Introspective and Research Questions
Discussion Questions
- What did you learn about Obama from reading this chapter? What was of most interest to you? What do you need more information about? What, if anything, was confusing to you?
- Throughout the Kenya section, you meet many members of Obama’s extended family. Was it hard for you to understand, or remember, who is who, and what the relationship is to Obama? Does it matter if you’re not entirely sure what the relationship is? Why or why not?
- On pages 394-404 and again on pages 406-424, Granny tells Obama the story of his grandfather, Onyango, and his father, Barack. There are many parts to the story, and we learn a great deal about these characters. What are the similarities between the two men? The differences? How did they each struggle to be independent of their own fathers? How did they each adapt to the changes in Kenyan society? What were their dreams? Did they achieve them? Why or why not?
- On pages 404- 406, Auma protests against how the Obama men treat women. What, in particular, does she object to? How does Granny explain her position? Do you agree with what Granny says? Why or why not?
- On page 422, Granny tells Obama about how his grandfather Onyango disapproved of the marriage between Obama’s mother and his father. Her point of view and the way she tells the story is different from what Obama’s mother tells him on pages 125-127. What is different? Do you now have more sympathy for Onyango? How has your understanding of Obama’s father and grandfather changed as a result of this new information?
- At the end of the chapter, Obama and Auma look at his grandfather’s working papers, and his father’s requests for college applications, and some letters that other people wrote about the two men. When finished, Obama writes, “This was it, I thought to myself. My inheritance.” What does he mean? What is his inheritance? How does this section connect to the title of the book, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance?