was not accepted until she changed her personality to fit that of her surroundings. It is possible that Polly’s friends no longer enjoyed being around a girl who was opinionated or who would insult those with whom she did not agree. This story does not qualify as a valid, concrete premise to show the connection between changes an adolescent girl and her ability to connect with others.

Humans need social interaction to flourish and they tend to select a few people to become closest with. They share secrets, gossip about others, and support each other in times of need, but how well can someone really know another person? In Nineteen Minutes the reader watches Josie Cormier get ready for school, hiding her private personality away for the day. “Either Josie was someone she didn’t want to be, or she was someone who nobody wanted” (Picoult 8). To all of Josie‘s classmates, friends, teachers, and even her own mother she seems like the perfect child. Josie hangs out with the right crowd, gets great grades, and follows all of society's rules perfectly, but no one really knows who she is. Behind the mask perfection Josie is just another teenager struggling with depression and identity issues. The author chooses to make the most popular girl in school also one of the most depressed to show that although things may seem beautiful on the outside, they can be rotting from the inside. Picoult is proving how that easy it is for people to hide their personalities to the world.

A character’s perspective often changes the more they grow and develop. James Moloney’s award winning novel “A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove”, follows the journey of awkward teenager, Carl Matt, as he leaves his hometown to stay with his manipulative aunt in a small beachside town. Throughout the text, Carl grows from insecure teenager to confident young man, which shifts his view of life. The novel uses dislocation, relationships, and events, to explore how Carl’s perspective changes as he develops as a character. The dislocation of the character early on in the novel forces Carl to become more open minded and less timid.

p. 82). Therefore, the adult narrator’s ability to comment and reflect on his child-self effectively emphasizes the naïve and vulnerable nature of youth, and contributes to the mood of foreboding and suspense throughout the novel, ‘now I was over confident. I expected things to go my way’ (Chapter 1. p. 28).

A common response to a child acting immaturely is to say “grow up”. People who promote this phrase encourage maturity and better decision making, however, this is not the right thing to say. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the early Twentieth Century. The protagonist, Frances (Francie) Mary Nolan, is part of a working class American family but is able to see past the dust and grime and into the beauty. In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith raises the question of whether it is better to stay innocent or become mature.

This goes on to show that the narrator (who expresses herself as young, poor girl) does not have any women in her family and Lucy is someone she can run to and be her female barrier through life, as a sister which she says, “And we look at each other, our arms gummy from Popsicle we split, we could be sisters right?(5)”.Relating to she wants so much to be close to this girl, and she imagines them as sisters. In addition to, there are no male presence around except for her brothers which makes her feel like she can not relate to “their”world. Another reference of identity is in the story “Barbie-Q”, the little girl is playing with Barbie dolls with her friend, and the barbie dolls are very basic with not much clothing. Moreover, there is no “Ken” Barbie dolls around either. This compares that there is no masculinity as well as how poor these two girls are since the dolls only have few clothing. As a result, these girls have to share . Before long, they have an opportunity to buy some barbie dolls when there is a sale on burnt dolls due to warehouse that caught on fire. “And if the prettiest doll, Barbie's MOD'ern cousin Francie with real eyelashes, eyelash brush included, has a left foot melted a little—so?”(16). The girls do not care or take notice to the damage, they are grateful for what they have.

Betty Smith 's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn presents the problems of a child growing up, the coming of age when one meets challenges and overcomes obstacles. The protagonist, Francie Nolan, undergoes a self-discovery as she strives to mature living in the Brooklyn slum despite its poverty and privation. Thus, Smith 's thematic treatment of the struggle of maturity has become for the reader an exploration of loneliness, family relationships, the loss of innocence, and death and disease.

Teenagers are young, naïve and impressionable. They are also insecure and usually sometimes unable to express themselves so they put others down. They are pressured daily to do things they really don’t want to do. They often find themselves doing something they said they would never do. Because of the influence of those around them, they are trying to cover their insecurities by saying things to make others feel bad about themselves. The traits above describe the two main characters in the short story “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”. Both Bernice and Marjorie are young teens dealing with the pressure of being popular and fitting in. Bernice, being the quieter, shyer girl, deals with trying to fit in in a place she feels she doesn’t belong.

