"Brother Dear" by Bernice Friesen

The character that I have chosen to reflect on identity with from the short story, "Brother Dear" is Greg.  Greg's current situation is different in his perspective than his fathers, however within this story, Greg has shown to have grown into his own person apart from what his Father wants him to be doing.

The story takes place when Greg comes home from university, where in which his Dad had paid for his tuition, and had planned for Greg to study pre-law and to get good grades.  The pressure of of the Father makes Greg feel insignificant, because his father thinks he has "no drive, (and) no ambition". This only pushes Greg away more from caring about school, and the experience of university life itself has changed the perspective of Greg's life.

The perspective in which Greg now sees things is different than what his family values.  He changed physically, as he "grew his hair long," and "every time (I saw it), it was a different colour". This kind of concerns his family, but also his whole personality had changed as a whole. The protagonist, Sharlene, his sister states that "(He) started preaching to (them) about how materialistic (they) are", and Greg goes on to list things more things concerning to wasting money, and not being environmentally friendly. From the way that Sharlene recaps the conversation, it gives you and idea that Greg didn't really care about these things before, but in which now, he has a strong passion for.

Friesen creates Greg's identity through the things he is passionate about, and portrayed through his actions and words.  In addition to his conversation with his family mentioned earlier, another that creates a sense of who he is and what he cares about is the conversation at the dinner table.  When brought up by his Father, Greg mentions that he no longer eats meat because he's a vegetarian.  He lets his family know he did not do well on his exams, simply because he skipped to go to a protest. Greg also tells his family of how he isn't going back to school, and that he's going to spend his summer planting trees.  These three prime examples gives you a strong sense that Greg is an activist perhaps for animal rights, and also that he has grown to care a lot for the Earth's natural environment.  By skipping his exam, you can tell that Greg is really committed to these passions of his, they're not just a hobby, but they are so significant in his life that Greg really feels he needs to stand up for what he believes in.

Finally, during Greg's conversation with Sharlene before he boards the Grey Hound, Greg and Sharlene both realize something about themselves through their encounter.  Greg shows Sharlene that it doesn't matter what other people want for you if it doesn't make you happy.  Greg explained how he didn't want to follow along the path of just 'making Father happy', but instead, he wanted to do what he loved, and what he was passionate about.  The things that brought him joy were the things that made him his own person, not what he brought joy to other people.

Greg finally begins to accept his identity, and the way he is, because others do too.

How Greg's identity connects to myself is in the sense that he is willing to follow his the things he is passionate about. One thing that I really want to do after post-secondary is firstly, get a Bachelor's degree, then I want to go teach English abroad.  I also want to go on many humanitarian trips within my lifetime in third-world countries.  This connects to my values and Greg's as well, as I am a truly compassionate person and want to have the chance to make a difference in other people's lives. Greg is the same in that he has a passion for the environment, and certain rights, and these are things that he is willing to take action for, just as I am willing to as well.