“A great feast of language and the stolen scraps”:

“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? Deny thy father, and refuse thy name”, not only is it known what play this is from, most know the scene (Romeo and Juliet, 2.2.33-49). The lines invoke memories of some high school production foisted upon us by some sadistic instructor. Shakespeare’s words are well known and often used in our modern society; is the intent of the writer, William Shakespeare clear in its usage today? Examination and speculation are the only chances at understanding what Shakespeare meant when he wrote some of his more remembered lines. Politics, religion, the belief of the super-natural, and recorded history, all form a context by which his original meaning could be shaped. What forms our understanding and use of Shakespeare’s phrasings is being formed as this paper is being written; it is our politics, beliefs, and current living conditions that dictate our interpretation. The language and expressions, in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, compose common phrases in our society, keeping forever young the plight of the doomed lovers and immortalizing the author.
Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets are challenging works to analyze for scholars much less young people who are exposed in a compulsory systematic attempt to acquaint them with literature. The problem with teaching Shakespeare in high school is the plays were written to be enjoyed as theatre productions. The amateur performances of high school actors do not deliver the same vivid imagery and flow of language of a professional performance. Shakespearean study should begin earlier in the educational system; videos, if not live performances, should at least be shown by sixth grade. Familiarity with the language will assist a student greatly when it comes time to read the text and analyze the material in high school and college. The nuances, delivered by creative interpretation, form the full beauty of the language and images that students today could appreciate if seen, though are lost when only read.
Shakespeare’s words are well known and often used in our modern society; is the intent of writer, William Shakespeare clear in its usage today? There are some very popular lines in the most famous, oft quoted, Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet. Fashionable in his day, legendary in ours, William Shakespeare is often referred to as The Bard. Shakespeare is the benchmark by which other creators of epic poetry are measured. His words are as familiar to our daily speech as their meanings are a reflection of our lives.
There is a general lack of appreciation for language in America today. We use words but have no idea what they really mean or even where they originate. It is not necessary to know these details, one may think, but it provides the speaker with additional reference and context. Ancient poet and satirist, Horace reminds us, “Many brave men lived before Agamemnon, but all are weighed down in unending night, unwept and unknown, because they lacked a sacred bard” (bardquotes). Our experience is made richer by exposure to the writings of William Shakespeare. Though many not know or care from whence our phrases originate, we have an interpretation in our minds, formed the moment we heard the words uttered.
One very familiar phrase is used in a milder form today than the original language suggests. “A pair of star-crossed lovers”, is now a reference to any couple who seem fated not to be together by virtue of opposition of almost any nature (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue, 1-8). Usually quoted without the rest of the line it should read “…A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;” This changes the intensity and meaning of the words. The meanings are as fluid as time as generations and nations grow up and grow older. Whether the words generate thoughts of an “ill-fated” relationship sacrificing their love to warring familial factions or a pair of rebellious, sex obsessed, spoiled, rich teenagers, and their suicide pact, we are challenged to find ourselves and our own interpretations in the words of The Bard.
“A rose by any other word would still smell as sweet”; you would think there is nothing to be said about so simple a phrase(Romeo and Juliet, 2.2.44). There is some scholarly conversation about the word, word. Is the proper phrase, “A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet”? We don’t actually know which way it was originally written. The actual text is in question different interpretations exist. The meaning behind all the renditions have a common enough theme to surmise the overall concept was imparted to the audience.
One very popular saying has a very different concept than is intended in Shakespeare’s time. The term “wild goose chase” indicates a futile search, in our usage today. In the time of the Bard, it was a reference to a cross-country horse race of follow-the-leader (Holland). The term goose, as used in context, is also double-talk for a prostitute of Shakespeare’s day. We actually see some variation on that use of goose when women are referred to as “chicks” or the even less flattering term for crack addicted prostitutes “chicken-heads”. We can take liberty, as many have done before, in using a common fowl to replace the goose. Our language is ever changing in meaning as we expand our understanding of words and the human experience.
“A plague a both your houses” delivers the pragmatic Mercutio upon his death, not once but three times (3.1.90, 998-99,105). He is in the throws of death and curses the warring families in as strong and vile a manner as he can. The expression today simply means damn you. It is not as commonly used as other Shakespearean quotes but few will be unable to cite the author if queried. The original curse is far more sinister than damnation. In a time when the Plague, a horrific killing disease that frequently ravaged the world from the 14th to the 17th century, was prevalent, this curse takes on new meaning. It is a far viler and crueler curse when you examine the historical context.
Of course, no scholar or layman wordsmith can be certain the intent of Master Bard, William Shakespeare, so we content ourselves to quote him to express our deepest thoughts and emotions. If Shakespeare intended for us to examine the human condition, he accomplishes his purpose. His plays and sonnets have been performed and read for 400 years; their content, meaning, language have been a source for study and examination for as long a time. We take Shakespeare’s words and isolate them from their original context, changing the meaning in the name of academic, social, and cultural interpretation. Not stolen, but appropriated, many of Shakespeare’s words and expressions would not be recognizable if Shakespeare read them today.
We make assumptions on his choices and purpose for choosing the subject matter he does based on our knowledge of history, the compilation of bits of information from records of property, and letters and critiques by his contemporaries. There is a gift left to society, beyond the sheer poetry of the words; we have a generation of our own in which to interpret the meanings set against our cultural backdrop. We can infuse our interpretation with the historical archives to represent our politics, beliefs, and current living conditions. We have been given “a great feast of languages, and stolen the scraps”, as paraphrased from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost (feast).

