When I searched up the word “truth” on the internet, definitions are always concerning facts and reality. However, the understanding of truth could be different for everyone and in different contexts. Sometimes, denying the truth may be unintentional.

In Disgrace, professor Lurie loses his reputation, his job, his dreams and the ability to protect his daughter Lucy due to his dissatisfaction towards his career and romantic relationship with his student Melanie. The discussion of truth has been a major theme in this book, where the author, J.M. Coetzee, has come up with his own meaning of truth in his essay “Confession and Double Thoughts” (1985). The author defines it through three aspects: the reality of the event under critical examination, the discovery of the truth through confessing and “unconscious truth,” where confessants think that they are telling the truth of a particular thing but is, however, exposing something different.

In the case of Melanie, where Lurie’s “disgrace” came from his seduction of a girl Melanie, who was one of his students, and committing to other actions which were regarded as rape. Lurie abuses his position as a university professor when facing Melanie. For instance, he falsified Melanie’s grades when she stopped attending his class. After a while when Lurie got dismissed from his teaching position, he feels guilty from his own behavior but refuses to validate the University’s version of truth as he believes that this will affect the effectiveness of his confession in public. In addition, he denies the fact that he raped Melanie. As it shows, the truth in this circumstance was always evident. However, it can be seen that people are unwilling to admit the truth when it comes to being something related to the crime to avoid punishment. This also relates to society, where robbers and other suspects do not admit their offense behavior in the first place unless being forced through violence or additional pressure.

Maus also portrays the idea of truth in another matter. Through Artie’s narrative, he strives to present to readers his understanding of his father Vladek’s experience as a Polish Jew and a Holocaust survivor.  Some scholars have criticized the graphic memoir arguing that the story is highly biased and is an inaccurate representation of the truth. It is true that Artie was not able to adequately represent the truthful story of his father since he also had struggles understanding his father at most times. In addition, the story told to Artie through his father might not be as accurate as well. As time passes by, the memory of Vladek may either disappear or be distorted. Thus, the version of the experience may be more distorted than what Artie’s father has truly come across. There is no doubt that the story illustrated by the author is an autobiographical narrative instead, which only shows readers the part where he understands. Consequently, the truth is often distorted through uncertainties in our memory and experience. Even though it is often unintentional in this case, the truth is often hidden where no one would be able to find.

In modern society, the truth has also been distorted and hidden. People are often being judged by controlling images and stereotypes. Such issues have also led to prejudice and discrimination for such group of people. For instance, ethnic minorities are often perceived as having lower academic and work abilities and believed never to be able to perform better than their candidates.

However, this is not the truth! What affects them the most is our biased perceptions of them. Our own construction of the reality led to internalized oppression and pressured them to perform self-fulfilling prophecy, which occurs when direct or indirect causes become true. In my opinion, this is the primary reason why ethnic minorities often perform less desirable in academics than their fellow classmates.

From my perspective, the definition of truth is often vague and controversial. Everyone has their own stories and their own opinions. However, does not share what we know a form of deception? Do we have to expose every part of ourselves to be a truthful person? I would say it’s still an unknown.

Works Cited:

Glass, Susannah Ketchum. “Witnessing the Witness: Narrative Slippage in Art Spiegelman’s Maus.” Life Writing, vol. 3, no. 2, 2006, pp. 3–24., doi:10.1080/10408340308518311.

Coetzee, J. M. Disgrace. Penguin Books, 2000.

Spiegelman, Art. The Complete Maus. Pantheon Books, 1997.

Poyner, Jane. J.M. Coetzee and the Paradox of Postcolonial Authorship. Taylor and Francis, 2016.

During the past few weeks, our class has been discussing and analyzing different literary works. One of them was a comic written by Art Spiegelman called MAUS. The graphic memoir portrays the author’s father Vladek’s experiences as a Holocaust survivor and a Polish Jew. Part I of the book focuses on Vladek’s struggle as a survivor. During the Holocaust, his identity as a Jew made his life harder and more miserable. Thus, I consider his survival as some sort of miracle.

In the past, people’s lives were overwhelmed by wars. Families were split up, and the survivors were left with nothing but the will to survive. Artie (Spiegelman)’s family was nearly annihilated during the Holocaust, and he feels that their suffering should be remembered.

This book reminds me of my grandfather’s experience. He experienced war in Taiwan and was one of the soldiers during the war. I remember him telling me that he ran from Taiwan to Hong Kong to escape from the chaos. His experience to him is memorable, and I also think that I have to duty to remember his story and tell my future kids. Even though there is no way I can relate to how hard life was in his past, but there is one thing I could do: be thankful that he is still living healthily and happily at this moment.

