All Our Names By Dinaw Mengesu: An Analysis

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In the novel, All Our Names, Dinaw Mengestu explains the prejudice and stereotypes that African people were subjected to when they arrived to America in the 1960 's. Before Helen even met Isaac she assumed that he would be short, malnourished, and that his English would be poor. Upon meeting him, she realized that her assumptions about him were completely wrong. Towards the middle of the novel Helen stated," It 's also equally possible …. that, regardless of what we do, we are tied to all the prejudices in our country and the crimes that come with them" (Mengestu 113). She 's making the point that maybe despite all our efforts we still carry prejudiced opinions with us because they have been so deeply ingrained into our minds. Nobody is born