Identity is that which makes a person live and interact with others in a certain way according to

how they think and feel. The question of what forms identity in a person can be answered by
multiple examples of fundaments in life that make a person who they are, but essentially identity
has one main source of being, and this is seen in the novel "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi, and the
text "A Drug Called Tradition" by Sherman Alexie". According to both these authors, the roots of
identity stem from the origins of your ancestry, and this is because ancestry forms beliefs that
are passed down a family line, which affect the way individuals interact with the world that
surrounds them, and eventually define their life on earth and the impact they'll have on others
(especially their descendants).

Ancestry has the greatest influence on the identity of individuals that run down a family line, and
this is thanks to the beliefs that are created and passed down through generations. These
beliefs are the fundaments used in the education of a young child by his or her parents as they
grow up and interact with the world, being so, these directly impact what this child develops as
interpretations of the world and according to them forms his identity. Beliefs can come in many
forms or aspects of life, and they will one way or another affect the development of individuals
since these build the example that defines how to be in relation to something, an example from
the text "A Drug Called Tradition" by Alexie demonstrates that beliefs and traditions from the
ancestry of the characters influences their dreams and desires, "I wanted one of their ponies. I
needed one of their ponies. I needed to be a hero and earn my name." the desire of this boy
was to "earn his name" in the context of what this meant in the heritage of his Indian tribe, in
which by stealing a horse you would earn your name, or, become someone "important",
essentially the beliefs of his ancestry actually did impact his desires which are represented
through visions and dreams and demonstrate who he wants to be according to his beliefs. On
the other hand, in "Homegoing" beliefs and traditions are descended through family lines from
either Esi or Effia, whatever happened during their lifetime has riples on every generation that
comes after them, this because they are the origin of that family. Especially all throughout Effia's
family line, the belief of breaking tradition meant that bad luck would rain on the person who
broke it and then on the descendants that come after. Abena is the perfect example from one of
Effia's descendants who are affected by this belief; she was born from unlucky man, who was
cursed for breaking the tradition of forceful marriage with someone in your village, this by
running away to marry the actual love of his life. He wound up passing this bad luck to his
daughter all because the impact that belief has in heritage, "An unmarried twenty-five-year-old
woman was unheard of, in her village or any other on this continent or the next. But there were
only a few men in her village, and none of them wanted to take a chance with unlucky's
daughter." In her construction of beliefs according to her ancestry this was bad luck, and she
had a miserable life just because she was born from a man who had broken tradition and was
punished with bad luck, even though just a construction of their beliefs these affected the
individuals across the family line causing bad luck to not only one person but also the
generations that come after.

Essentially these beliefs and constructs that live in a family directly impact the way individuals
form their identity, depending on the way that these are implemented and taught during their
childhood, by doing so, these individuals learn to interact and live in the world in their own way.
Ness from "Homegoing" is a perfect example of how individuals develop to be certain ways,
mostly based on the things they saw from their family as they were growing. Ness didn't have
much of a family as she grew up, but the short years she lived with her mother were enough for
her to be affected by the beliefs and heritage from her ancestry. Though she wasn't involved,
Ness's identity was shaped by the story of her mother Esi, who lived a miserable life, and
passed down her miserable behavior to Ness, "Esi, had been a solemn, solid woman who was
never known to tell a happy story. Even Ness's bedtime stories had been ones about of men
being thrown into the Atlantic Ocean like anchors attached to nothing: no land, no people, no
worth. . . Ness's mother, called Frownie by the other slaves because she never smiled, used to
tell the story of how she'd been cursed by a Little Dove long, long ago. . . When they sold Ness
in 1796, esi's lips had stood in that same thin line. Ness could remember reaching out for her
mother flailing her arms and kicking her legs, fighting against the body of the man who'd come
to take her away. And still Esi's lips had not moved, her hands had not reached out. She stood
there, solid and strong, the same as Ness had always known her to be. And though Ness had
met warm slaves on other plantations, black people who smiled and hugged and told nice
stories, she would always miss the gray rock of her mother's heart. She would always associate
real love with a hardness of spirit." By first describing the character of Esi and her relationship
with Ness, and then explaining how it marked Ness's interpretation of love, Gyasi is showing
exactly how ancestry affects the way a person lives their life in their own way. In this specific
case by saying "She would always associate real love with a hardness of spirit" the author is
anticipating further on how Ness will most likely react towards love according to the perspective
she has on it, which grew from the ambient she grew in with her mother. When the three boys
from "A Drug Called Tradition" sit by the lake waiting for their visions to arrive the text is also
demonstrating how beliefs of their ancestry influence the way they live on earth, doing things
that even maybe don't seem so appropriate for the cnetury their living in, but they still do it
because even their desires root from their nacestry, "It is now. Three Indian boys are drinking
Diet Pepsi and talking out by Benjamin Lake. They are wearing only loincloths and braids.
Although it is the twentieth century and planes are passing overhead, the Indian boys have
decided to be real Indians tonight. They all want to have their vision, to receive their true names,
their adult names. . . So they decided to build a fire and breathe in that sweet smoke. They have
not eaten for days so they know their visions should arrive soon." Thanks to the traditions and
beliefs they have inherited from their tribe, the boys perform activities that might seem bizarre to
others but are completely normal according to their own constructs based on their ancestry. The
interaction both these characters have with the world and the interpretations they create of it are
all based on what they've inherited as beliefs, if it weren't for beliefs passed down a family line
people would most likely be the same, and unable to develop their unique identity.

