In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, from a young age, Stephen realizes he is different than the other children and has a higher lever of thinking than his peers. Through this advance in his maturity, he has created his own identity without having to rely on other children. Although Stephen realizes he is different from other children, he does not mind being alone and having thoughts different from everyone else. When he begins to realize his is alone in the world, he turns to the church to attempt to reinforce the identity he has already created for himself, however in the end, this lifestyle is not correct for him and does not aid him in being an individual. At the end of his youth, and the end of the story, he realizes he needs to take charge in creating his own life in becoming an artist. Without the crutch of other people and organizations, he becomes an artist and realizes who he truly is.

In Playboy of the Western World, Christy struggles to create his own identity because the identity he creates for himself is based on lies, though he believes they are true. Christy appears to create an identity that he believes the women, particularly Pegeen, will approve of and be impressed by. Though his father has said he is afraid of women, when Christy meets Pegeen he knows exactly how to impress her and makes her believe he is someone who he really is not. Christy obviously shapes his identity based off of what will impress other people, to ensure he will be welcome into their society, rather than staying true to himself and his old way of life.