Thiel-Hudson 1

Nicholas Thiel-Hudson

Dr. Lee-Muratori

Honors English Foundations I

30 October 2017

Common Identity

The one thing that I can say from my life experiences so far is that all people are

connected. All humans can relate to each other in thought and in action. I remember many

occasions when I would meet people for the first time and immediately get a feeling that I

already know them. There were also instances when I would say or think the same thing as my

friend or mom; and there were times when my father would call me just as I was thinking about

calling him. My mother once told me about the time she had a nightmare about my grandparents

dying in a multi-car pileup. The moment she woke up, she knew without a doubt that someone

else had the same dream. After she asked my entire family, my grandfather revealed that he had

a nightmare as well – a dream where he saw my grandmother’s body flying through the air out of

a car. This was so disturbing that my grandparents postponed their departure for an entire week;

and the next day, there was a terrible multi-car pileup on the highway on which they would have

been. Events like this happen to me and others I know quite often. This has made me realize

that people understand each other because of a special human connection that is exemplified

through common human traits like empathy, compassion, generosity, and the will to survive. We

repeatedly see this theme in literature and in life. Empathy and compassion are present in

“Marigolds,” by Eugenia W. Collier, where a girl becomes aware of these traits as she reaches
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adulthood and “The Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurst, which recounts the relationship between a

handicapped boy and his older brother. The magnitude of generosity for people who lost

everything described in “Who is helping after Hurricane Harvey?,” by Alex Brill and Scott Ganz,

is truly astonishing. The will to survive knows no bounds as seen in “Rights to the Streets of

Memphis,” by Richard Wright, where a starving boy is willing to kill others in order to eat.

These stories evidence that through common human traits, we are all connected. Through this

connection, all people share a single, common identity.

“Marigolds” demonstrates how humans show compassion and empathy to others who are

enduring hardship. Compassion is a feeling of sympathy for other people. Empathy is the ability

to understand another’s feelings. One cannot be compassionate or empathetic unless they have

understanding of others, and one cannot have understanding of others unless they have the same

identity. Elizabeth, the main character and narrator, heard her father crying one evening because

he was not able to support his family: “... the sobs went on, unstifled, finally quieting until I

could hear my mother’s voice, deep and rich, humming softly as she used to hum to a frightened

child” (Collier 4); and because the mother understood her husband, she was empathetic and

compassionate. Elizabeth learned how to be empathetic and compassionate from her mother. By

that logic, Elizabeth shared a common identity with her mother, who in turn shared a common

identity with the father. Elizabeth used this new understanding when Miss Lottie, an unhappy

lady who lived in a run-down house with her autistic son, caught Elizabeth ripping up her

marigolds: “In that humiliating moment [Elizabeth] looked beyond [her]self and into the depths

of another person. This was the beginning of compassion ...” (5) and empathy. In the midst of

her shame, Elizabeth recalled how her mother comforted her father in his disparity. She “...
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looked beyond [herself] and into the depths of another person” and finally understood the terrible

thing she had done to Miss Lottie. If the two of them had not shared a common identity,

Elizabeth would have been indifferent to the destruction she had caused, and would have had no

reason to feel regretful or “... humiliat[ed] ….” I can then see that as humans, in order to be

compassionate and empathetic, we must learn from and understand one another.

“The Scarlet Ibis” shows that one learns how to be empathetic simply by establishing a

connection with another person. The narrator developed a connection with his

physically-disabled, younger brother, Doodle: “... one afternoon as [the narrator] watched [him],

[his] head poked between the iron posts of the foot of the bed, [Doodle] looked straight at [his

brother] and grinned. [The narrator] skipped through the rooms, down the echoing halls,

shouting, ‘Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there!’ […]” (Hurst). It was at this

moment the narrator recognized he had a connection with his brother. If the narrator never had a

connection with Doodle, he would have never known that “[he was] all there;” yet the narrator

saw into the depths of his brother and felt his happiness. Doodle and his brother have this

connection again after their father cried out about the destruction of his crops: “Doodle and [the

narrator] prodding each other and giggling, went back to the house, knowing that everything

would be all right” (Hurst). Doodle and his brother were able to understand each other not with

the use of words, but by just “… prodding each other and giggling….” Each knew how the other

felt because they shared a connection. Doodle knew that his brother felt that everything would

be fine, and the narrator knew that Doodle felt the same. This mutual understanding and

connection demonstrate a common identity.

