True Self - Returning to Your True Identity

In American-Born-Chinese, Monkey King wore shoes to act like a human and Jin even transformed into an American boy. The seal wife had no choice but to become the wife of a fisherlad, crying when she heard her family singing nearby every full moon. Confused by the hitchhiker, Adams from The Hitchhiker had no idea who he was.

---

Wong Lai-Tsao said to Monkey King, "The form you have taken is not truly your own. Return to your true form and you shall be freed. To find your true identity within the will of Tze-Yo-Tzuh. That is the highest of all freedoms." The Monkey King then gave up his will on being human and returned to the one he felt free being. Jin finally returned to his original identity as ABC too. Is returning to who we truly are the best way to solve identity crisis? Even one may need to sacrifice beloved things and people just like the seal wife who must left her children and went back to the sea? Is there really true selves that could be seen by ourselves? What if we do not identify ourselves like Adams not knowing who he was in The Hitchhiker?

The analysis of identity crisis probably does not solve the problem. There are different approaches to deal with it. Some may change themselves to fit in, while some stay unchanged and be who they are. I believe there is no perfect solution that one should follow. But there must be reason for the protagonists in the literary works to choose to become their 'true self'. It could be happiness or freedom that drives people to their true identity. What we see in ourselves may not be true because it varies according to our self-esteem, which is easily affected by our surroundings. We all have ideal selves, who we want to be. I think ideal selves help us know more about ourselves but we should appreciate ourselves as well. There are some theories about self that may help us to think more about identity crisis.

Futher study: Self Concept @Simple Psychology

The diagram shows the state of congruent in the theory of self-actualization.

Source of diagram:

Self Concept @Simple Psychology (http://www.simplypsychology.org/self-concept.html)