Dr. Sutler-Cohen
Sociology 101
May 6, 2016 Given the age of Lauren Olamina, I would say that I do find her a very believable character. I find her to be mature beyond her years. Throughout pages 3-133 Lauren expresses grown up thoughts, emotions and actions. There are certain areas in the book where you can hear Lauren’s common sense, and almost can tell not even many adults in her life have the same senses as she does. An example is how she knows how wrong it is that Tracy Dunn had been raped and impregnated by her uncle, Lauren sees this as being the uncles fault and is disgusted. While Tracy’s mother seemingly blames her because that was her favorite brother and did not want him to have to leave their community …show more content…
The reasons why I think this are she has so many thoughts and feelings she shares after she gets new information that lead me to believe she has a strong sense of self awareness and tries to make sure she stays on the right path as much as possible. An example inviting little Amy Dunn into her mother Cory’s school and taking on the responsibilities to care for her while in class. Even Amy Dunn’s mother did not seem like she was very responsible, but Lauren is different and a year younger. Lauren can also see that it is much better for you to stay out of trouble and make sure you listen to your parents for the most part. Whereas many kids in her neighborhood are not Lauren is actually trying her best to build something and survive. These decisions are almost unnatural in her community. Lauren is making choices that will let her have a better future whereas for example her brother Keith could not wait to leave and when he got the chanced he did not live inside of his community any more, but rather joined a worse one. Keith ends up being murdered because he chooses a different type of life one that would come more naturally to him having lived in the same community as Lauren. The difference ends up being that Lauren tries to make more positive future choices and Keith wanted everything right then and there without too much work and was ready to mature into a man as fast as possible. In her dystopian society I can hear that she feels trapped. Which makes me think of (pg.22 of text) through consistent communication people of the community can construct, reaffirm and alter the reality of their society. Positive accomplishments can happen if everyone is willing to communicate and reshape their society. Lauren is doing this through her actions that are not so