How Do We Shape Our Identity Essay

Our identity is shaped by our relationships" “Tell me who you love and I’ll tell you who you are.” This Creole proverb poses the idea that our identity can be entirely predicted from the relationships we have. However the question that must be asked is whether it is our relationships that shape our identity or is it the other way round? Looking at the stories of identity in growing up Asian and in my own life this relationship goes both ways.

Our identity starts in its creation in childhood and it does not end until death. Our parents shape our identity in the beginning giving us our name, our language and exposing us to foods that we will later feel most accustomed to. In this stage of our life our relationships have the power over our identity. In our adolescence this relationship is turned on its head; here the identity that was formed in our childhood dictates the friendships we can make. In the end however, neither direction takes control. Some of the most profound parts of our identity are our name, our language, and our cultural customs. These parts of our identity originate from our childhood.

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The Chinese mother has high expectation of her daughter that and nothing else This becomes confusing as she is ensure that she does not bring shame upon the family. the daughter struggles to please her Chinese mother We later see in the story that the Chinese mother models toughness, intellect and a will so strong that the daughter is forced to acknowledge that will never change this habit of hers and the only way to deal with this situation is to accept her mother's character and cultural perspective. Towards the end the daughter recognise her mother's sacrifice. We see that A person’s character can directly influence their sense of