Theories of Socialization Defined

Modern education presents as a system of rites of passages from one class structure to another, causing the growth of the individual and the evolution of society (123). The traditional socialization theory in education is graphically displayed in a flowchart of sub-theories in John Meyer’s article “Education as an Institution”. Socialization theory indicates the existence of an organized set of socializing experiences, in this case school attendance (125). People who have education are thought to be more proficient and principled by virtue of their capacity to learn and follow through in academia. It is important to note attendance is the meter in this theory; quality of the school attended does not matter (123). Socialization theories address not only students but the impact of sub-theories on non-students as well. The theory of socialization is considered weak because it is hard to prove. While there is data to support education is “socially progressive”, there is little research to support the other two of the three basic principles of socialization. Also defined under the banner of socialization are such concepts as allocation and legitimation.
Allocation
Educational allocation speaks directly to the educational institution’s ability to confer status. A student is categorized by his academic achievement and allotted position and rank in society. Allocation is the set of rules by which this classification occurs; these are the most socializing property of education according to Meyers (128).
Within the structure of educational allocation are the implications. If students adopt social qualities based on the authority (chartering) of their schools to confer status (by virtue of degrees) then students without such conference are handicapped. There is also lagged socialization, which suggests that one will perform only to the standard that one is expected to perform (129). Degrees and certifications become the badges of social identity; they are totemic. The acknowledgement of the institution is indeed the acknowledgement and approval of society.
Legitimation
“Formalized educational systems are, in fact, theories of socialization institutionalized as rules at the collective level (132)”. Legitimation is discussed four-fold, as a theory of knowledge and theory of personnel and from the position of the elite and the citizen (133).
When looking at a theory of knowledge one considers the material measured in the world of academia. Those allotted this authority are responsible for the elevation of their field by virtue of their elite educations. This is where suggested models of societal growth and evolution have their circumstantial strength. Meyers explains it by saying, “the expansion of education expands the number of functions that are brought under social control”. It is this expansion of knowledge that should expand society through its diligent inquiry (134).
Another legitimating effect of education is in the certification process. Ceremonies like graduation and diplomas indicate competence. This is the sectioning portion of allocation theories. Teachers teach, therefore in order to learn we seek the authority of the educational system. Doctors heal, so we seek the authority of a physician when we are sick. This deference is inherent to our social structure and predicated upon educational credentialing. These are the elements of elite education. Because they have specialized education the citizenry confers on them a special status (135).
Juxtaposed is the education of the masses. For the general public, education is seen as a controlling mechanism, a cohesive bond of citizenry. Mass education assumes a commonality that is based on curriculum and common requirements. It assumes because everyone attends school, we all learn the same things. Meyers posits it does not matter what people learn about culture, mass education suggests a common culture (136). Finally, there are the privileges extended to the citizen by virtue of his membership in this common culture. Mass education redefines the individual as part of the citizenry (136).
Problematic
There are some problems in these theories; human agency is not considered. No societal influences outside of education looked at as potential causes for the correlation between education and adult success. The positions allotted by education, once determined and sanctioned to failure or success, can be altered by impetus.
Most jobs do not require the level of education the average applicant has however, the glut of educated citizens creates a competition, raising the level of education required to obtain a position. This maybe the origins of fears that over-education could destabilize society (139).
There is no direct evidence that individual competence leads to an improved society. It makes sense that increased knowledge would lead to improvements in society and there are technological advancements that support the suggestion. However, there is no measurable data that shows a one on one correlation.
Conclusion
Education has a purpose and power beyond imparting information to be learned in rote. Education can no longer be looked at as a form of socialization alone but as an institution with socializing effects of its own.

