In The Man in the High Castle, when Childan finds out that one of his rifles was a forgery, it throws everything he thinks he knows into question, and he compares it to a question arising about the “authenticity of our birth certificate. Or our impression of Dad” (p. 142). He is worried about losing his identity. In a world where it is often hard to distinguish between authentic and fake, we like to believe that we at least know who we, ourselves, are. We want to know everything about our background: where we came from, what our heritage is, to whom we are related . In this way, we form communities with other people who we can identify with. We base our lives around these identifications, so that when we find something about ourselves is different from what we thought, everything is thrown into question. If we do not even know ourselves, can we know anything for sure?
That is why we cling to our identities. Though Baynes had to change his name, his face, his entire life to save himself from being executed by the Nazis, he still lets loose, at great risk to himself, that he is Jewish to the German artist. He will always cling to his Jewish identity. Though Frank Fink changes his name to Frink to attempt to hide his identity, he can never truly forget that he was born Jewish. That is why when the police start suspecting, his reaction is to bolt. Childan also has to pretend to be something he is not all day every day. He takes solace in the fact that he is an authentic American, while no matter what the Japanese do, they will never be authentic Americans. Childan takes pride in his ethnic identity. While at the Kasouras home he thinks to himself: “Only the white races endowed with creativity…And yet I, blood member of same, must bump head to floor for these two” (p. 112). His heritage is so important to him that when Paul Kasoura criticizes American art, Childan breaks his façade to defend it, telling Paul that “the men who made this…are American proud artists. Myself included. To suggest trashy good-luck charms therefore insults us and I ask for apology” (p. 183).
Knowing where we come from is part of knowing our identity. We hang on tight to our roots because if we lose our identity, then how can trust that anything is true?
I completely agree with your idea of an identity formed from heritage and ethnicity. Everything that makes us feel like an individual (our values, beliefs, relationships, etc) gives us a sense of identification. The great thing about an “ethnic”, or “cultural” identity is that it isn’t forced upon us; we choose it for ourselves. As you said, Baynes changes his appearance, and although others may not see him as Jewish, he still identifies himself as such. It is evident then that it is this self-identification that is the most important; for Baynes, his identity is directly formed from how he views himself.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think it’s interesting to also look at what happens to our identity when outside views shape it as much, if not more than our own views. In my sociology class, we discuss the difference between racial and ethnic identity. While an ethnic identity is self-assumed, racial identity is assigned; commonly based on physical features. In The Man In The High Castle, both of these identities emerge. As you say with Baynes, Frink, and Childan, they all think of themselves in certain ways, their ethnic identity. But what I picked up in your post was also the way Paul Kasoura was assigned an identity by Childan. Childan assigns Paul a racial identity when he generalizes “only the white races endowed with creativity.” Throughout the dinner at the Kasoura’s home, Childan continues to make such racial connections. It is interesting to me that as readers we don’t get to hear Paul’s thoughts, because I’m sure that he has his own sense of identity, not matching the one assigned to him by Childan.
In this story, we see a world that seems to be dominated by specific races. And like today’s society, generalizations and stereotypes are made about each. But what happens when these racially assigned identities don’t match the ethnic identities we assign ourselves? There is a struggle to establish a personal identity; and even if we can, the outside assumptions are always in the back of our minds. So once again we reach a problem surrounding truth: what we interpret as true about ourselves may not be the truth for others. So is any view more reliable than the other? Do we really even have a solid identity?