An essential part of one’s identity is knowing where he or she comes from. Most modern people know where they were born and what racial and ethnical backgrounds encompass them. Even people from centuries ago and whose lives revolved around the chambers of their masters can recall the facts about where they first became a person on this earth. “I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot County, Maryland.” (Dou

This personal reflection is a true look at one’s identity. A day in the life of a political prisoner in the Gulag is one of hard work. Work is what makes the true portrayal of who we are. One’s identity begins to be built at the great physical work that one can endure. Pleasure arises on what one can achieve in his or her life. It is human nature to have pleasure and this comes about by controlling what we want to do. A prisoner cannot control what one can do so they must do what makes them pleasurable. A prisoner must learn to appreciate and enjoy what they have. This holds true for most modern Americans. We must learn to enjoy and appreciate what we have and it is through this acceptance that we can build our identity.

To find out who we really are we must experiment with freedom. To do this we must experience a time of solitude. This does not mean that we become isolated from people. Quite the contrary. We must experience solitude so that we can begin to think about the real person that we are and the true person that we want to become. “I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” (Thoreau 88) To be suffocated by another’s presence day in and day out is much like slavery. Without the ability to reflect on the very passions in life one cannot truly find themselves. “Apart from sleep, the only time a prisoner lives for himself is ten minutes in the morning at breakfast, five minutes over dinner, and five at supper.” (Solzhenitsyn 28) To know and begin to understand takes long hours of personal reflection. This reflection cannot come from the mouths of others. We must experience it for ourselves. However, to sufficiently experience it must be done frequently and for long time frames. “The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping, and not feel lonesome, because he is employed; but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone, at the mercy of his thoughts, but must be where he can see the folks, and recreate, and, as he thinks, remunerate himself for his days solitude…” (Thoreau 88) Solitude is part of a healthy lifestyle. If one is not able to experience free time from others they may never be able to think about their life’s work. Without the ability to sit alone and experience the peace and quiet makes it much more likely that we will never be able to truly develop our own identities. We should be able to choose our own path of life independently and thoughtfully, subject to our own deliberation and no one else’s. “And now here he was dreaming of being ill for two or three weeks, not dangerously ill, of course, not so bad that they’d have to operate, yet bad enough to go to the hospital and lie in bed for three weeks without stirring; and let them feed him on nothing but that clear soup of theirs, he wouldn’t mind

Some topics in this essay:
Betsy Bailey, Modern Americans, Ivan Denisovich, Frederick Douglass, Maryland” Douglass, modern americans, , own identity, one’s identity, Harriet Bailey, truly identity, pleasures life, thoreau 88, pleasures surround, people identify, ethnical background, daily routine,