the Self vs the Subject

During class, we discussed a wonderful topic that’s been burning in my thoughts. What is the difference between the “Self” and the “Subject”? Could they be one and the same? Are they mutually exclusive? Man, what great questions!

The first thing that popped in my head at hearing this was Marvel’s James Buchanan Barnes AKA Bucky AKA the Winter Soldier AKA “the Asset”. (Then right after was the current story discussion, Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus’ but we’ll get to that in my next post.) (And for those who don’t know, go watch Marvel’s Captain America 1, 2 and 3. THAT is James “Bucky” Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier.)

Now to avoid confusion, all of these names are the same person but will be used as distinct individuals. This is for a reason. The Self, in this case, can be described by James Barnes.

Originally posted by lonerhowl

He is charming, he is witty, he is loyal but most of all, he has desires, wants and needs that are purely aroused by his own individual being. James Barnes has a goal and he follows it because he is motivated to. This is what the Self is. It is the autonomous individual definied by their own means and descriptions. James Barnes is James Barnes. In juxtaposition to that, the Subject, in its purest form, is “the Asset” or more lovingly known as “the Winter Soldier”. This can easily be denoted by the definite article “the”. The Asset does not have individual thoughts, wants or desires. The Winter Soldier is not a person. The Asset has no goals other than the ones given to it. The Asset is a Subject to someone else, a Sovereign. The Asset is a tool to be utilized and has no thoughts. Like a mechanical pencil. Or a gun.

Now, let’s think about it this way: can James Barnes and the Asset be one person? Can this one being be a Self and Subject? The answer, in this case, is yes. His name is Bucky.

Originally posted by nurrrrrry

Bucky has desires, wants and needs and he is motivated to fulfill his goals. He wants to join the war, get married, have kids. Bucky is also Subject to his best friend, Steve Rogers. Bucky is led by Steve, his goals are in conjuction to Steve’s. He fights by Steve’s side as his sidekick. Bucky is not a person without Steve. That is to say, “the Self does not exist without the Other”. This means that you can’t describe Bucky, the Subject, without mentioning his Sovereign (psst, it’s Steve).

Bucky is defined as “Steve’s best friend, his fellow Howling Commando and war-time subordinate”. Bucky can simultaneously be a Self and Subject.

So to clarify, the Self = James Barnes, the Subject = the Winter Soldier/the Asset, and the Self-Subject = Bucky.

Now with the average person, it can be explained but not in such clean terms. You are you. You have goals and dreams and individual thoughts. But you’re also your mother’s child, your best friend’s partner, your lover’s beloved. You are described in tangent to others (or “the Other”). I am black in comparison to his white. I am feminine in comparison to his masculine. We are all Subjects, to a government, to a school, to a family, to an art, we can even choose! And we are all still individual Selves. They can be mutually exclusive but the most common form is something that blurs them together into a simple “I’m Bucky.”