"This is not a story of noble immigrants versus the evil banking class: it is about people who have no room to manoeuvre."-NY Times |
The purpose of the book...
Imbolo Mbue's purpose of writing Behold the Dreamers was to demonstrate hardships immigrants face and to show the significant meaning of the "American Dream". Through the use of third person point of view and pathos, Imbolo Mbue establishes profound meanings based off experience. |
"It is, in other words, quintessentially American."-NPR |
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“Behold the Dreamers”, is a narrative about a husband and wife that move to America to live the “American Dream”, but face many hardships instead. Neni and Jende have a son who’s name is Liomi that is six years old. The three of them have immigrated to America from Limbe, Cameroon. Jende had immigrated to America so that he could give his family a better life; he begins to work for Clark Edwards. Cindy, Clark's wife, soon offers Neni a job. Soon their life changes and a financial crisis shakes their company and the global economy.
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Mbue's Input on her Novel:
During an interview with Book Club Babble,she states that she wanted reader to see the "stories of these two very different families, their hopes and their struggles". In other interviews, such as the one from PBS(video on the left), she states states that the book is somewhat based off of her experiences. Being an immigrant from Cameroon herself, many of Mbue's experiences with the 2007-2008 financial crisis are incorporated into her engaging novel.These experiences bring life to the families lives in the novel knowing this is a true depiction of what life was really like. |
image from: Penguin Random House
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