My mother’s experience as a child was not wonderful as well. Living in a small unit in Hong Kong back in those days with five younger siblings was never easy for her. Since she was the eldest, she also had the most responsibilities in the family. My mother had to take care of her siblings while studying, help out her family’s hawker business, and cook dinner for her family. I could still never imagine how tough and strong she was as a young lady. However, I often hurt her feelings when I couldn’t understand her experience as a kid. Whenever I told her how much I hated my life, she would tell me this story, and I would only reply her: time has changed, our condition now is different. In fact, I rejected to understand her and her strive to survive in such an under-developed society.

Of course, it is clear that survival issues still exist nowadays even though the cause might not be war. People who are disabled and diseased may find it hard to pass through each day. However, they still try their best from what they can do. Either through medication or assistance, they would still pay the effort to survive.

Recalling such stories and experiences sometimes make me feel ashamed of my past self. During a period in middle school, I often hated myself and felt like the world hated me as well. I often complained about why I was so chubby, why I was so useless and why was everyone so mean to me. However, I never appreciated what presents God has got me: a great family, the opportunity to do anything I want, and most important, the fact that I never had to worry about survival issues. Thankfully, my blaming self is now gone. Maybe growing up, being able to play volleyball and sing as well as encountering different experiences in life has helped me become a more positive person. I now finally understand that surviving in the past and present is not as easy for everyone. Indeed, the time has changed, but problems that threaten people’s survival still exist. One of the most known problems that threaten teenagers is education. With numerous workload and stress, some students would choose to commit suicide. Maybe it was because of their high self-expectations or their parent’s expectations that caused this.

As a student at UBC, I am really thankful. I would not have been able to study here and meet so many friends if my parents were not able to support me financially and mentally. Even though I still face stress and challenges as everyone else does in university, I will remind myself of the positive aspects of life and encourage myself to “stay strong no matter what.” This short quote applies to everyone, and I hope that all of my classmates would be happy even if they are facing some hard times at university.

p.s. If you’re feeling blue, you can always watch my YouTube video below for some POSITIVE VIBES!!

The Reluctant Fundamentalist, written by Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid, presents to us how the 9/11 terrorist attack influenced the impression of the United States towards Pakistanis. In the novel, Changez experienced different forms of racism in the US and had to use a variety of practices to present an acceptable image of himself to others, in this case, he tries to emphasize his sense of belonging to America.

During ASTU class, we have discussed whether the novel is a dramatic monologue, a thriller or a romance. However, is it possible for us to view this book from a sociological perspective from Goffman’s concept of “the self”?

In this blog, I will attempt to examine how concepts including impression management, audience segregation, and dramaturgy could be applied to this novel, and specifically, investigate how Changez used these methods to construct his ideas of “the self.”

The first concept is impression management. Goffman explains this concept as our attempt to present a favorable image of ourselves towards others through verbal or non-verbal practices, and the behavior of Changez showed this in the book. In the scene where the stranger discovered the scar on Changez’s arm, the stranger felt worried as he thought that Changez might have lied about his passion and respect for the US and have possibly been on terrorists’ side. Fortunately, Changez tried to explain the origin of his scar and resolve such misunderstanding about himself. He told the stranger that the scar came from his childhood accident, where he spilled molten wax on his arm when he grabbed a candle. Through such verbal practices, it is clear that Changez’s act corresponded to the concept of impression management as he wanted to clarify himself as a lover of America and avoid the stranger thinking of him as having a probable violent opposition to the US.

By continuing on explanations regarding Goffman’s interpretation of “the self,” the sociologist found that individuals would demonstrate audience segregation. This idea is based on how we present different versions of ourselves to others regarding how we define or understand a situation. It is also claimed to be another form of impression management. In the Reluctant Fundamentalist, Changez was offered a job at Underwood Samson although he was a Pakistan. He was told that the company was a meritocracy. Thus, he interpreted this situation and found that the only way to stay as an employee was to work extremely hard. He made use of his training skills learned from participating in competitive sports, worked hard by getting only a few hours of sleep every night and eventually impressed his supervisors and colleagues. Therefore, this shows how Changez presented himself as hardworking to others while compressing other’s view on that he was only a Pakistan in the situation, thus indicating a distinct version of himself to other people.

This example also supported my explanation of the concept dramaturgy within Goffman’s research. Waite’s paper on the documemoir Stories We Tell by Sarah Polley argued that the self is performative, dynamic and constructed by others. Similarly, the meaning behind dramaturgy was that “the self” is a performer and that we present an acceptable image of ourselves in the “FRONT STAGE” while relaxing and step out of character in the “BACKSTAGE.” As mentioned above, the hardworking Changez may be one of his performances in the “FRONT STAGE,” as this would be the best way for allowing others to form a better impression towards him. However, when Changez was talking with Jim, who was an executive president at Underwood Samson, Changez was found to be more of a watchful person who does not engage in an active role during parties. In my opinion, this might be one of the times when Changez is not competitive and performing but resting in the “BACKSTAGE” instead.

