Identity Speech: Clive Jame's unreliable memoirs and the film "Osama"

Identity is the individual characteristics in which a person is recognized or known. So, your identity could be determined by your name, physical features or interests etc. Identity is subjected to change and it could be shaped by external factors such as the regulations imposed on us and socialization. Your identity changes throughout your life but these changes affect your identity more significantly during your upbringing as a child. Finally, the concept of identity isn't only limited to the individual but it could also apply to a group or society that an individual can conform to. These concepts of identity are demonstrated in the novel Unreliable Memoirs and the film, Osama.

Unreliable Memoirs is an autobiography in the form of a novel written by Clive James and published in 1979. Unreliable Memoirs gives us a recording of Clive James' life and it displays to us the changes in identity.

At the beginning of the novel, Clive James mentions that his name was originally Vivien.

Clive

Clive 01

Clive Longbottom, QuoCirca

He changed his name to Clive because it is rather unusual for a male to have a female's name. By changing his name, he is changing his identity because a persons name is the most obvious feature that one identifies himself.

Clive also lost his father at a young age to the world war and this has influenced his identity. This can be seen when he starts building trench systems and his obsession with war planes.

Clive James' experiences a change in identity due to the society around him. This is apparent in the third chapter where Clive James was coming first in his grade, leading to accusations that he was the teacher's pet by his classmates. Because of this, Clive James transforms into the class's "smart alec". Clive James wished to conform and identify himself...