Sociology of Education

1. How does the idea of cultural capital extend our understanding of education and social mobility?
Cultural capital is a concept that draws on the work of Bourdieu which claims cultural experiences in the home setting create a pool of resources that form an atmosphere that enhances academic achievement (210). Studies show students whose parents participate in their education were more likely to do well (209). The factors affecting parent participation were parents’ belief in their ability (and consequently their right) to interact with teachers and resources available to the family for expenses like transportation, childcare, and time lost from work. Other factors are the amount of information the parent has about school by virtue of community socialization and the parent’s view of the roles between home and school. These factors comprise cultural resources which strengthen family-school ties (218). Parents in the working class community defer to the teachers on matters of education, rarely interfering because of a belief in their own educational inferiority. Teachers are seen as the professionals, not to be questioned, and consequently the division of labor is established in lower class educational settings (216). Parents in the middle class community felt equal to teachers in education and thus capable of participating in their child’s instruction. Finally, there is community socialization in middle-class neighborhood which leads to more information being shared amongst parents. In working class families more emphasis is on family relationships. There is less interaction with different class levels and therefore less opportunity to transverse class levels (219). The better a child does in school, the better the child’s chances for success in the occupational setting because education is the legitimizing system of our country.
2. Discuss how schools as organizations are loosely coupled systems.
Schools are considered loosely coupled systems because the organization is comprised of independently run parts linked under the basic goal of education. Teachers develop curriculum, students learn and produce work, administrators tend budgets and staffing; while each has a role that intersects with the other, they also have the “separateness” indicative of loosely coupled systems.
Looking at the entire educational system we can note that there is no federal curriculum but there is federal funding of education and a Department of Education. One of the problems of loosely coupled system is the lack of oversight; in the educational system this can be seen when looking at federally funded education. The government provides the money but individual schools control the distribution of those funds, in some cases resulting in gross mismanagement that can go unnoticed because of the disconnection of the federal benefactor with the local disbursing agency. The problems with loosely coupled systems are further magnified when looking at educational systems. While the problems of a loosely coupled educational system include lack of communication between systems, failure to notice when a part of the system no longer operates properly or is in need of adjustment, and vulnerability to small changes, the loose coupling allows the system as a whole to flourish because of its lack of interdependence. If one school, program, or curriculum fails it does not cause a breakdown in the entire system.


