Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Abstract

The book under review, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance divided in nineteen chapters, has been written by the then Senator from Illinois, Lincoln’s home State (The current US President) Barack Obama. It was first published in 1995, shortly after Barack became the first black editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review (& reissued in 2004) when he was graduated from Harvard Law School at the age of 33. As the name of the book suggests that the absent father looms in the imaginations of the writer. It is Barack Obama Senior or rather his absence that provides the story line strength behind this memoir. The book serves as a sore reminder of mental and poignant plague that is inflicted on children when their fathers are distant or completely missing in action. He explores beautifully his relationship with his ever-present yet non-existent father and this is the main idea of the book. It is a saga of self discovery, a tale of a son, seeking his father as ancient one. Dreams from My Father is a journey through dilemmas and belongings about racial identity, social responsibility and search for the meaning of the family. In his memoir, the author relates an emotional odyssey, as it explores the dilemmas of black people facing in America and the extent of African-American wrath in the face of white incomprehension.