Adolescent Identity Formation Summary

In this case, the narrator, a Native American woman named Jane, details her problematic life to explore the concepts of adolescent identity formation. In particular, her story focuses on forming an ethnic identity amongst others of a different ethnicity. Jane’s identity crisis was negatively affected by her environment causing a negative impact on her life as she got older. To start, Jane’s father abandoned her at a young age, leaving her to grow up without an ideal father figure in her life. When she did receive a patriarchal figure, her uncle, he was more damaging than beneficial. Jane’s uncle abused her and her brothers for numerous year, often making them feel like they deserved the abuse. Eventually, the uncle was kicked out of the house for drinking; however, by that time, the children were already physically and mentally scarred from the abuse. As a teenager, Jane …show more content…
Jane and her siblings wanted to follow the crowd and wear the latest, more expensive clothes that their mom could not afford. As a result, the mother would often lash out in verbal abuse, for she was stressed and could not afford to pay for all of her children to live the lifestyles they desired. Ultimately, Jane started to steal clothes so that she would not get picked on at school. She only wanted to be accepted by her peers at school, but no matter what, Jane still felt as if her true Native American identity was not good enough. Consequently, Jane pretended to be someone else by lying just to gain acceptance. School allowed Jane to live a life outside of her Native American heritage and personal struggles at home. Outside of school, Jane would embrace her Indian culture and live a life without the worries of school. Overall, she never mixed her school life with her home life and vice versa. As a result, Jane formed two different identities; the person who she was at school was different from the person who she was at