Identity can only be created by people themselves throughout their life. The creation of one’s identity derives from an individual’s thoughts, actions, and impact they have had on life and others. In Thomas Merton’s wise words, “True identity is something people must create for themselves by making choices that are significant and that require a courageous commitment in the face of challenges.” Life is meant to let us face challenges to find who we are by what paths we choose to take. Despite a person’s social, economic, or environmental status, life decisions and personal choices have the most profound effect on one’s identity.
A person’s choice has the largest impact on creating their own identity. One’s identity should never be measured …show more content…
In Truman Capote’s, In Cold Blood, Capote depicts Perry Smith as an ideal example of a man afflicted by his past with no visions to progress. Smith endured traumatic experiences in the different orphanages his mother abandoned him in. “There was this one nurse, she used to call [him] a ‘nigger’ and say there wasn’t any difference between niggers and Indians” (Capote 132). Perry Smith dealt with beatings by nuns in a Catholic Orphanage for wetting the bed, being held under ice cold water, “…[un]til [he] was blue,” and caught pneumonia due to the abuse (Capote 132). In spite of enduring such traumas during boyhood, Smith’s misfortunate childhood robbed him of receiving a solid base of values; he played instruments, wrote poetry, and yet did not act on his talents. He chose the criminal identity. He chose to fit his pattern look when he entered the Clutter house on the night of November 15, 1959. He chose to suffer. In contrast, the story of Corey Coleman, a wide receiver at Baylor University, portrays the opposite outcome of growing up with a poor environmental status. Raised with a dad who came in and out of jail, his single mother and two sisters were all he had. However, Coleman was lucky enough to meet former NFL cornerback, Ray Crockett, and he chose to get his family out of that situation. Coleman did not allow the highland hills project neighborhood in Dallas, Texas designate who he would be. His talents in sports led him to desire goals, whereas Perry chose the mistaken life with a melancholy
A person’s choice has the largest impact on creating their own identity. One’s identity should never be measured …show more content…
In Truman Capote’s, In Cold Blood, Capote depicts Perry Smith as an ideal example of a man afflicted by his past with no visions to progress. Smith endured traumatic experiences in the different orphanages his mother abandoned him in. “There was this one nurse, she used to call [him] a ‘nigger’ and say there wasn’t any difference between niggers and Indians” (Capote 132). Perry Smith dealt with beatings by nuns in a Catholic Orphanage for wetting the bed, being held under ice cold water, “…[un]til [he] was blue,” and caught pneumonia due to the abuse (Capote 132). In spite of enduring such traumas during boyhood, Smith’s misfortunate childhood robbed him of receiving a solid base of values; he played instruments, wrote poetry, and yet did not act on his talents. He chose the criminal identity. He chose to fit his pattern look when he entered the Clutter house on the night of November 15, 1959. He chose to suffer. In contrast, the story of Corey Coleman, a wide receiver at Baylor University, portrays the opposite outcome of growing up with a poor environmental status. Raised with a dad who came in and out of jail, his single mother and two sisters were all he had. However, Coleman was lucky enough to meet former NFL cornerback, Ray Crockett, and he chose to get his family out of that situation. Coleman did not allow the highland hills project neighborhood in Dallas, Texas designate who he would be. His talents in sports led him to desire goals, whereas Perry chose the mistaken life with a melancholy