This reading material was a bit confusing to me. I think it will take a little bit more reading and a lot of discussion for me to fully understand this text. In short, it is a complicated story that takes you through the lives of different people living in America. It really digs in deep about the differences between personalities, beliefs, lifestyles, and races. I think one of the main arguments the author is trying to make in this text is the presence of racism in America today. “Everything is a circus. Your little kids are afraid of black people in the streets, come home from school shaking, don’t wanna go back. Scare you, too. Ask neighbor, Are they humans or animals? Neither, he says. Just niggers. Nigger- what does that mean?” (Paterniti.) This is a vague example, but I think it does the job well enough. It shows the racist language and racist slurs used. I think he uses these languages to make a point, to make his argument about the presence of racism in America.

I believe another argument the author is trying to make is about what “America” really means and how there is no specific description for an American. “First, an American looks Laotian as much as an American looks Irish or Rwandan or wears a turban or won’t eat Kansan hog for religious reasons or is quadriplegic.” (Paterniti.) This is a good example of how America doesn’t mean just one thing. America is supposed to be a land of all types of races, personalities, languages, cultures, people, etc. But a lot of people have had this view of America being strictly “white” and English and AMERICAN for too long now. I believe that this kind of thinking results in racist behavior.

I think another point the author is trying to make is that hate comes from hate. Earlier in the story, when it is following Jack’s lifestyle, he recognizes the hate around him and from him. “Maybe the difference between you and a real man like Jack Hooker is that he will tell you what he hates; he will honor his hate and unleash it and understand that his hate will come back on him, understand that he, too, is hated. For a real man like Jack Hooker realizes that he hates and is hated.” Throughout the story, Jack shows his hate for the owner of the motel next to his. She is a woman of Laotian descent, who was given the name Donna. As the story goes on and the hate (not just from Jack, but from many others as well) shines through on Donna, she begins to feel and recognize her hate. ” She begins to hate , because now she really knows she is hated.” (Paterniti.) I believe that this shows that aired creates a chain reaction of hate. Hate leads to hate in a sort of cycle and that is what may be going on in America today.