The way in which others perceive us can occasionally play a part in the shaping our identity. Our teenage years and our desire to belong both significantly impact who we are today. However, in saying that, it’s evident that as we mature the opinions and views of other become less relevant and are less likely to affect our sense of identity. Your identity defines who you are and is something influenced by various contributing factors.
Teenage years are the time of a person’s life when they really start exploring their identity, who they are and who they want to be. During these years it can be hard trying to figure out who you are and where you belong, with the constant struggle of trying to ‘fit in’ and comparing yourself to others. This is shown in the film Gattaca, Vincent was born an invalid and growing up you see how he is often in competition with his genetically engineered Brother Anton. Vincent was told no matter how hard he works he will never achieve anything because of his genetic makeup; the only place he belonged was with the rest of the invalids, although this was harsh if anything it determined him to not give up. Vincent was seen as a second class person by others, this is how he was distinguished from the rest and was the beginning of the shaping of his identity.
Everyone has the undeniable desire to belong; this can result in changing our identity to do so. Belonging is a sense of acceptance and something everyone feels the need to have. Belonging and identity go together like two peas in a pod. By saying that I mean having a sense of belonging helps develop your sense of identity. Further proof of this came from Vincent in Gattaca, his longing desire to belong to the community of valid’s lead him to the extreme of completely changing his identity, in doing so he took on the character of Jerome, using his DNA to achieve his dream of being on a flight to Titan. In this case the