Although both James and Butler’s articles were interesting, I had a lot of difficulty getting through Butler’s, as it was incredibly confusing. This isn’t a bad thing; it was very thought-provoking, I just wasn’t able to enjoy it as much because it was so dense. What I was able to discern was that both James and Butler’s essays were about identity and how one determines one’s identity. Butler seemed to discuss identity as an adult looking at his or her identity, while James’ essay was from the perspective of a six year old.
In Butler’s section entitled “Psychic Mimesis,” it says, “any intense emotional attachment thus divides into either wanting to have someone or wanting to be that someone, but never both at once” (316). When I read this, it seemed to directly correlate to the “Uncle” essay by Winston James. The child, Jake, seems to be going through a process of discovering what it really means to be male. Jake’s uncle is a crucial figure in his life, as is clear from his vivid descriptions and thoughts about him in the essay. Jake clearly wants to have his uncle throughout the beginning of the story, as he talks about going swimming with him and how happy he is that he’s the favorite nephew over his brother. At the end of the essay in the bathroom, however, it might not be that Jake wants to be his uncle, but I saw him as wanting to have that bond of unity. In a six year old’s life, he’s still developing his perceptions of men and women, and a positive male figure is crucial. I noticed that there was no real description or mention of Jake’s father, only in that his mom was mad at him, making Jake’s uncle his number one male figure. This fill-in male figure could be confusing Jake, and possibly altering his future identity.
Bella Narvaez
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