Fallacy in Torgovnick's Essay, On Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst

Essay #1: On Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst

A fallacy is an error of reasoning. These are flawed statements that often sound true. Logical fallacies are often used to strengthen an argument, but if the reader detects them the argument can backfire, and damage the writer’s credibility. The word “fallacy” may derive from the Latin word fallere meaning, “to deceive, to trip, to lead into error or to trick.” The word may also derive from the Greek phelos, meaning “deceitful.” The writer Marianna De Marco Torgovnick of On Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst uses several fallacies though out the essay. The first fallacy that the author uses is that of comparing Bensonhurst to Howard Beach when she describes the beating of several black men. She makes this claim without stating the evidence of why she is comparing the two areas. She is making the claim that Blacks were not allowed in Howard Beach as was the case in Bensonhurst. The author also compares the Jewish, Irish and Italians. The author states that “Jewish men make good husbands” but does not give evidence to why she feels they make good husbands. She also states that the Irish are okay but that they make bad husbands because they drink and gamble. Again she states this without evidence to convince me to her argument. The author also states that her parents are wasting their money by allowing her to go to college again she makes a statement but does not have the evidence to support her parent’s point of view. The author continually goes to different situations of when she grew up in Bensonhurst and at times I thought this was confusing. I think that she should have had a strong thesis to support her claim of what it meant to be female, white, and born in Bensonhurst from her point of view rather than the point of view of parents, family members and Bensonhurst neighbors. The author goes into rules that should be obeyed simply because they are the rules of the neighborhood. At the end of the essay when she wants an ice that she had as a child and goes into a neighborhood club which she knows is for certain mafia men they look at her and state that she is some type of witch. The author never really explains what these rules are and how as a child she learned what these rules were and why they were in place. Through out the essay the author constantly is begging the question. In many of the things she writes about the Italians of Bensonhurst she assumes that the assumptions have already been decided. She uses this when she is talking about Bensonhurst and Howard Beach. I also feel that the author uses generalizations when she is taking about the people of the community. I especially liked when the author dated a Jewish man her father asked if “ he was a communist” I have often heard that you can take the girl out of the city, but can never take the city out of the girl. Even though the author uses this quote, she does not give examples of how growing up in Bensonhurst still influences who she is and what she has become. I have used the above expression on several occasions when I speak with my husband because I truly feel that even though I have not lived in New York City for many years, I still react the way in which I would if I still lived there. I think that she could have given more evidence as to why she feels the way in which she does. The essay could have had more meaning to many people of all types if the author would have used more evidence to back up what she was saying. I mean how many of us have had the experience of living in a neighborhood that mean so much to us and has become a part of who and what we are and believe.