Remembering my Childhood in the Continent of Africa - Personal Statement Example

Remembering my Childhood in the Continent of Africa The article, Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa,is narrated by Sendaris. I found Sendaris’ comparison/contrast narrative as being extremely amusing. The narration is of two different lifestyles undergone by two different people Sendaris and Hugh. After a close analysis of the article, I develop the opinion that the narrator has two personalities. I realized that the article in one way was ironical and in other way it was realistic.

I see Sendaris as being jealous of his partner Hugh, since Hugh’s childhood was full of adventure and fun in Africa while he, Sendaris went through a normal childhood when growing up in North Carolina. Sendaris as the narrator patronizes his own childhood while praising almost all the events which Hugh went through in his childhood. Apart from the praises, I established that later on the article Sendaris is sympathetic of what Hugh went through after his family moved to Mogadishu (Sendaris 247).

I have witnessed also the fact that, the narrator has managed to pin point positive and inspiring events, in the African continent which is full of third world countries. The narrator portrays the negativity experienced in the three African countries which Hugh lived in as normal and intriguing. The themes the narrator is trying to display are admiration, jealously and sympathy.Sendaris’ view on what Hugh went through during his childhood is sarcastic. Judging from the narration, in reality Hugh’s experience, in Africa, has been rough and exhilarating.

To my amazement, Sendaris is praising and admiring Hugh’s childhood, but this is controversial. I do not consider Hugh to be privileged because his family moves from one African country to another. In my analysis, I discovered that Sendaris’ praises and admirations on Hugh’s childhood are transitional. The transition moves from praise and admiration to jealousy and later on to sympathy. The transition does not depend on what Sendaris thinks of Hugh, but on what Hugh is experienced in his childhood.

I categorize Sendaris’ description of Hugh’s childhood experience as overrated. Truthfully speaking, I know that the two countries which Hugh lived in when he was a child, that is Congo and Somali have suffered their share of suffering. Sendaris is sarcastic in his narration; he is intrigued with the thrilling events which Hugh came across. Experiences like seeing a man who had hanged himself on a pole (Sendaris 246) and an animal shot to death while Hugh and his fellow classmates watched (Sendaris 245) are fascinating to the narrator.

The fact that the narrator claims that his childhood was dull (Sendaris 245) proves that he has the characteristic of a low self esteem. I disagree with the opinion the narrator has on himself, stating that his childhood was dull. In fact, Sendaris’ childhood was not that terrible since he owned a house cat as a pet went for trips and watched latest released movies (Sendaris 246). I go to the extent of discovering the Narrator’s sympathetic nature when he talks of the downfalls Hugh experienced.

I agree with the narrator on the point that birthdays are important the fact that Hugh did not celebrate his birthdays when he lived with family friends makes him sympathetic.Despite the fact that the narrator is not entirely realistic, I agree with him that is possible to admire somebody else’s life hood. All the life aspects of the individual being admired are looked at whether it is positive or negative (Sendaris 245). The conflict between my perspective and the narrator’s perspective arises when; the narrator wishes that he had the same childhood life as Hugh.

The narrator is detached with his own life; this means that he does not have his own personality at heart mean while he is embedded in Hugh’s personality (Sendaris 246). Works CitedSedaris D. Me Talk Pretty One Day. London: Little, Brown Book Group, 2010. Print