A couple weeks ago Deane told us to keep in mind the ways that our other classes have connections to AmCon. I found one really obvious connection to an idea we've discussed and even have a book with its title- the American Dream. For my religion class, we're reading a book called The Brothers K by David James Duncan, which has a few small connections to The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Each chapter has a quote at the beginning, and the last chapter's is "I want the magnificent American dream: a wife, a dog, a house, a bathroom" -Laotian refugee (644). It stuck out to me since we're reading Cullen's book and the mere fact that the refugee mentioned a bathroom. But then again it makes perfect sense coming from a refugee of a country with a Marxist government and "reeducation camps." It made me think about the fact that there are people in the world who believe that one of the best things you can receive in the United States is a bathroom. To us, that seems crazy, but they really just wanted the same things the Founding Fathers wanted. They wanted the ability to live how they wanted to live and have the things human beings should possess, the ability to choose. I think the quote from the book could be helpful to think about and remember as we continue reading Cullen and what he has to say about the American Dream as it changes along with the nation and the eras. It was a very random connection to AmCon, but a connection nonetheless. Even in one sentence, it offers a peek inside a perspective we would definitely not encounter or consider often about a widely known, yet unique idea.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Brothers K
A couple weeks ago Deane told us to keep in mind the ways that our other classes have connections to AmCon. I found one really obvious connection to an idea we've discussed and even have a book with its title- the American Dream. For my religion class, we're reading a book called The Brothers K by David James Duncan, which has a few small connections to The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Each chapter has a quote at the beginning, and the last chapter's is "I want the magnificent American dream: a wife, a dog, a house, a bathroom" -Laotian refugee (644). It stuck out to me since we're reading Cullen's book and the mere fact that the refugee mentioned a bathroom. But then again it makes perfect sense coming from a refugee of a country with a Marxist government and "reeducation camps." It made me think about the fact that there are people in the world who believe that one of the best things you can receive in the United States is a bathroom. To us, that seems crazy, but they really just wanted the same things the Founding Fathers wanted. They wanted the ability to live how they wanted to live and have the things human beings should possess, the ability to choose. I think the quote from the book could be helpful to think about and remember as we continue reading Cullen and what he has to say about the American Dream as it changes along with the nation and the eras. It was a very random connection to AmCon, but a connection nonetheless. Even in one sentence, it offers a peek inside a perspective we would definitely not encounter or consider often about a widely known, yet unique idea.
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