3. What are the costs and benefits of education as an industry versus education as a social institution?
Education is seen as an industry because of its tendency to change with the economic needs of the community. One cost of this shift is a loss of legitimacy because schools are being seen not in the original context of education, to produce individuals who are civic minded and well rounded, but as organizations “subject to market pressure” (439). Academic programs like art and music are replaced with technological or vocational programs. One of the “goods” provided by the educational industry is the classroom experience. Classes are offer based on popularity and interest not for providing a well rounded education. The more students in a class the more money the school makes. This is true of lower grades as well; the more students attend the more money the school generates. Schools are profit generating organizations and must be run as such. Students are seen as customers as books and supplies are sold and meals are offered by fast food chains that often pay for their presence on campuses. These costs may seem high but the benefits are significant. Due to the presence of corporations on campuses, there is increased funding for programs that may not have existed previously. The ability to shift focus in curriculum helps the student stay viable in the local job market because the school will most likely offer classes that are occupationally promising for the local area.
Education as a social institution focus’ on the original intent of education to create civic minded individuals who would uphold freedom and civility in our nation. This approach unifies the people of the nation but does not meet today’s modern day need for flexibility.



4. Discuss education in terms of contest mobility and sponsored mobility.
Movement from one social class to another roughly defines the term upward mobility. Education in America is seen as a system of contest mobility. Contest mobility is a bootstrap system where the strong excel and all have an equal and fair shot to attain elite status in society. Sponsored mobility, which is dominant in English culture but also present in American society, is when one is selected to join the ranks of the elite by an elite agent. The English select their elite early through testing and social factors to perpetuate their value system. Both English and American systems have aspects of both contest and sponsored mobility.
In the educational setting the mode of mobility makes suggestions about the values of the society which employs it. Sponsored mobility appears to value its perpetuation of elite culture as opposed to contest mobility which values achievement and education is merely a vehicle for that end. In the sponsored mobility model only those who are candidates for elite status receive elite education while, the contest system allows everyone a chance to excel on their own merit. There is a suggestion of equality in the contest system.
There are other less altruistic elements of the contest system. The contest system creates a sense that anyone can rise to the top; this false sense of anything is possible is often disillusioning to students. In the sponsored system there is a sense of once not selected for the elite track that one does not deserve to challenge the status quo. Each system has positive aspects as well as negative. The fact that both systems exist within each society creates a balance within the void that would otherwise exist if only one model existed.



5. Discuss school reform in the United States.
The impetus for reform in the United States falls into four primary aims that are cyclical in nature (278). Reforms are aimed at increasing efficiency in administration, and excellence in the process of teaching and learning, to create equity or a social equalizer, to enhance the learning experience with activities, not necessarily academic. These reform projects seem to revolve around liberal and conservative politics. Some years are decidedly liberal and equity and enhancement projects prosper; some years are conservative run and programs of streamlining or improving education prosper. Excellency reforms are the cause of the “No Child Left Behind Act”. This bill was overwhelmingly passed in both the House and the Senate. This act calls for high testing standards and significant credentialing of teachers.
The problem is the administrations of these standards are left up to individual states. An example of the loosely coupled educational system, the lack of consistency is both a boon and the very reason for inefficiency. Another current reform which may work better is the Comprehensive School reform. It allots federal money to poorer school districts who agree to make significant changes.
School reform is most effective in middle class school systems because parents are more involved and commit time as a resource. Poor schools do not fair as well in reform models because the underlying social problems are not addressed and the resources are not available.

Modern Apocalyptic Fears: Corruption and Possession in the Atomic and Cold War Age

