Chapter 2

In Chapter two, the difference between Obama's stories and the actual state of affairs serves to introduce the theme of dreams versus reality. Obama's father, for all intents and purposes, was a dream constructed by the Dunhams in order to protect Obama from the reality of Obama Sr.'s abandonment of the family. Obama engaged in his own dream-making to avoid reality when he told big lies to his classmates about who he really was. Ann Dunham had her own dreams, ones that drove her to idealize African Americans' struggle for civil rights and Lolo's potential as a change agent in Indonesia during a dangerous time.

Another important theme that is addressed in relatively slight terms in the second chapter is that of the relationship between race and identity. Obama notes in passing that he did not make much of his parents' racial differences when he was a child. Obama's story about the black man who had a treatment to remove his skin color is the first hint for the young Obama that race could assume a powerful but negative place in his life. His upbringing--being born the son of a short-term immigrant to the United States but lacking any contact with that father's culture, living for several years in Indonesia, and growing up in Hawaii--are autobiographical facts that distinguish his life from that of many black Americans. Although Obama eventually identifies as African American, his early life makes it clear that such an identification was never a foregone conclusion.