Identity Short Story

Everyone 's identity and culture does have an effect on who they are because of the clothes they wear, their personality, and where they come from. The short stories "Totem," by Thomas King, and "Identities," by W.D. Valgardson, both explore how people are judged and treated differently because of their identity, color of their skin, and culture background. This paper will discuss the ways in which the authors engage with the themes of judgement and discrimination.

In the short story, "Totem" shows how racism causes people to treat culture and identity differently. Totem took place in the Southwest Alberta Gallery and Prairie Museum. The employees was getting annoyed of the sound the Totem Pole was making in the corner so they decided to move

In the short story, "Identities" it shows how racism causes people to treat culture and identity differently. "Identities" is about a white man who lives a high class life and lives in a wealthy neigbourhood. He is going through a midlife crisis so he decides to go for a drive in his Mercedes Benz. Leaving his part of the neigbourhood, "He meanders, instead, through the neat suburban labyrinth of cul-de-sacs, bays, and circles, losing and finding himself endlessly." He then finds himself lost in a rough neigbourhood on the North side. As he was driving by he started to see what type of neigbourhood he was in. "The houses are squat, as though they have been taller and have, slowly, sunk into the ground. Each has a band of dirt around the bottom. On the front steps of a red-roofed house, a man sits. He wears black pants, a tartan vest a brown snap-rimmed hat." Having been distracted he realizes that he needs to call his wife. When he finds a payphone he gets nervous because of the people that are around the area,"One of them has a beard and, in spite of the advancing darkness, wears sunglasses," but he doesn’t realize that they police are following him. Getting out of his vehicle he is quite nervous,"He is so intent upon the three men and the girl that he does not notice the police car drift against the curb." "When the officer, who is inexperienced, who is nervous because of the neighborhood, who is suspicious because of the car and because he has been trained to see an

"Identities" and "Totem" are two similar stories that refer to eachother around racisim, jusgemental, and discrimination. Reading both stories there were three things that came to my mind were racisim, judgmental, and discrimination In "Totem" it refers to people trying to get rid of First Nations people and culture. Trying to find a temporary place for the totem pole is like telling First Nations people that they have to leave and move onto a reserve. Asking for "government assistance," people don 't realize that the government had a huge effect on First Nation 's people and their culture as they were discriminated and taken away from their home and land. In "Identities" the story refers to mistaking another person 's identity and who they are. In the story the guy,"does not feel fear but relief" just because he was a white police officer he thought that he would see him as innocent person because they had the same color of skin and the type of neighbourhood they were in. People tend to see things as we are and not for who someone truly is. A person 's identity does have an affect on a person 's appearances because it 's the first impression other 's get of you. Every day people are judged and discriminated on the way they look, color of skin, what their wearing, and were they come from. It is upsetting how the world is today and I don’t think it will ever changed as there is always going to be that one person who is going to judge a person because of their culture,