Di Dio Antonio (Università degli studi di Messina)
Bonanno Francesco (Università degli studi di Messina)
Pintaudi Teresa (Università degli studi di Messina)
Ceccio Mariachiara (Università degli studi di Messina)
Cavallaro Filippo (Università degli studi di Messina)
Human identity can be compared to the fragmentation of the “self” in Pirandello’s novel. This concept is also applicable to the condition of bionic man, who faces a “fracture” between the “biological self” and the “technology-enhanced self”. In both situations, there is an identity crisis that challenges self-perception and how others perceive men. This analysis discusses the analogy between Pirandello’s novel ” Uno, Nessuno e Centomila” and the clinical condition of a patient with a prosthesis, that transforms him into a bionic man. The body does not immediately recognize the implant, in fact we want to highlight the dynamics related to self-perception and identity in fragmented and complex contexts.
The analysis focus on critical interpretation of the identity themes featured in the novel and their transposition to the clinical condition of the bionic man. A comparative approach is taken to investigate the similarities between the two situations, examining how physical alterations and external perception affect personal identity.
In Pirandello’s novel, the main character Vitangelo Moscarda discovers a physical “defect” of which he had never been aware. This leads him to a profound reflection on his identity: “I did not know well even my own body, the things of mine that belonged most intimately to me: my nose, my ears, my hands, my legs. And I would go back to look at them to reexamine them” (Chapter One). This discovery arouses in him a feeling of alienation and fragmentation of the self, in which Moscarda realizes that he has never been to others what he thought he was to himself. His identity is fragmented, multiple and it changes according to each different perception that others have of him. He begins to realize that there is not one “I” but many, depending on who is observing him. This identity crisis leads him into a deep reflection on who he really is, whether there is an authentic “one” or whether he is always “none” because his identity is defined by others and never completely by himself. Similarly, the bionic man who is implanted with a prosthesis may experience a similar identity crisis. His clinical condition represents a “fracture” between his original biological self and the new self-enhanced by technology. The body that does not immediately recognize the implant might represent the rejection or difficulty of integrating this new physical identity with the previous one. The physical change requires a new self-perception and can affect how others see and treat him, causing a “rift” between the perceived self and the real self. His identity is now defined not only by his natural body but also by his artificial parts, leading him to an inner conflict about who he really is. The prosthesis could be seen as one of the “hundred thousand” identities that the person has to integrate: “Again, I still believed that he was one this stranger: one to all, as one I believed I was to me. But soon my atrocious drama became complicated. With the discovery of the hundred thousand Moscarda who I was not only for others but also for me” (chapter four).
This analogy emphasizes how identity is a universal theme, applicable in both literary and clinical contexts, and how the interaction between the perceived self and the real self can be a source of reflection and inner conflict. Both situations show how physical alterations, whether natural or technological, can have a decisive impact on self-perception and personal identity.
