Dreams From My Father: Passage Analysis

            “Men take advantage of weakness in other men. They are just like countries in that way. The strong man takes the weak man’s land. He makes the weak man work in his fields. If the weak man’s wife is pretty, the strong man will take her…. Which would you want to be?”(40).

            In the passage, Barack’s stepfather at the time Lolo was explaining to Barack the means needed to be taken to be successful. At that point in the memoir Barack, his mother, and Lolo had just moved to Indonesia because Lolo passport has been suspended.  As Lolo spent more time working and providing for his family, he became a different man. He wasn’t happy, his wife wasn’t happy and neither was Barack. Lolo was always working to an unfair and extremely low salary. Buying a refrigerator cost the family their two-month salary. No one in the family was happy and that ultimately led to divorce. The figurative language used in this passage is metaphor and personification. A metaphor is used in the passage because Obama is calling and comparing men and countries. The passage exemplifies personification because land is getting humanistic features.

            This passage is significant because it help Obama pave the way to success and get a better understanding of the world and the people in it. The passage also gives Obama a good idea of what type of person he wants to be. After hearing Lolo’s explaining Obama was able to determine who he didn’t want to be; a weak man.