The following is a discussion of identity through analysis of certain texts I read in college. Most, if not all, of what is written here is from my second year of college. The rest is stuff I added more. I’ll let you know which is which.
college stuff:
"The elements that I used had been provided for me not by 'residual sensations and perceptions primarily of a tactile, vestibular, kinesthetic, and visual character,' but by the other, the white man, who had woven me out of a thousand details, anecdotes, stories" (Fanon 111).
Now:
He is discussing how he created his identity.
College:
Okay so I had a lot of issues with this reading and other readings about identity mainly because I believe they are all wrong and only reflect one side of the story. I think it illustrates the wrong way to look at the world and the people in it.
This quote is about how he constructed himself out of what other people thought of him. First that is not the way to live life. You are supposed to be an individual which means you are you and other people are themselves. This should mean that you take care of yourself and don't care what other people think of you.
He should have constructed himself from what he either wanted to be or what he thought he was, before the input of other people. That's how you live life to the fullest. Not by moping around because people are saying bad things about you. That's how you become depressed and even more self conscious. I know it said pick one quote and talk about it but I would like to do more and I hope that is not a bad thing.
"To my horror, they too reject me. They are almost white. And besides they are about to marry white women"(Fanon 117).
"But on certain points the white man remained intractable. Under no condition did he wish any intimacy between races,..." (Fanon 120).
Now:
He is discussing his friends rejecting him because he isn’t as light skinned as him. He also discusses an incident where a child reacts fearfully to his presence because he is a different race and the mom doesn’t do anything to stop it or correct his actions in any way.
College:
I put these two quotes together because to me this is a huge contradiction. He says that his friends rejected him because they are almost white and marrying white women, but he also says later that white men don't want the races to mix. So, do the white women that his friends are marrying not have fathers or brothers? If they do then why would his friends be allowed to marry the daughter or sister of these white men who so hate mixing races?
The answer is they would not be able to marry white women if what he is saying is true and it is hard for me to believe that none of his friends fiancé's have brothers or fathers. He said his friends are almost white, which means they are noticeably not. I believe that all of his encounters are due to his appearance. Not the color of his skin but his attractiveness.
If he were good looking the kid would not be frightened and the mother would have said something, at least, because that is human nature. When you see something pleasing to the eye it is hard to be mean to it or throw it away or insult it. And the example of all of his friends being engaged to white women only makes my point stronger. Why can they do it but he can't? Because he is ugly.