Dreams From My Father Analysis

Before being elected as the first African-American president of the United States, Barack Obama was a young student who was trying to come to grips with his racial identity through a period of rebellion. Through Obama’s memoir, Dreams from My Father,, people would be able to see the development in his beliefs.

Barack Obama began his first journey in New York by sleeping in an alleyway because no one was inside the apartment he rent at the time he arrived. When Obama was waiting for the landlord, he opened his pocket and pulled out the letter that was sent by his father. Obama admitted that it was hard for him to write a letter to his father because their “correspondence” died over the past four years. Despite of how hard it was to communicate with his father, his father replied with a calm tone and advised him to know where he belongs. However, Obama described his father made the story

sounded simple because he had everything a man wanted for his life but. The fact Obama had to spend his first night in an alleyway made him angry at his father’s simple advice.
Obama asked himself where he belonged because the conversation he had with Regina after the rally made a change in his soul. He used to have no idea what he wanted to do and where could he live. Nevertheless, he realized what he needed was a community where he could have deeper thoughts and where he could test his “commitment”. Therefore, he decided to apply for a transfer program to Columbia University. Obama mentioned one of his friends, Marcus, who dropped out of school. Obama then recalled an event when an Iranian student questioned Marcus why slavery was permitted to last for so many years and why so many men did not fight until death at all. Although Marcus remained silent for the questions, Obama stood up and argued about the untold slaves who died on the sea and about how the slaves’ death would affect their wife and children’s life. He concluded that we had no right to judge people if we were not in their shoes. At the end, Marcus spoke back but it seemed he wasn’t convinced of his own words. Obama remarked that he began to notice changes in Marcus as he became more demonstrative of his racial. Finally, Marcus decided to take a break from schooling. It was when Obama realized both him and Marcus were search for answers about where they belonged.
The morning after, there was still no one at the apartment, however, Sadik, a Pakistani friend that Obama met in Los Angeles answered his phone and offered Obama a visit to his place in Upper East Side.

Sadik claimed that New York is a fancy city and that Obama had to learn a way to survive through struggles. For the next few months, Sadik kept observing how New York taught Obama about its life style. When Sadik lost his own lease, they moved in together. Soon after moving, Sadik realized that the city had an impact on Obama. He preferred to focus on his own studies than having fun in the bars. Obama knew that if he did not focus on his studies, the temptation in the city would ready to overrun his fragile will. Obama also noticed the collapse in black community where he used to imagine about their significant figures. However, when he looked at the reality, they were all normal people and none was significant enough to make an impact for the youths. Obama was told that the city was out of control and with a bit of money, people would be able to choose what motif of their

lives.