Rudy Owens’ memoir on the American adoption experience
© 2017 Rudy Owens. All rights reserved.
Know thyself.
—Delphic Wisdom
The most basic question all of us will ask is: Who am I? The concept is universal, across nearly all cultures, for as long as humans have been recording their ideas on parchment, papyrus, and clay. Greek philosopher Aristotle famously wrote, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” An older and simpler Greek proverb predates Aristotle. It is known more simply as the Delphic wisdom, referenced by ancient Greek philosophers for centuries as “know thyself.”
This wisdom is as relevant today as it was more than two thousand years ago. The 2013 blockbuster film the Man of Steel built a film with the most famous superhero of all, Superman, pursuing this knowledge. The rebooted film franchise of the original comic-book character told this hero’s tale as a man’s—or rather, a Kryptonian’s—search for his identity.
The Man of Steel relies on one of the oldest mythological stories of human civilization: a hero’s search for himself by finding his “true lineage.” It is a story arc found in the tales of Moses and King Arthur. In this rebooted myth, the hero is born of one family and sent across the galaxy to be raised by another family in Kansas. He then spends years figuring out who he really is, enduring many hardships from oilrig explosions to planet-saving slugfests.
Minus the over-the-top special effects battles, this film is a traditional tale—a self-discovery journey familiar to all adoptees. The most compelling moments in the film involve conversations the young Clark Kent has with his “adopted” father, Jonathan Kent, played by Kevin Costner. They discuss their ambiguous relations as nonbiological father and adopted son. That tension bursts in a scene where the older Clark tells his father and mother, “You’re not my real parents.” Right on cue, following that conversation, Costner’s character dies in a tornado.
Return to Chapter 7: Legalized Discrimination Against Adoptees: The Demon Behind the Problem
Read More: Chapter 9: The Paper Chase