The Shunning explores personal identity, its origin, development, and expression. The story suggests that identity is ultimately found deep within a human being, is a gift from God, and that while it is affected by one’s family and community, it goes beyond both in each unique individual.

Katie Lapp’s identity has never truly been Amish. She has always felt different from her parents, brothers, best friends, and community. She has different loves, interests, and views of the world. Music and beauty lie at the center of her being; no matter how she tries to get rid of them, they remain.

Katie’s family and the Amish community have tried to shape the young woman’s identity for over twenty-two years. She has learned the rules and the consequences for failing to conform. She even feels guilty when she disobeys, but she cannot stop and does not fully want to, for her singing and her stubbornness are part of who she is, deep down, beneath community expectations and family obligations. Katie’s identity as a human being remains and grows, and she must express it even when she cannot figure it out.

Eventually, Katie learns why she is different. She cannot conform to her family and community because she has never fully been part of them. She was born an outsider with a different heritage. And when she finally understands that, the cause of her difficulties becomes at least partially clear. Katie is not Amish, by birth and later by choice.

However, a person’s identity must be developed through active expression. When Katie decides to be Katherine Mayfield instead of Katie Lapp and begin a new life in the world, she must leave behind her Amish community and Amish life and fully embrace her chosen identity. This is not easy, for even though she never fits entirely into the Amish way, everything will be new to her as she sets out on her new path to her full, mature identity.

Amish life is rigorous. Community members are expected to conform completely and without question to the Ordnung, the complex set of written and unwritten rules that govern every aspect of life, from how people dress and express themselves to how they should pray to how they must live. The Ordnung is enforced by the community’s leaders, such as bishop John Beiler, Katie’s fiancé, who are to be obeyed without question. Failure to obey could lead to humiliating public confession or the dreaded consequence of shunning.

In the Amish religion, personal happiness and even personal identity are subordinated to community expectations. A person is Amish first and often Amish only under the threat of shunning and even eternal damnation. The community’s identity takes priority, and Katie thinks of the People as neat little stitches in a quilt, all alike, no one out of order, each submitting to the rules and the authority for fear of rejection.

God, who is supposed to be the reason for and the heart of religion, seems somewhat distant. According to the Amish worldview, God is a harsh judge and is displeased with any breach of rules, sinful practices, and stubbornness. Of course, the Ordnung and the community’s leadership define sinful practices and stubbornness, and the Amish moral law appears, therefore, somewhat arbitrary. Even non-approved songs outside the regular “Singing” time are labeled wicked. Prayer is strictly controlled and must not be spontaneous or “irreverent,” as defined by the Ordnung.

The story contrasts this Amish religious practice with that of Katie’s Mennonite cousins. Katie is shocked yet attracted to Lydia’s free, joyful, easy prayers and...