The Change Of Identity In Colette's The Hand

Identity is how a person defines themselves. It could be things like race, morals, sexuality, gender, height, weight, etc. Nearly anything that could be used to describe a person could be part of their identity, but only if that person is willing to adapt that aspect of their life into their identity. These things that people define themselves have the ability to change, but in order for that to occur there either needs to be a slow, gradual change caused by a long-term event or a strong event that causes strong emotions. Proof of the ability to change one’s identity can be expressed using both literature and scientific proof.

For example, in Colette’s short story The Hand, a newly-married wife begins to realize that her marriage isn’t what she expected and that she has essentially given her life into service to her husband (1&2). Prior to the night where she makes her discovery, if someone had asked her who she is, she might have responded with something about being a happy newlywed. After that night, however, she suddenly loses the newness of the relationship and might to begin to define herself as being a loyal wife. That night served as the event that caused the change of identity to occur. Her morals, appearance, and perhaps even actions stay the same, but her identity did not.

This premise is additionally supported in the …show more content…
The premise of the experiment was to bring three men who believed they were christ into a singular place and see how they reacted. The experiment ultimately failed with its goal of curing the three men, but still yielded significant information. All three experienced mood changes and changed how they interacted with the world (Rokeach). This can be attributed to a very, very small change in their identity that either added doubt to who they truly are or made them question how they wanted to act based on how they