Dreams From My Father

519 Words3 Pages
Thesis: Even though Obama’s Father, Barack, left their daughter, Stanley, and Obama in Hawaii, Gramps and Toot still think highly of him. When Gramps tells stories about Barack he never says anything negative. He makes him seem like an upright man that would stick to his word. For example, Gramps tells us about the time Barack had to sing at the International Music Festival. He had promised the people that he would sing. But when he got there the lady before him was great! She was a semi-professional singer, and received great feedback from the audience. He wasn’t a great singer, but he sang after her anyway. He wasn’t a good singer, but “he was so sure of himself that before you knew it he was getting as much applause as anybody” (pg. 8). Then Gramps would tell Obama that there is one thing he can learn from his father “Confidence. The secret to a man’s success” (pg. 8). Also there is the example at the bar when the white man announced that he shouldn’t have to drink good liquor “next to a nigger” and Barack didn’t fight or yell. He walked over and talked to the man about the rights of a man, the American dream and ignorance. The man felt so bad about his racial slur that he gave him one hundred dollars (pg 10). But, Barack wasn’t doing it for the money, he wanted teach the man. They told these stories over and over again, trying to paint a picture of Barack in Obama’s head as a good role model. Gramps, Toot, and Stanley would tell Obama things like “Your father can be a bit domineering, but it’s just that he is basically a very honest person” (pg. 8). I believe that this text is explaining that Stanley feels like he is a really good person. It shows that there may be some things she disliked about his personality. But, at the same time it shows that he was this way for a good reason. When Gramps and Toot told stories, the said things like “Anyone else would
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