First of all, I apologize for the late post, seeing as this conversation happened last Thursday. My group discussed the relation between the character Abraham and the theme of class. Initially this didn’t seem like the most obvious connection, but a closer reading of the text made us realize otherwise.
Quote 1: “He was happy with his booze, his firecrackers, his nonsense songs, and his fantasies about Cuba and the revolution, and I was in no position to take that kind of happiness away from him” (113)
Quote 2: “’I ain’t going. I ain’t got no place to go to. This is the only home I got left. A man ain’t nothing without a home. I learned that from my mama.’” (175)
When we thought about Abraham and his relation to class, we came to the conclusion that Abraham doesn’t find the need to for a high status in society like Boy Genius does. Boy Genius has this dream of living in a big house with white neighbors, a symbol of his acceptance into hierarchical white society, but Abraham on the other hand rejects all notions of class and is content living his days out without money and playing his ukulele. Both of these quotes relate to the main idea we discussed. The first quote shows how Abraham does not prioritize class, and that he is willing to live as a misfit of society. The second quote affirms the previous idea because Abraham is grounded in his roots and the person he is, regardless of the class he was born into. Abraham is very adamant in staying in his home, which can actually be more admirable than striving to climb the class ladder of society.
- Michelle Fong
Quote 1: “He was happy with his booze, his firecrackers, his nonsense songs, and his fantasies about Cuba and the revolution, and I was in no position to take that kind of happiness away from him” (113)
Quote 2: “’I ain’t going. I ain’t got no place to go to. This is the only home I got left. A man ain’t nothing without a home. I learned that from my mama.’” (175)
When we thought about Abraham and his relation to class, we came to the conclusion that Abraham doesn’t find the need to for a high status in society like Boy Genius does. Boy Genius has this dream of living in a big house with white neighbors, a symbol of his acceptance into hierarchical white society, but Abraham on the other hand rejects all notions of class and is content living his days out without money and playing his ukulele. Both of these quotes relate to the main idea we discussed. The first quote shows how Abraham does not prioritize class, and that he is willing to live as a misfit of society. The second quote affirms the previous idea because Abraham is grounded in his roots and the person he is, regardless of the class he was born into. Abraham is very adamant in staying in his home, which can actually be more admirable than striving to climb the class ladder of society.
- Michelle Fong
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