After getting tormented continuously, it suddenly stops but Marshall - her best friend becomes the new target. The police gets involved after Avalon confesses to her parents about her suffering. Marshall decides to end his life surprisingly, which changes the whole story.The bullies are unknown but Avalon suspects it is Alice the popular girl, but in the end the person who is the bully is unforeseen. This captivating book has an unexpected ending due to the dramatic plot twist - death and not having the stereotypical bully. “When I was on that roller coaster....” suggests that the events taken place were very eyeopening and abrupt. Every parent and teenager should be compelled to read this text because of the thought-provoking plot structure.

Because of the sexual confidence Hannah Peace has, Sula must disguise her difference, just like her grandmother Eva had too. Eva’s drastic measures were repeated by Sula an act of survival and denial of powerlessness and vulnerability. Nel and Sula are regularly picked on by the same group of boys, causing Sula to take matter into her own hands. At one point, Sula takes out a knife and cuts off part of her finger saying, “ ‘If I can do that to myself, what you suppose I’ll do to you?’ ” (54-55). This severe act if Sula’s moment of self-recognition of her connection to her grandmother Eva. Here, Sula realizes that she has to fight against her own vulnerability, and establish her identity, hereby following her grandmother Eva’s example. Though this moment shows Sula’s inner strength, it can never disguise her enough of being different from the rest of her community. Just as Eva and Hannah, Sula continues the unpreventable, mature line of breaking past the typical gender roles of the time. Eva’s overly independent attitude and removal from caring and mothering a daughter correctly, leaves her daughters with unlearned, societal caretaking skills. This results in Sula’s highly inappropriate and unnecessary act of clumsy caretaking within her relationship with Nel. Yet, it is understandable because Sula has never been taught normal and conventional means for problem solving. The denial of motherly love from

Smokey Night by Eve Bunting is about a young boy named Daniel and his perspective on the riots that are going on outside of her apartment. He watches out his window as people steal TV's, clothing, and food. Daniel, his mother, and his cat are forced to leave their apartment when they realize it has caught on fire. While trying to get everyone out of the building Daniel realizes he cannot find his cat, Jasmine. Daniel is worried and upset about what could have happened to his cat but his mother tries to reassure him that cats are smart and they she'll find her way back. The cat soon becomes the main point of the story, sending the reader the theme of the story. This book teaches us that it doesn't matter what someone looks like, it is what is on the inside that counts! The illustrations throughout the book are very interesting and different than most picture books. They used darker colors and hash

The transitional space of adolescents, often allows for behaviors that, in adults, would be considered deviant. To reach maturity adolescents must shed these non-normative actions, and embrace the heteronormative ideal of western society. In both Heavenly Creatures (Peter Jackson, 1994) and Foxfire (Annette Haywood-Carter, 1996) portrayal girls exploring the deep intimacy of homosocial relationships driven by isolation and misunderstanding from the peers and families. In Heavenly Creatures, the intensity of the relationship consumes the girls, and they are trapped, unable to arrive at true adulthood and emotional maturity. However, in Foxfire the girl’s escape from the intensity homosocial world and successfully ‘grow up’.

Elaine’s Identity: Cat’s Eye The novel Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood, discusses the theme of finding yourself, and how a person can truly affect who you are. Elaine possesses the trait of vulnerability and is a victim of verbal torture from a childhood friend Cordelia. What at first may seem like child plays, Cordelia impacts Elaine’s mental stability traumatically. This novel consistently foreshadows how Elaine will forever remain affected by Cordelia.

Margaret Atwood creates a haunting and beautiful piece describing the experience a sad child goes through. She structures her poem by using five stanzas; two stanzas consisting of five lines, then one stanza with ten lines, and ending with two stanzas consisting of five lines. She uses simple yet powerful diction, tone, metaphors, similes, symbolism, and imagery to show the unknown speaker giving advice to a sad child. Her message/theme is sadness is a part of life and there are different ways to deal with it, but when death comes the thing that one is being sad about doesn’t matter.

Crane’s “Maggie: A Girl in the Streets” is a story of unyielding realism. The story follows Maggie, a girl who resides within the Bowery with her physically and emotionally abusive parents and brothers, Jimmy and Tommie. The story focuses on the life and struggles of Maggie and her family within the slums. Maggie desperately tries to escape the life within the Bowery, but eventually succumbs to it and passes away a broken woman.