Part II: Mother Summary and Analysis

In "An Armenian Jew in Suburbia," Peter recalls Sunday dinners, during which he felt more Armenian. Several family members are always on hand, and the food is decisively Armenian. Aunt Anna, Peter's father's sister, speaks out against suburbia. She is a modern woman even in the 50s, and is a professor at NYU. She believes the suburbs will take away the ethnicity of the Armenian Balakians, and she and Arax, Peter's mother, often begin to argue about the sense of community in the suburbs. In Teaneck, Peter's first home, many neighbors are Jewish, and Peter finds himself wanting to be Jewish like his friends. When he asks his parents, they explain that he is Christian, and that "their people" decided to follow Christianity after Moses landed on Mt. Ararat, the national symbol of Armenia. Peter asks where...