The apocalyptic is the story of impending doom or widespread devastation. Primarily characterized by stories of the end of the world by natural disaster, disease, invasion, or war, the modern apocalyptic narrative represents humanity’s fear of realizing he is his own worst enemy. Corruption and possession correspond to twin evils of humanity in the modern apocalyptic narrative, the internal and the external. The external is merely routine or innate: the desire to have things, to eat, to protect one’s self and kin. That which is external is not malicious but instinctive. External is the corporate greed displayed in the marketing of fallout shelters and home improvement items. The desire to possess is not limited to the corporate world. Materialism becomes a form of magical protection from nuclear harm. This profiteering behavior is the function of a corporation; profit, not public interests fuels the belly of the corporate beast. This same behavior is seen in the individual as he loses his sense of self in favor of survival. In the apocalyptic genre, self-possession is questioned, signifying the fear that humankind will not have the ability to maintain its wits or ethics in a crisis. The loss of self-possession leads to the final step in the ultimate destruction of the world, corruption. Corruption gives voice to the fear that man faces annihilation from within. Corruption represents itself through material and moral decay, a litter on the landscape of the devastated world, the proverbial insult to nuclear injury. The fear of the world’s end is only surpassed by the fear humankind will be the cause of that end. Possession, the external evil, is the lesser of the fears that motivate the apocalyptic echoes heard throughout the atomic and cold war age media and literature; it is corruption, the internal reflection of evil most feared by humanity.
Corporations use the fear of the nuclear family to profit by creating public service films, primarily intended to lend credibility to their advertisement claims that their products somehow contributed to civil defense goals. The House in the Middle, a 1954 documentary film produced by the Federal Civil Defense Administration, is an example of the commercialization of civil defense. The companies were aware these products would not be very useful against nuclear attack. Corporations took the initiative to sooth public fears and the advantage to profit simultaneously. Corporations’ sponsorship of these projects also furthered the idea of the ability to defeat or defend against the dangers of nuclear use with good moral fiber and a fastidious ethic. These infomercials allied the behavior and habits of people to whether or not they deserved to survive nuclear bombardment. Those who had the means to purchase products for their homes or maintain a well kept home were deemed worthy of survival by virtue of their wealth. It seemed a total denial of reality but the apocalyptic does not require reality as a foundation. Mass hysteria created by fears of atomic destruction demanded action of any sort. "Beauty, cleanliness, health, and safety are the four basic doctrines that protect our homes, our cities," decries the documentary. The mere suggestion that a clean home, properly painted, would do anymore than minimize the destruction was enough to allow the affluent citizen to feel they could do something.
Peace of mind would not be available to those who could not afford to bomb proof their lives. For these people there would be chaos as they struggled to find lodging with sympathetic neighbors or public shelters that may have been ill stocked. The “haves” would be assaulted by the “have nots” simply for survival’s sake. A regular storyline in the apocalyptic tale is the loss of personal ethics and the loss of humanity in the face of impending doom. After the disaster, people would try to gain access to existing shelter; the owners of those shelters would be ready to protect them for their own survival. There are a few problems at this point. First, many people stocked only what supplies they felt they and their immediate family would need for a prescribed amount of time. Additional people would constitute a drain on resources and a danger to the family’s survival. Then, one must consider the perfect stranger who is destitute and willing to kill for his own shelter, in this time of unimaginable horrors. This person would have to be dealt with in a swift and possibly deadly manner to protect the dwelling and its inhabitants. Finally, there is the simple problem of logistics. Most shelters were rather small and could only accommodate a few. People would like to believe they would act with honor and courage in the face of disaster and are shocked to learn that they act with animalistic instinct to survive. This loss personal principle is a great human fear.
