"But are you the real David Grossman?"
Personas may change according to circumstances, but a constant personal identity is a sine qua non for an individual's mental health. That identity may range from "I think, therefore I am" to a more specific "My name is David Grossman".
Most people have two identities: The person whom they think or know they are, and that same person as perceived by others. In my case, the issue returns to a basic question that people sometimes ask me.
Hey, I always thought so, but if so many people are questioning that particular fact, then maybe I should be a little bit more careful.
Oh, is that the litmus test? Is there a right or wrong answer to this question? Well, I have published a number of pieces, both on-line and in print. Does that qualify me as a writer?
Continuing to seek my own identity, I looked for myself in Google, Yahoo, Excite, and Alta Vista. I was listed many times, but I also found other David Grossmans. Are any or all of them the real David Grossman? Some of them were listed on the search engines because they had also published documents. Are they the real writers?
Let's keep searching. Israeli and American phone books list David Grossmans a-plenty. I don't know whether the people behind those entries are writers, but I assume that they are real. Each one probably claims, "I have a phone, therefore I am."
I asked my friends and family. They acknowledged that I was real. That's not good enough, of course, since they just wanted to be nice to me.
I checked David Grossman in the International Who's Who, in the Who's Who of Professionals, and in Who's Who in the World. Those are well-known publications of record, right. Sure enough, I'm listed there, together with other David Grossmans. Do we all exist?
I awoke one day with a slight temperature, and my wife said, "You're not yourself today." What a terrifying thought! My identity evaporated through my aching head, and I became somebody else! After recovering, I was informed that I was back to my old self again. What a relief!
Who's Who knows who I am. The phone book knows who I am. My family, friends, and associates know who I am. When I pinch myself it hurts me, and (to the best of my knowledge) it doesn't hurt anybody else. I am therefore quite aware that I exist.
But please don't ask me about it. It just confuses the issue.
Perhaps the only real David Grossman is the one who writes an article searching for his identity, and who tries to find answers.
If so, that's me!
Are you the real David Grossman?
Are you David Grossman, the writer?
Who, then, are you?
Summary:
Are you required to read this article for a writing course? Do NOT print out the article. It is copyrighted.
Your exercise for this article is as follows:
How can anybody defend their own true identity? Why should it be necessary?
Copyright © David Grossman. World rights reserved. This article may not be printed, forwarded, reproduced, or copied in any way or in any medium without written permission from the author.
