Have you ever been to the Netherlands? If you have, you know that it's pretty common to see towns where everyone living there was either born there, or has come from another small village exactly like it. And as I looked around at all of those people who looked like carbon copies of one another, I thought of how much I would hate to live in a place like that. The diversity of America is what makes our country special and unites us, and at the same time, it's our cultural differences that cause division and tension.
The book American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures by America Ferrera explores both the unifying and dividing properties of culture and how they weave together to form the fabric of American Culture. Ferrera explores this idea through a collection of autobiographical essays by successful first-generation Americans. It dissects the idea of the American Dream, and reveals that the beautiful thing about American culture is that pretty much everybody has come from somewhere else. This diversity is reflected in the various writing styles of the authors. Although every chapter is authored by a different first generation American immigrant, the chapters are thematically linked in their exploration of the American identity and the switching of narratives and styles every chapter is always refreshing.
American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures was an engaging read that captivated me from start to finish. It helped to reshape the way that I think about what it means to be an American and it does a great job of delivering its message that the American Dream isn’t dead, and it’s always the same regardless of gender, race, or economic background. Ultimately, the book asks us all to find a way to make the American Dream inclusive and accessible for everyone so that every culture can weave their own unique fabrics together to create the American Tapestry and finally reflect the diversity in our culture that is inherent in our population.
I read this book as well, and I like that you mention that American culture is diverse and unique. I noticed the different writing styles also, since the chapters were pretty short, each author was very distinctive.
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting for me to read this book as well because although a lot of the stories were anecdotes of how these people felt different because they were immigrants, it is an inherently American thing to come from somewhere else.
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I really liked your initial point about how America's diversity makes it special. I've traveled a lot, and none of the countries I've been to matches the U.S. in cultural diversity. Personally, I'm really proud to live in a place with so many different cultural and ethnic groups--each with their own history and experience.
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I also read American Like Me for my second book and I loved reading about the different stories. My favorite was Jeremy Lin since I play basketball I've followed most of his career.
ReplyDeleteI like the comparison to the Netherlands and the emphasis on how lucky America is to be such a melting pot. Wish everyone saw it that way. -Taylor Berry
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this analysis of the book. You can't really get an appreciation for America's diversity until you visit somewhere that doesn't have any, and after that, it makes it much more special to recognize something in the U.S. as a product of our range of cultures.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you said about how the book captivates you. I read this as my first book and I couldn't put it down. The different stories prove to the reader that anything is possible, and no matter what background you come from, you can make something of yourself as long as you try.
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