Identity

By John M. Artz

Plot Summary

The story begins in Wentworth's office where he is fending off a request from a student for special consideration. Wentworth is a professor of information systems at Foggy Bottom University and is responsible for the school's website. Patience McGrath, his teaching assistant, informs him that some pages are missing from the website setting off an investigation that ends in a revelation that a recently hired and very well liked faculty member is an imposter.
Through flashbacks we find out that Wentworth's parents were killed under suspicious circumstances. During the adjustment after their death Wentworth falls for his childhood sweetheart Julie Fantod. But the relationship with Fantod is not to be because Wentworth draws some erroneous conclusions about the person that she is. He is deeply hurt by these erroneous beliefs and develops a tough guy persona to cope with the pain. Near the end of the story Fantod returns and reveals the truth about Wentworth's early life allowing him to overcome his destructive beliefs and finally realize who he really is.

Major Themes and Variations

The major theme in the story Identity is the concept of identity and why it is important. This major theme is played out in the character of Franklin V. Haggerty who pretends to be somebody that he is not. But the Identity story is a literary fugue in which the main theme is played over and over with a wide variety of variations. Wentworth also has an identity problem and over the course of the story he finally figures out who he is. However, exploring the variations on the theme can get confusing without some structure to organize them. Carl Jung said that each person has a self which is who they are internally and a persona which is how they present their selves to others. Examining the characters in light of the self and the persona provides the following variations on the main theme.

Variation 1: A person deliberately creates a false persona to hide their true self for the purpose of decieving others. Frank Haggerty is an example of this variation.

Variation 2: A person creates a false persona because of a false understanding of their self. This is the case with Wentworth and his tough guy persona.

Variation 3: A person has a conflict in the self which results in an underdeveloped persona. This variation is seen in Angel.

Variation 4: Patience, Shorty and Margaret are who they are. Their selves and personas are the same. They are integrated personalities.

Variation 5: Sherry creates a persona as a courtesy for others. However she shows her true self once you get to know her.

Variation 6: Paul Prasad is all persona without a well developed self underneath.

Variation 7: Wentworth misreads Julie Fantod's self and persona creating problems in the development of his self.

Variation 8: Gershom Oxenstein has created a false persona, but we won't find that out till book two.

It is interesting to note the paralell between Haggerty and Wentworth. Haggerty creates a false persona to hide who he really is. He lives in fear of discovery and his presence on the web exposes him forcing him to flee. Wentworth creates a false persona to protect the fact that he doesn't know who he really is. But he still tries to find out. Fantod discovers him through the web, but this exposure helps him to become an integrated person.
There are other instances of the Identity theme throughout the story. The Association for Social Responsibility is really just an excuse for drinking beer. Sherry masquerades in cyberspace ordering goods under false identities. Ralph Fantod mistakes Tad and Kathy Wentworth as a threat to the family. Ralph and Enos don't realize that the security guard the encountered at the mall was really Tad. And on and on....

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