To conclude, Changez has unconsciously performed himself to others in a sense which corresponds to Goffman’s ideas of “the self.” Although the Reluctant Fundamentalist seems to be a novel about the post-9/11 United States, some hidden themes relating to sociology were still found in the book. Thus this shows that there are always different perspectives to look at a piece of literature or art.

P.S. You may also check out Meghan’s blog post which also discusses the concept of the self in the Reluctant Fundamentalist!

Works Cited

Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Anchor Books, 2008.

Hamid, Mohsin. The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Penguin Books, 2014.

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis.” LitCharts, www.litcharts.com/lit/the-reluctant-fundamentalist/chapter-3.

Waites, Kate J. “Sarah Polley’s Documemoir Stories We Tell: The Refracted Subject.” Biography, vol. 38, no. 4, 2016, pp. 543–555., doi:10.1353/bio.2016.0004.

Nowadays, we face different stereotypes with respect to our gender, race, age and even profession. However, are these stereotypes truly reflecting who we are? Or is it just simply a general picture and guidance of how we should be?

In this blog, I will be examining the female stereotypes about the veil in the comic book Persepolis written by Marjane Satrapi. This historical and political context of this book is based on Iran in 1980s. At that time, women were often isolated, viewed as inferior to men, unable to express their thoughts and unable to enjoy the same opportunities as men.

The Portrayal of Female Stereotypes in Persepolis

In Persepolis, there are some scenes where we can identify such stereotypes on women, and most of these stereotypes were regarded as repressive.

The most obvious example is that women had to wear veils. Veils had the symbolic meaning of representing the imprisonment of women as they were forbidden from showing their own identities and individuality.

As we can see in the panel above, boys and girls were separated all of a sudden. However, such separation was not simply just a physical separation of both genders, but an indirect way to inform the society that there is a strong power and authority difference between male and females. Men have dominated the power within the society through oppressing the other gender, thus reducing the freedom and opportunities of women.

Women’s Fight Against Traditional Gender Stereotypes

Even though stereotypes are created within a particular culture, it doesn’t mean that individuals have to obey it. Reactions are individually-based, and we should stand up for ourselves like how Marjane and her mother did.

When veils were first required, women were protesting everywhere in the streets, and this included Marjane’s mother. She couldn’t accept that fact that women had to be restricted on their freedom and wanted to fight for equal gender rights. Even though Marjane’s mother was caught in a photo and had to dye her hair as to prevent getting arrested, her attempt to make changes upon such oppression against women showed us that we have the right to choose our reactions to stereotype and threats.

Under the influence of Marjane’s mother, Marjane had a similar personality as well. She was brave and independent, and this contributed to her rebel against the thought that women should be able to present themselves towards the public. In the dialogues Marjane had with another Muslim woman, we can see how hard she tried to defend herself from such judgments, thus reminding the audience again that reactions toward stereotypes are decided upon themselves.

Conflict Theory and Female Stereotypes

The discussion on female stereotypes in this book reminds me of Marx’s conflict theory which we learned in our sociology class. He proposed that social problems are created when different social groups compete for scarce resources. As discussed above, we understand that women are often oppressed by men who are identified as the dominant group. Due to this reason, it is tough for women to make decisions or have equal opportunities within society. In the book, women’s choices were often disregarded and their protests on the veil were seen as almost meaningless since no change would have been made. The power differences between genders thus show us that it is hard to get rid of negative female stereotypes.

Final Thoughts

Gender stereotypes towards women are hard to get rid of since it was shown that they affect the way people interpret and remember information. They are not merely stereotypical images of who they are, instead, it has an enormous effect in negatively affecting the way women behave and are treated in daily life, and hopefully, the society could raise more awareness to consequences that such stereotypes may lead to.

P.S. If you’re interested in other discussions on Persepolis, you may also check out Patrick’s blog on heroism!

Works Cited:

Ellemers, Naomi. “Gender Stereotypes.” Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 69, no. 1, Apr. 2018, pp. 275–298., doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011719.

Learning, Lumen. “Sociology.” Lumen, courses.lumenlearning.com/alamo-sociology/chapter/reading-theoretical-perspectives-on-gender/.

Spranger, Katie. “Gender Roles – Persepolis Project.” Prezi.com, 9 Apr. 2011, prezi.com/rbqkyfynbaie/gender-roles-persepolis-project/.

Staff, Investopedia. “Conflict Theory.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 21 Sept. 2018, www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conflict-theory.asp.