Identity.
In life there are not always that many dependable facts, but the assumed and assured point on which you should be able to rely on, is your own individuality. What a shock then to discover that another individual has not just the same as your own first, middle and last name but they also have the same identically named mother and father! It is alarming and while you, yourself know that of course even though the names are identical those people are not your actual parents, it still makes you think twice. Could there really be two of the same person out there, maybe even three or four, with such similar personal information? While the similarities in identification might stop with the identity references, the fact remains that there could be another out there with near enough the exact information as yourself. The chances of this is phenomenal but it does happen.
What if you come face to face with a look alike? Mind-blowing! Publicly notable are the many famous actors and entertainers who often have children that have a striking resemblance to their parents. Then there are identical siblings that even their own parents have trouble in identifying apart. The cute confusion has been exploited in many films and even at the climax of certain shows there is a life and death scene where someone must make a choice of who to save, the ultimate scenario of the identical good or the bad. The decision is often made but with the question hanging heavy in the air, was it the right choice and do you really know who is who?
The doppelgänger is not as far-fetched as you might think. As a situation, it is more likely than one would expect and there have been notable times in history which could have taken a drastic turn of events, if certain famous characters had not been protected by the use of a doppelgänger. Take for example, the use of such an intervention with Sir Winston Churchill and during the Second World War.
Sometimes, there is a deliberate interference with liberty, as portrayed by the fictional story from the 1840 by Alexandre Dumas in The Man in the Iron Mask. However does fact follow fiction or could it be true that on occasion certain royal characters are removed from public view. The public identity stolen from them or forced captive with no chance of their liberty.
The theme of a look alike is used extremely well by the American author Mark Twain in 1881 when in Canada there was the first publication of his interesting story about identical identity confusion in that of The Prince and The Pauper. Coming from vastly different backgrounds the two boys also had contrasting different sense of values. The true prince was arrogant and cruel, where as the pauper had traits of kindness and generosity. The fictional story was set in 1547 and the main characters were King Henry the Eighths’ son and a boy from Pudding Lane in London who had an abusive father. They happened to look identical and then the plot unfolds.
In 1894 Anthony Hope published a novel entitled The Prisoner of Zenda. In order to keep his potential position as king of Ruritania a look alike had to take his place, as he was unable to attend his own coronation.
Identity is such a precious thing, the idea of losing control of who you are is the source of multiple science fiction stories and films, such as the Body Snatchers and the Stepford Wives. Identity is part of what makes us human and the most frightening nightmare is trying to prove you really are who you say you are.
While literature or films can provoke and mystify our notions of identical possibilities, real life has the greatest potential threat of all, with the increase of Alzheimer’s as a progressive deterioration of mental awareness. The slow loss in recognition of who you are can be truly terrifying. Fortunately many efforts are being made to halt, slow or find a solution for many of the debilitating mental conditions that can rob people of their sense of who they are. Identity remains one of the most profound ties that people have to their own individual traits and even that of backgrounds in history.
What if you come face to face with a look alike? Mind-blowing! Publicly notable are the many famous actors and entertainers who often have children that have a striking resemblance to their parents. Then there are identical siblings that even their own parents have trouble in identifying apart. The cute confusion has been exploited in many films and even at the climax of certain shows there is a life and death scene where someone must make a choice of who to save, the ultimate scenario of the identical good or the bad. The decision is often made but with the question hanging heavy in the air, was it the right choice and do you really know who is who?
The doppelgänger is not as far-fetched as you might think. As a situation, it is more likely than one would expect and there have been notable times in history which could have taken a drastic turn of events, if certain famous characters had not been protected by the use of a doppelgänger. Take for example, the use of such an intervention with Sir Winston Churchill and during the Second World War.
Sometimes, there is a deliberate interference with liberty, as portrayed by the fictional story from the 1840 by Alexandre Dumas in The Man in the Iron Mask. However does fact follow fiction or could it be true that on occasion certain royal characters are removed from public view. The public identity stolen from them or forced captive with no chance of their liberty.
The theme of a look alike is used extremely well by the American author Mark Twain in 1881 when in Canada there was the first publication of his interesting story about identical identity confusion in that of The Prince and The Pauper. Coming from vastly different backgrounds the two boys also had contrasting different sense of values. The true prince was arrogant and cruel, where as the pauper had traits of kindness and generosity. The fictional story was set in 1547 and the main characters were King Henry the Eighths’ son and a boy from Pudding Lane in London who had an abusive father. They happened to look identical and then the plot unfolds.
In 1894 Anthony Hope published a novel entitled The Prisoner of Zenda. In order to keep his potential position as king of Ruritania a look alike had to take his place, as he was unable to attend his own coronation.
Identity is such a precious thing, the idea of losing control of who you are is the source of multiple science fiction stories and films, such as the Body Snatchers and the Stepford Wives. Identity is part of what makes us human and the most frightening nightmare is trying to prove you really are who you say you are.
While literature or films can provoke and mystify our notions of identical possibilities, real life has the greatest potential threat of all, with the increase of Alzheimer’s as a progressive deterioration of mental awareness. The slow loss in recognition of who you are can be truly terrifying. Fortunately many efforts are being made to halt, slow or find a solution for many of the debilitating mental conditions that can rob people of their sense of who they are. Identity remains one of the most profound ties that people have to their own individual traits and even that of backgrounds in history.
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