Comparative Study dy dy


Leaving Certificate Ordinary Level – Excellence in English Language and Literature


Comparative study: Identity


The Playboy of the Western World


Each of the characters has a


moment of revelation.


Christy Mahon’s moment of revelation comes towards the end of The Playboy of the Western World, when he learns that it is up to him to decide what sort of man he wants to be. Up to this point, he has simply been pretending to be the brave and dangerous murderer the local people take him for and has been gradually growing into this role. However, when Old Mahon appears, alive and kicking up a fuss, the locals instantly turn on Christy. Pegeen calls him ‘an ugly liar was playing off the hero, and the fright of men’. Despite the shock of seeing his father and hearing Pegeen’s hurtful words, Christy is not willing to give up his new identity. He tells the people that they have ‘made a mighty man of him’ and he is now in a position to look down on them as ‘the fools of the earth’. He fi ghts his father once more, appearing to kill him, and when the locals tie him up and torture him, the once-timid Christy shows his newfound courage and strong sense of self as he fi ghts back. He leaves the shebeen with his father, announcing he will be master of the family home


248 Some Like It Hot


Unlike The Playboy of the Western World, in which it is only Christy Mahon who has a moment of revelation, several characters in Some Like It Hot discover startling things about the theme of identity. In each case, however, it is being exposed for who they truly are that forces each character to look closely at their own identity, just as Christy is forced to do in The Playboy of the Western World. For Jerry, the moment of revelation comes when he realises that he has found a devoted and generous suitor in Osgood Fielding. When Joe points out that Jerry can’t marry Osgood because Osgood is unaware of Jerry’s true gender, Jerry has to tell himself, ‘I’m a boy – I’m a boy – I wish I were dead – I’m a boy – I’m a boy –’ The fact that he has to repeat this declaration and that he feels so unhappy about it shows us that Jerry has become almost totally immersed in his identity as Daphne and is reluctant to give it up, just as Christy has become immersed in his identity as the brave playboy who killed his father. Joe and Sugar have


Persepolis


Marjane, like the characters in the other two texts, has a moment of revelation that leads her to look closely at her own identity. Marjane’s experience is similar to Christy Mahon’s, as she too learns that what others think of her is less important than what she thinks of herself and she regains her sense of pride and self-worth. In both cases, it is the hurtful behaviour of others that makes the characters decide what sort of person they want to be. Marjane’s moment of discovery occurs when she is studying in Vienna. In an effort to fi t in with Western life, Marjane denies her Iranian nationality and pretends to be French. She feels ashamed as she does so, remembering her grandmother’s words: ‘Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself’. The turning point for Marjane comes when she overhears a group of teenagers in a café mocking her for faking her identity. She confronts them angrily, shouting, ‘I am Iranian and proud of it!’ Although the incident is upsetting, Marjane feels proud of herself for fi nally understanding what her


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