Meet the Johari Window

Ever hear the phrase "scratch beneath the surface"? As we discuss complex characters, that is what comes up in my mind. Often I find myself in the pitfall of surface reading, but learning to analyze complex characters is one step out of the pitfall. Humanity is so complex; we have our conscious, subconscious, but also our unconscious. With college essays, we've had to delve deep, introspecting, trying to dive deep underneath the iceberg to reach our unconscious thoughts that represent our growth, epiphany, piths. 

Through our building community initiative, we expose parts of ourselves that may not be obvious on the surface level. As I wrote my statements, I started to recall a memorable sermon I attended about the Johari window. Although the focus then was for religious purposes, it is also extremely applicable to analyzing a character/person and receiving feedback. The window is a matrix of four selves: open, blind, hidden, and unknown. Currently, we are exploring the open self with "they know" and hidden self with "I know". However, what about the blind or unconscious self? I know about my friendly nature, love for food/waffles, etc. but what about the other information that I might not know about myself? While this new information is interesting, such as hearing what people think I'd be like in the future or what I embody just from their gauge, this idea of the Johari 4-self window is applicable to our conversations on receiving feedback, getting to know each other, and exploring complex characters.

There are so many aspects of ourselves that we don't know about. Every day, we alter the widths of these boxes, considering how much of the hidden area we want to expose and how much of the blind area we'll learn. One way of exploring these areas, though, is receiving and disclosing feedback. I myself am not the best at receiving constructive criticism (view how MBTI personality types react to criticism), but over time, I've learned the value of it. As defined in the figures, upon asking for feedback, you learn so much more about yourself that you never knew about. The ways you never knew about, and the ways you can improve. By providing feedback, you provide your insight, more thoughts from your perspective— the hidden part of yourself. 

It is so much easier to take criticism from someone you know, and by opening up that "open area" of the self, we can take feedback well and for improvement. The reason why it is so much easier is because of the connection we have with the person. Therefore, in literature, as we read further, we immerse ourselves into the characters, creating a connection and empathizing with them. We learn more about all their different selves, thus delving into their complexities. Especially with dramatic irony, we as the audience are aware of information only the main character knows but not others (hidden self). In Oedipus, though, Sophocles emphasizes the blind self, as the audience knows about Oedipus' identity. Oedipus claiming that he will "fight for [Laius] as if he were my father" and punish the murderer equally, whether or not the murderer is family, is ironic because of what we know about Oedipus. This is the power of the blind self: although we know his identity, the blind self allows us to learn about his journey in identity, fate vs. free will, power, etc. 

In art, many (including me) glance over, only seeing the big picture, but through deeper consideration, we can interpret the artwork to decipher the hidden self of the characters. Let us start digging deeper than the surface level "open area" and reach the other selves—maybe even the unknown.