Dreams from My Father

Obama continues to eloquently recount the awkward steps he took as a young man towards figuring out who he wanted to be, and becoming that person. This book is a journey of identity in which the author uses a specific and effective method to convey the causes of his personal growth. Having been raised for most of his childhood in Hawaii with his grandparents, Obama escapes to California for college yet is primarily concerned with his place in society as a mixed-race conscientious American citizen. He struggles with his sense of identity - portraying himself as a typical lost young man, trying at all costs to find a niche: "To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos....We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets....When we ground out our cigarettes in the hallway carpet or set our stereos so loud that the walls began to shake, we were resisting bourgeois society's stifling constraints" (101). Using these vivid descriptions of the various stages of his young life, Obama specifically uses examples of people he knew or met to show what shaped the direction of his life. Regina, the quiet eclectic black girl he met at Occidental who was the first person ever to listen to Obamas ideas and values and respect them, without him feeling he had to cover up who he was. She becomes the catalyst for his transformation from a boy hiding from his identity into one who is ready to accept himself as he is and find his own voice: "...after what seemed like a long absence, I had felt my voice returning to me that afternoon with Regina. It remained shaky afterward, subject to distortion. But entering sophomore year I could feel it growing stronger, sturdier, that constant, honest portion of myself, abridge between my future and my past" (105).  Regina comes to represent people who are comfortable and confident in their skin and who invite positive social change in Obama's life. He later refers to a girl he sees on the street as Regina (146). This person is just one example of the many Obama uses as physical milestones along his path to becoming the person he is now. This memoir continues to be fascinating and engaging.