Fear Case

Human beings are always growing, maturing and changing. The question is whether if these changes can have a harmful or a beneficial impact. “The World and Other Places” by Jeanette Winterson, is a fictional narrative about a pilot and the story of the re-construction of his identity. As a boy, the pilot is very imaginative with a goal in life which he pursues through self-invention. Self-invention means having the power and the control necessary to create a life in which there are no constraints or limits. It is a change in a person that allows people to produce their own roles and write their own scripts. Change can be a healthy choice; however there are times when change can create even more madness and loss of mental soundness. Re-construction of an identity is about abandoning a part of one’s self and creating a new character that satisfies a person’s deepest fantasies. However, the original identity before the transformation which is created by life experiences or values can never be erased; this identity will always linger. When the original identity meets with the new constructed one, emptiness consumes the person’s life. On one hand, self invention is a transformation that brings a person towards his or her goals, gaining control of their life. On the other hand, it can tear a person apart with the feelings of lying to themselves. The dangers of self invention occur when the old identity clashes with the new identity, creating an emotional war in the mind of its owner.

Self-invention can be used to break away from fantasies into the pursuit of goals and dreams. As a young boy the narrator of Winterson’s text, loves airplanes and the idea of traveling. His imagination and creativity become evident when the narrator displays the world through his imagination. After routinely fantasizing about what the world would look like, the narrator became anxious to chase after his dreams, “That night, I knew I would get away, better myself. Not because I despised who I was, but because I did not know who I was…I was waiting to invent myself” (Winterson 285). His desire to break out of his fantasy world and go out and see the real world brought a hunger for change. He became so immersed with the idea of flying that he began to pursue his dreams. The narrator became a successful pilot and did indeed travel around the world like he desired to through his youth. The narrator’s re-invention into a pilot brought him to accomplish his goals, taking him to places he dreamt of as a child: “Bombay, Cairo, Paris, New York. I’ve been to those places now” (Winterson 287). The fantasies he had as a child motivated him to become a pilot and take action to achieve his goals. Becoming a pilot was a self invention because he pushed himself into becoming one in order to achieve his goals. More importantly, the pilot gained control of his life. He did not simply conform himself with being a dreamer but actually became a pursuer. The pilot