1. Anderson refutes the idea that nationalism can only be associated with racism and enmity towards others. He gently reassures us that “it is useful to remind ourselves that nations inspire love, and often profoundly self-sacrificing love.” (Anderson, 141) Nationalism does not have to inspire hatred towards others; rather it can move many to perform heroic deeds or to extol the virtues of their country through art, literature, and movies out of love for their nation.

2. Anderson agrees with Eric Hobsbawm’s observation that many Marxist states have turned nationalist. He asserts that “the ‘end of the era of nationalism,’ so long prophesied, is not remotely in sight. Indeed, nation-ness is the most universally legitimate value in the political life of our time.” (Anderson, 3) Even in this time and day, Anderson believes that nationalism will continue to thrive and flourish because it allows many nations to justify their actions, no matter how ill-advised they may be.

quotes from Anderson

1. Anderson refutes Gellner's idea that nations are 'invented.' Instead, he defines nations as "imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their members...yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion." (6) According to Anderson, all communities are imagined because most of the members in that community will never actually meet each other; even within the smallest of nations, the majority of people will never actually engage in any form of face-to-face contact.

2. In order to explain a person's attachment to his or her nation, a person's willingness to die for the sake of his or her nation, Anderson points to the 'natural ties' a person has to his or her community: "nation-ness is assimilated to skin-colour, gender, parentage and birth-era - all those things one can not help." (143) Anderson presents this idea that nation-ness is a characteristic much like race or gender, one that cannot be controlled but rather is part of a person from his or her very birth. 

Many Masks Exhibit -- "Still I Rise"

Essayist Wendy Donniger’s work entitled “Many Masks, Many Selves” explores the complex nature of our personalities. Through her exploration, Doniger argues that our personality is comprised of a set of ‘masks’ that we don in different contexts; and further states that this is a healthy aspect of our daily life. In one passage, Doniger briefly mentions masks one does not choose to wear: “Involuntary masks are also imposed by race and gender” (Doniger, 69). In this brief acknowledgment of masks imposed by society, Doniger does a great disservice to all those who have overcome the involuntary masks society has forced onto so many faces. In her poem Still I Rise, the great poet Maya Angelou writes, “You may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies, / You may trod me in the very dirt / But still, like dust, I’ll rise”. “Write me down” is an active expression that implies activeness on the target of this poem and passivity on Angelou’s part. “Write me down...with your bitter, twisted lies” implies a forcing of some untruth onto Angelou (and, through implication, fellow black Americans) – the equivalent of forcing a mask onto an unwilling person. However, the tone changes when Angelou continues, “But still, like dust, I’ll rise”. Angelou’s use of the word ‘rise’ implies an activeness on her part – she does not wish to lay down and accept the imposition of masks. Angelou’s poem provides a provocative example of Doniger’s ignorance to those who have overcome the imposition of masks – those that, like Angelou, continue to rise.

Exhibit Presentation-- "Many masks, many selves"

For me, Doniger's idea that we all have thousands of necessary masks, none of which is a true "self," is best visualized by picturing the image of a shoe closet. Imagine all of your shoes on a large (or perhaps not so large) shelf. Each pair of those shoes are ours and we own each of those pairs of shoes for a reason -- no matter how trivial. Like with Doniger's masks, each pair of shoes defines a certain side of us, but could never possibly on its own sum up who we truly are. Like we would never wear athletic shoes to an interview or dress shoes to a game of pick-up basketball, each mask serves its necessary and unique purpose in a certain situation. However, if you were to have to choose a single pair of shoes to live the rest of your life in, you would not be able to. Would you take the pair of shoes that look the best? Are the most practical? Are the most comfortable? While we each have that favorite pair of shoes, we all face times when that pair of shoes just can't do the job and another pair is needed. Doniger writes, "We are imprisoned in our self, but it is a very big prison. When we put on a mask we have a choice, ... , and in a sense they are all our own" (68). Like with masks, society forces us to wear shoes when we go outside (and in some cases even inside our own homes). However, when it comes to choosing which pair of shoes to put on in the morning, we still have many choices and which pair of shoes we ultimately choose to wear on a given day is still up to us and says something about who we are.

Exhibit for Doniger

In “Many masks, many selves,” the author, Wendy Doniger discusses the reasons why people try to masquerade as others. One of her main theories is that “individuals are often driven to self-impersonation through the pressure of public expectations.” (Doniger, 60) She asserts that people try to change into another person by wearing masks, but will inevitably fail and fall back to their “default position” (Doniger, 68). Doniger does not mention any possibility of a person successfully transforming into another person. In the 1954 film Seven Samurai directed by Akira Kurosawa, one of the samurai hired to protect a village from bandits, Kikuchiyo, masquerades as a noble-born samurai, even though he is merely the son of a farmer. Kikuchiyo desires nothing more than to be recognized as a samurai, because he hates the lifestyle of farmers. In the final battle scene, one of Kikuchiyo’s comrades is dishonorably shot in the back by the bandit chief. Kikuchiyo blindly charges after the bandit, and despite being shot in the stomach, manages to kill the bandit before succumbing to his mortal wound. With this brave act, he proves his worth a samurai, and is recognized as thus by the villagers and his fellow samurai. In this case, Kikuchiyo was able to create his own sense of identity through his actions, not because society bestowed one upon him. He successfully impersonated a samurai in order to become one, since samurai had higher status and were more respected than farmers. Kurosawa’s character Kikuchiyo proves that people can change themselves instead of reverting back to their normal selves after a period of impersonation.

Doniger Exibit

In Doniger's "Many Masks Many Selves" essay, we learned that the our personalities are made up of the many masks that we put on depending on the audience that we are trying to please. Changing our masks can be as small as the tone we use talking to an elder, or as drastic as plastic surgery. The audience that the person getting plastic surgery is trying to please greatly affects this decision. Most of the time, people try to look younger. However, the reason for this is that society has created the idea that young, tight and perky is paramount. Our appearance might be a mask that isn't included in Doniger's  essay, but when a person gets a surgical operation to change their appearance, I think it should be viewed as the "ultimate" mask. 

Doniger Exhibit

In Wendy Doniger's many masks, many selves, Doniger explores the idea of putting on masks to meet society's needs, and also to put on masks to meet your own needs. That one becomes the mask they are wearing, because they seek to become what society See's them as. In class we discussed masks that society has selected for us. My exhibit is a image that portraits three girls playing jump rope wearing gas masks. While the masks they wear are physical , it also represents society's imposed masks. The innocence of the children playing is contrasted the gas masks and the gloom of oncoming war. It is a representation of society forcing people to put up masks that are not necessarily chosen.