Dreams From My Father Book Report
DREAMS FROM MY FATHER
Our past makes our future. The experiences one endures throughout our past evolves us into the person we are to become in the future. In Dreams From My Father, author Barack Obama explores how not only his past made him who he is today, but also how his father’s life achievements and failures as well as insight on his family’s culture molded him into becoming the man who would presides over the nation the we all call home. This book helped me discover interesting facts and details about President Barack Obama’s life. He’s seen as a sign or representation of the African-American people within the United States. In page 263, Obama says, “It was important for me to know my culture, even if my father wasn’t the best man.” Obama wasn’t raised within that culture, but gravitates towards it to have more of an emotional connection with his father. What makes this fact interesting is that he did not have that upbringing of African culture, nor a present African influence in his life. Though he was raised by a diverse group of people, (his step-father being Indonesian, his mother Hawaiian, and not to mention the kids from ‘all around’ on …show more content…
His mother remarried to his step-father, as stated before, an Indonesian man who gained financing for graduate work through the East-West Center. He recalls playing on the streets with the neighborhood children, arguing with an Indonesian boy, and his step-father and mother scolded him by yelling at him, “Quit fighting. These are your people.”(pg. 189) “These are not my people.” Barack thought. In Dreams From My Father, it’s quite clear he felt more related to his paternal parent rather than his step-dad. He recounts part of this experience in the final, emotional third of the book. Obama decided to visit relatives in Kenya. Obama used his memoir to reflect on his personal experiences with race and race relations in the United
Our past makes our future. The experiences one endures throughout our past evolves us into the person we are to become in the future. In Dreams From My Father, author Barack Obama explores how not only his past made him who he is today, but also how his father’s life achievements and failures as well as insight on his family’s culture molded him into becoming the man who would presides over the nation the we all call home. This book helped me discover interesting facts and details about President Barack Obama’s life. He’s seen as a sign or representation of the African-American people within the United States. In page 263, Obama says, “It was important for me to know my culture, even if my father wasn’t the best man.” Obama wasn’t raised within that culture, but gravitates towards it to have more of an emotional connection with his father. What makes this fact interesting is that he did not have that upbringing of African culture, nor a present African influence in his life. Though he was raised by a diverse group of people, (his step-father being Indonesian, his mother Hawaiian, and not to mention the kids from ‘all around’ on …show more content…
His mother remarried to his step-father, as stated before, an Indonesian man who gained financing for graduate work through the East-West Center. He recalls playing on the streets with the neighborhood children, arguing with an Indonesian boy, and his step-father and mother scolded him by yelling at him, “Quit fighting. These are your people.”(pg. 189) “These are not my people.” Barack thought. In Dreams From My Father, it’s quite clear he felt more related to his paternal parent rather than his step-dad. He recounts part of this experience in the final, emotional third of the book. Obama decided to visit relatives in Kenya. Obama used his memoir to reflect on his personal experiences with race and race relations in the United