Discovery is the process of finding ourselves, of reaching our full potential.
To what extent is this point of view represented in the text you have studied and at least ONE text of your own choosing?
The process of discovery results primarily in a change of one self as it creates a significant shift in one’s perspective and understanding. This developed viewpoint generally conveys the growth of one’s own understanding of identity and personal values. The discovery and realisation of one’s inherent values and abilities demonstrates the full potential of one’s character, which may lead to an exertion of action, establishing their full qualities and dexterities. This idea of self-discovery is evident in both Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’s bildungsroman The Motorcycle Diaries, which largely pronounces a physical journey to cause a dramatic shift of beliefs and demonstrate Guevara’s great prospective, as well as J.D. Salinger’s novella “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951), which exemplifies the importance of intellectual and emotional discoveries to the development of understanding of self and the potential of one’s own abilities.
The idea that discovery is simultaneous with the search for one’ identity can be seen in both The Motorcycle Diaries and The Catcher in the Rye. In The Motorcycle Diaries, Guevara’s discovery of his passion for equality, appreciation of nature, rejection of wealth and value of friendship is clearly underlined, which formed the basis of his identity. The personification in “their lives…devoured by the soulless arms of mechanical shovels,” utilises the frightening imagery to demonstrate the suffocating horror of the minds and emphasises Guevara’s witness and anger of the inhuman treatment of the workers, towards whom Guevara develops deep compassion, sympathy and admiration. Guevara had grown up in the comforts of the upper class, but due to this discovery, has developed a powerful desire for equality, a prominent characteristic of his identity. The...