Literary Analysis Essay on Still Me Inside

Introduction

Still Me Inside is a story Mai Goda. In the story, Mai offers a comprehensive description of how changing her appearance influenced the perception of other people towards her identity, in addition to how she brought about herself. She provides the description of the manner in which she woke up one morning and opted to transform her name abruptly. This constitutes a major thematic issue. Although Mai had been formerly traditional and earmarked about her conduct, she embraced an inferior like look. Ideally, this appearance was achieved through reducing her elongated hairs and putting a red dye. Additionally, she pierced her eyebrows, which offered a great representation of the teenage rebellion.

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A close look at the story would reveal that Mai describes her experiences of a tremendous discriminatory treatments and comments from individuals who simply viewed her as delinquent based on her new appearance. She even remembers going to school late, and upon requesting the deputy principal for a pass, she was given a stern warning. Surprisingly, even the audience did not give her the focus she deserved during music performance. They focused more on her looks instead of her abilities to perform the music. Despite the fact that she earwigs her parents warning other children about changing their appearance, she gets compliments from a friend to her father. It makes her realize that she is still the same person that she was before transformation. Such kind of compliment further improves confidence in her, and thus provides a good reaffirmation of her identity.

The primary thematic issue being addressed in the story youths tend to experience many conflicting in regard to the way they look. Mai can keep the mentality that her identity is defined by her physical appearance. She can feel invisible through putting on as a conservative. This kind of feeling kindles her to manipulate her appearance with the intent of achieving a recognition so that she can be able to blend effortlessly with other children of her age.

The story portrays several figurative languages that help the readers interpret and understand well the thematic issues addressed in the book. Correctly, the author has used the metaphor extensively to help the reader understand some of the aspects being communicated. The story tends to demonstrate the presence of certain social typecasts related with an individual physical appearance. For example, her red hair and the pierced eyebrows are associated with the delinquency.

The identity crisis constitutes a significant conflict, which confronts Mai both internally and externally. She faces discrimination and opposition from various people because of changing her physical appearance. This makes people focus more on her appearance as opposed to her efforts and talents even during music performance. While this is evident, the conflict is resolved ultimately. Mai's narrative provides a fantastic conclusion that an individual's identity remains unchanged despite the way they look or appear physically.

The time setting in the story dramatically suits the themes depicted, and the actions of the protagonist. The narrative occurs during the day and school going period. She is able to remember going to school late, and upon requesting the deputy principal for a pass, she was given a harsh caution. The story, therefore, covers a considerably shorter period, with the emphasis on the period when Mai was undergoing an identity crisis after changing her physical appearance. The Mai narrative is tremendously realistic because discrimination and identity crisis are some of the common aspects and challenges that people face in their societies. The events or incidents of the plot presented in chronological order thus enables the readers to understand the order with which they occur.

One major personality trait of Mai as portrayed in the story is that she is confident and full of self-esteem. Although Mai faced great opposition from her parents, who even used to warn other children from changing their identities, she still demonstrated confidence. This offered her a good reaffirmation of her character and that she had not changed. Additionally, she is a non-conservative girl. She can feel invisible through dressing like a conservative. Notably, within this kind of emotion, she is prompted to manipulate her appearance with the intent of achieving a recognition so that she can be able to blend effortlessly with other children of her age.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is undeniable that the story, "Still Me Inside" depicts some of the critical issues that young people in contemporary society undergo. As shown in the story, these issues include discrimination, opposition, delinquency, and the identity crisis. Many youths would tend to adopt lifestyles that may be otherwise deemed uncommon by other people. In the story, Mai describes how changing her appearance influenced the perception of other people towards her identity. Readers can discern that there are certain societal stereotypes associated with the physical appearance of an individual. However, an individual's identity remains the same irrespective of their physical appearances.