Fallout and bomb shelter advertisements of the atomic age expose fears of man’s own propensity for destruction Fallout scenarios force the one to face his own ability for brutality, not only in the protection of the shelter, for the sanctity of his family but also in his mad desire for possessions. A responsible shelter owner would plan for looters and crashers. Materials and food items necessary for survival would be horded and one’s fellow man would be the enemy of all enemies as his survival competes with those without. Some apocalyptic themes envision an utopist view where humanity would bond together for the benefit of all. Most reveal themes of the deeply embedded evils of men in the face of disaster. This is where the fear of loosing self-possession turns to the dreaded task of facing the truth of one’s situation. When humankind loses his moral and ethical ground, he loses his humanity and corrupts his soul.
Desolation is a component of apocalyptic corruption; the genre sees the earth as an eventual wasteland. In the popular novel by author Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles, this corruption of property and person, reverently handled through the character Spender, is poignantly portrayed. Spender empathizes with the Martians through his examination of the remains of their civilization. He sadly speaks of the inevitable defilement of the Martian landscape with human trash. Prophetically Spender says, “There’d be time for that later; time to throw condensed-milk cans in the proud Martian canals; time for copies of the New York times to blow and caper and rustle across the lone gray Martian sea bottoms; time for banana peels and picnic papers in the fluted, delicate ruins of the old Martian valley towns.” Spender is soon proven correct when Biggs, “…carried six empty bottles and dropped them one by one into the deep blue canal waters. They made empty, hollow, drowning sounds as they sank.” Litter may seem very different from desolation; it is the desecration of the formerly proud Martian landscape that demonstrates corruption. It is the carelessness of littering a new planet that proves the corrupting influence of man.
The theme of corruption is not limited to the physical land. It is feared, in its most heinous form, as the corruption of the human soul. The corruption of the soul happens when one allows their basest needs or desires to overrule their moral or ethical self. The soul is corrupted when one no longer reacts to atrocities or is silent in the face of obvious wrongdoing. The Martian population littered the landscape with their bodies decimated by chicken pox, from contact with an earlier crew. A member of the space crew, Hathaway, acknowledged the cause of this desolation was their arrival, though unintentional. The sense of the land being empty of living people is echoed in the moral emptiness at being the cause of the destruction. Desecration of what was once sacred, the party atmosphere in the face of obvious and overwhelming devastation, is the internal face of human evil. The next inhabitants of the now littered death-filled town are eulogizing the end of one civilization to inaugurate the beginning of their own. Corruption is the barrenness of the soul. When humans no longer acknowledge their culpability in the defilement of a people or a land, the existence of one’s humanity becomes questionable.
Ruthless pursuits of technology, the inability to protect ourselves from alien invasion, or nature’s revenge are a few of the vehicles that drive our truest fears; in the apocalyptic narrative, it is through greed, deficiency, or carelessness that the world is destroyed. The media, literature of the atomic, and cold war age deliver images reflecting the fears of this era’s population. Dropping the atomic bomb forced Americans to reevaluate their own ethical and moral ideology. Corporations have no ideology to uphold, save for profit. From commercial hawking of civil defense related products to the not so subtle messages of class espoused in the infomercials, corporate America used public fear to generate profits. Prevalent amongst those fears are those of the internal and external evil. Possession, the external, can be seen in two ways, self-possession or self-control and ownership. The desire to survive overwhelms the sensibilities of the individual and again man faces his own self as he deals with primal instinct to survive. Rioting, looting, hording, are all classical examples in the modern apocalyptic narrative denoting a lack of self-possession. Class dictates who deserves to survive and who does not; the person who can afford to paint the house he owns or buy a fall out shelter to protect his family is the one who deserves to live. The idea of possession being fearful enough, corruption is the greater concern of those of the atomic and cold war age. Most feared was the realization that they were the creators of the means of their own potential destruction. America manufactured and dropped the first bomb of titanic destruction. The fear of retribution was a major subconscious concern because now that this weapon of mass destruction had been created, the use of it against its creators was possible. The apocalyptic narrative did not start with the atomic age and its associated psychology yet it is in the literature and media of the atomic age that the fears of apocalypse are made palpable.

