Ben and the narrator became friends at university through easy conversation and shared interests in books, philosophy, and music. Ben had an artsy, romantic style and an authentic scarf from Morocco, and he seemed content in his university life. He did not invite the narrator to see him during holidays, until he explained that he was a different person at school and lacked close friends back home. At university, Ben created an alter ego and fully adopted it, finding happiness and peace in the face he wore. The narrative connects this approach to Salvador Dalí’s use of persona and identity.
"“Hey mate, what's your name? What are you here to study? Cool, cool. Fancy a drink?” Ben was an archetype. He was an artsy, romantic sort who wore loose knitwear and an Alibaba scarf he'd bought from a souk in Morocco. Authentically Bedouin, handmad e."
"“I'm a totally different person,” he said. “At school, I never talked about this stuff. I was just a different Ben. I don't really have any good mates back home.” When Ben got to university, he decided to become a different Ben. He built an entire alter ego for himself and slipped deep inside."
"“There's power in using alter egos - a power that Salvador Dalí knew well.” Dalí is one of the most popular artists in the world. As a young boy, I remember going to a museum on a school trip and, with my crisp £5 note, buying one of his prints. It stayed in my room for my entire childhood."
"“Was there a ‘real Ben’ somewhere? Perhaps, but I don't really care. He seemed happy and at peace. He liked the face he wore.”"
Read at Big Think
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]