Is Individuality Really Just Picking and Choosing What You Let Influence You?

The readings for this week that questioned and discussed primarily individuality were a nice change of pace.  I enjoyed these readings as opposed to some of the denser ones from previous weeks.  The fiction pieces were both very different and enjoyable and touched on interesting topics.  The key word this week I think is individuality.  In The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara we are introduced to Sylvia the narrator who is a young African American girl with quite an attitude.  She prides herself on being tough and not listening to Miss Moore a neighborhood lady who tries to educate the children.  Sylvia in the story is exposed to the extreme prices at a toy store and is shocked because the value of a dollar she knows is much higher coming from a poor ghetto upbringing.  At the end of the story she leaves 4 dollars richer and with a lesson even though she is trying to resist one as much as possible.  This story was an example of how even though she prides herself as being an individual and rebelling from authority and teachings; other people and your surroundings are constantly shaping your individuality.  Even though Sylvia did not want Miss Moore’s trip to the toy store to have an impact on her, it did.  It made her think.  This idea ties into the basic concept of Appiah’s piece in the book.  Although this piece was a very different style of writing the two works go hand in hand when it comes to theme.  Appiah also argues how individuality is a combination of outside influences.  Individuality can only be valued if you have relationships with other people.  Therefore, some people’s basic understanding of individuality as a “lone wolf” type is really far off base.  Without bonds and relationships with other humans we could not be free beings he states.  I strongly agree with this and I also agree with the fact that our individuality comes from a combination of all other people in our lives.  For example when asked to write five “I am” statements in class I wrote, “I am a twitter fanatic, a shopaholic, philosophical, determined, and lucky” One could argue that these traits are what make me my own individual, the combination creating a unique being.  But the truth is without other people influencing me a lot of these traits would not be true to myself.  For example without the influence of my friends and celebrities on twitter I myself never would have gotten one.  Without the influence of my mom being stylish and smart I would not be a philosophical shopaholic.  Without the influence of the schools I went to growing up I would not be determined.  And finally, without the influences of my parents their jobs, my town, etc. I might not consider myself lucky.  Individuality is a wonderful thing, but without sharing a bit of yourself with others and in turn receiving from them we wouldn’t have any individuality at all!