Identity

Unable to be assimilated, unable to pass unnoticed he consoles himself by association with the dead or at least the absent. -Fanon 65
Fanon writes from the unique perspective of a psychiatrist, a militant, and a black man. Black Skin, White Masks looks at the effects of colonization on the identity of the colonized. Fanon examines the formation of a new identity when one is subjected to consistent degradation and devaluation, as in a setting of colonization. Throughout his narrative Fanon shapes revolution as the only means of reestablishing a healthy self-image. For Fanon it is not enough to escape oppression; one must cast it off with violence to create a foundation of self-agency upon which a true identity can be built (11).
In chapter 3, Fanon discusses Jean Veneuse, a black man raised among whites. Veneuse has adopted a white mask. The mask Fanon refers to is one of imitated superiority. The black man imitates the colonizer’s language, mannerisms, and culture, to be considered of equal value. According to Fanon the Negro is made inferior when affixed by the gaze of the other. Fanon points out that not only must the black man be black; he must be black in relation to the white man (110). The black man is so devalued in society that he seeks to be anything but black (74). The colonizer, the one in power, “the other”, is white. The black man identifies with the values and needs of the colonizer and looses his self. This part of the colonization process has long reaching effects for the colonized people. Veneuse is faced with a difficult challenge of being a black man in a society that sees his color as a negative trait. Friends tell him he is “not black but extremely brown”, meant as a compliment but more a proof of innate arrogance and superiority that Veneuse faced daily (69). Even in acceptance there is only tolerance of his blackness.
The need of the colonized is the need to exist as a legal and moral entity. The colonizer, a new element, must be reconciled into the reality of the colonized (97). Because the “gaze” is consistently negative, the Negro (colonized) attaches to himself, necessarily, the attributes of inferiority. It is necessary because he, the Negro, must exist in some form and because he is not the conqueror, he is by default the inferior. Fanon then brings us to the only moment he feels the Negro can redeem a sense of self outside of the mask of the colonizer, through revolution. Fanon says, “Since no agreement was possible on the level of reason I threw myself back toward unreason (123).” Clearly, he believes that no compromise can be made with the colonizer. It stands to reason that one would need to fight for their independence for it to hold real value within their lives.
The combining of two very different societies must meet with compromise or colonization. In the colonization model, the colonized are subjected to a myriad of degradations designed to create a superior and inferior class with the colonizer as the superior. The loss of culture under colonization creates a loss of identity. An individual creates an identity in relation to that of the colonizer. This assumed identity is never fulfilling because it is false. A black will never truly be white, nor will a Senegalese ever be French. The individual will eventually have to find his true self. The identity created from his experience as a man and a black and a member of a colonized society, is the true self.

Everyday Repair vs. Extraordinary Revolution

Two authors look at colonization as a traumatic event that destroys the identity of the colonized. Following this destruction comes a recreation of identity based on the interaction with the colonizer. Because this identity is built upon an oppressive relationship, it is unhealthy and creates feelings of loss. Frantz Fanon and Veena Das both write of the violence associated with colonization that shapes and reshapes the identity of the colonized. The question of whether identity can be repaired or resumed after a colonization experience outlines the theme of this essay.
Das speaks of the “knowledge of suffering” being a traumatic even in itself. She points out women who did not directly experience rape or displacement but were greatly affected because their sense of place and safety was violated where their bodies were not. We see in Das’ depiction of Asha the direct affect of displacement in her traditional societal position as a widowed sister (222). What cannot be seen is the change…... Asha’s external world changed but her traditional expectations did not. Her sense of self had to conform to her reality as a burden and a source of dishonor, as opposed to her expected status, as a treasured sister. Das claims it is Asha’s discovery of her tenuous position that is the traumatic event. Solidarity or the “knowledge of [Asha’s] suffering” is evident when her sister in law mutters aloud, “What is the life of a woman?” (220) The tradition of subjugation touches all women in this Punjab society.
Das believes this trauma can be repaired. She alludes to Asha’s recreation of identity through her passive “everyday work of repair” (208). Asha remarries and endures derision at the hands of her former family to establish new relationships with the “others” against whose viewpoints her own identity is measured and formed. This is the sense of everyday as something recovered [Wittgenstein] (208). The traumatic reformation of her position is mitigated by her acceptance of her new identity. This does not hold true as Fanon views the affects of colonization on identity.
For Fanon the trauma cannot be repaired without the violent re-appropriation of identity. He believes it takes an extraordinary rejection of the colonizer in order for self-agency to be reestablished. An overthrow of the subjugator reestablishes and reinforces the right of existence for the colonized.
Fanon’s treatment of the colonized woman is indicative of the patriarchal society and time in which Fanon writes. It appears he sees Mayotte’s desire to whiten as an acceptance along the lines of Das’ “everyday repair.” Mayotte’s story is told with tone of derision (57). This coexistence is not an option for Fanon.
Important, in both Das and Fanon’s view, is the concept that identity is repairable in the face of violent or traumatic events. The destruction, creation, and recreation of identity allude to the ever-evolving nature of mankind as he interacts in society.