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“Who is helping after Hurricane Harvey” demonstrates that generosity, the quality of

giving to those in need, depends on empathy and compassion. Recently, the southern United

States was hit by a hurricane, which caused billions of dollars worth of damage and displaced

many people; yet J.J. Watt, a football player on the Houston Texans, provided $37 million to the

recovery effort and Michael Dell, the CEO of the Dell computer company, donated $36 million.

In reality, there has been a surge of support to the south: “... the US Chamber of Commerce has

reported that more than $222 million has been donated…” (Brill and Ganz) by businesses alone

to help the recovery effort. Even private citizens did not shy away from aiding: “Donations

[were] pouring in from … Americans of all walks of life.” These people helped the victims

because we are empathetic – we understand each other’s suffering and loss. With empathy

comes compassion, and with compassion comes generosity. Without a common identity there

would have been no generosity, no compassion, no empathy, no recovery effort, only

catastrophe.

Humanity’s instinct of survival no matter the circumstances is demonstrated by the main

character of “Rights to the Streets of Memphis.” The main character’s father left his family

without money or support. The boy, after his mother got a job, was mugged multiple times by a

gang while on his way to buy groceries. On the third attempt, the same boys threatened him, but

he defended himself: “[The gang] closed in. In blind fear [the boy] let the stick fly, feeling it

crack against a boy’s skull. […] … [He] fought to lay them low, to knock them cold, to kill

them so that they could not strike back at [him]” (Wright). The gang was preventing the boy

from going to the store and getting food, which threatened his ability to survive. Hence, the boy

fought not just to deter his assailants, but “... to kill them so that they could not strike back at
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[him].” The will to survive was so deeply rooted in the boy that he was prepared to kill. This

human trait is ingrained in us all and is part of our common identity.

Compassion, empathy, generosity, and the will to survive are qualities that are shared by

all people around the world. Though our cultures, creeds, and beliefs may be different, we still

have an unspoken understanding with one another – a connection. This is possible through the

single, common identity that all humans share. For instance, in “Marigolds,” Elizabeth’s father

was saddened by his inability to care for his family. Consequently, Elizabeth’s mother

understood the father’s worries and empathized with him. Elizabeth learned from this and

empathized with Miss Lottie. “The Scarlet Ibis” shows how the narrator and his brother

understood each other through their shared connection. This was possible only because the two

brothers shared the same identity. With the events following Hurricane Harvey, we can see that

when people are in need, other generous people will come to their aid. “Rights to the Streets of

Memphis” clearly illustrates humanity’s will to survive. Due to the fact that all people share this

instinct, we must all share the same identity. Without a common human identity, compassion,

empathy, generosity, and the will to survive cannot exist. Without fundamental human traits like

these, the very fabric of society would fall apart. Fighting would run rampant. Government

would crumble. There would be no more organization. No more peace. Without a common

human identity, only society’s destruction and death would remain.

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Works Cited

1. Brill, Alex, and Scott Ganz. “Who Is Helping after Hurricane Harvey?” AEI, 21 Sept.

2017, 10:00 am, www.aei.org/publication/who-is-helping-after-hurricane-harvey/.

2. Collier, Eugenia W. Marigolds.

3. Hurst, James, and Philippe Dumas. The Scarlet Ibis. Creative Education, 1988.

4. Wright, Richard. Rights to the Streets of Memphis.