As a result of unique identity, individuals will want to live their lives according to their own
criteria, which is based on these beliefs from their ancestry that they were taught during their
childhood; and they will most probably use this beliefs to influence other people. Such is the
case with Thomas in "A Drug Called Tradition" Thomas speaks of his indian belief of dancing
with your skeletons to the other two boys and ends up influencing them on their perception of
time, "There are things you should learn. Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you,
and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you. . . What you have to do is keep
moving, keep walking, in step with your skeletons. They ain't ever going to leave you, so
you don't have to worry about that. Your past ain't going to fall behind, and your future won't get
too far ahead. . . But, no matter what they do, keep walking, keep moving. And don't wear a
watch. Hell, Indians never need to wear a watch because your skeletons will always remind you
about the time. See, it is always now. That's what Indian time is. The past, the future, all of it is
wrapped up in the now. That's how it is. We are trapped in the now." This peculiar thing Thomas
screamed at the boys, impacts the way in which they interpret life and time, and how the belief
of this individual is affecting others. When Alexie specifies "That's what Indian time is" he is
emphasizing on the indian belief of time that is passed down through generations in that tribe,
and how this belief even influences others' perception on it. Otherwise there is Akua from
"Homegoing" or "Crazy Woman", she can't stop dreaming about fire, a symbol that crosses
generations in her family but still affects her to that day; these dreams of fire have her on the
edge of madness and even wind up affecting her children, "in her dreams the fire was shaped
like a woman holding two babies to her heart. The firewoman would carry these two little girls
with her all the way to the woods of the Inland and then the babies would vanish, and the
firewoman's sadness would send oranfe and red and hints of blue swarming every tree and
every bush in sight." Dreams of fire would chase Akua every, and slowly these became more
powerful, powerful enough for her children to be affected, "Her hand caught fire, but she
touched them still. Soon she cradled them with her own burning hands, playing with the braided
ropes of fire that made up their hair, their coal-black lips. . . Until the torrent of tears began to put
out the fire in Akua's hands. Until the children began to disappear." Although it was just a dream
Akua was burning her children in real life, she was so affected by this symbol of fire and the
firewoman that lived in the depth of her ancestry that it affected her own life as well as the one
of her children, she was not cursed, just influenced by her heritage. Perhaps beliefs and
constructs from our ancestors come far behind in our family line, but these are stron enough to
affect the life of the people from this family; enough to define the way in which they live their
lives and enough to define the way they impact others who surround them and influence them
with their beliefs.

Where we come from, not simply now, but years and years back influences who we are on this
earth, it is not just nurture and nature, it is ancestry, and beliefs, and education that form identity
in individuals. Thanks to the roots of our ancestry, we have beliefs that are passed down a
family line to affect all individuals in it, that influence their sense of self, and the way they
interact with the world that surrounds them, and that eventually define their life on earth and
how they will impact those around them. To conclude, ancestry is the root of identity.