102. I am the roles I play?

Natalie Portman in Black Swan (2010)

Throughout the novel, the narrator reflects on her identity. When she was her son's age, she decided she wanted to be a writer and "clung to that identity. I thought it fit me in the way few other identities died at the time. I chased this sense of identity through high school and to college . . . Eventually, the ream caved under the weight of more tangible realities" (27).

A few pages later, she remarks on the “truest self” (31), the “core” (35) self. On page 102, she reflects on how roles (mother, wife, friend, occupation etc.) can both reinforce and undercut identity.

(Side note: Did you know that the study of identity formation is an area of specialization in the academic disciplines of philosophy and psychology?)

What are your (look – identity is in that word!) thoughts on  the relationship between roles and personal identity?

Is there a core self that is completely independent of the roles you play? Do roles do little more than mask the core self? Or is your core identity shaped by the roles you play--at work, in the family, with your friends, in public?