Sedaris Thesis

In Sedaris’s remembering my Childhood on the Continent of Africa, and the Rachel Dolezal wikipedia page, both essays share a common lack of self identity in ones culture, resulting in a need to falsely synthesize an experience they never physicsally could. Sedaris’s essay establishes his arguement by providing anecdotal evidences of his partner, Hugh’s, unorthodox childhood experiences as a diplomat in Congo, to his dull suburban North Carolina upbringing. Through the use of the emotional appeal pathos and the juxtapositon of both childhoods, Sedaris allows the reader to envision the craving of a unconventional lifestyle he never got to encounter. The effectiveness of Sedaris’s comparison is noted by his humourous ironic tone, by providing
“An Ethipioan slaughterhouse. When I was in elementary school, the best we ever got was a trip to Old Salem or Colonial Williamsburg, where supposedly time stood stands still.” The irony in Sedaris’s envious emotion can be seen due to the odd craving for risk and change in comparison to the average joes need for comfort and safety in experiences. Sedaris’s unusual sense of wanting to experience the unheard of communicates the underlying purpose of living the life he wish he could have lived. Sedaris continues to juxtapose both of thier upbringings through the time they both saw the movie of the talking volkswagen. The movie was the same but the experiences shared after greatly differed. Sedaris left the movie, as being “unremarkable and faded from his memory.” As his partner leaves the movie, he is presented with a graphic image of a dead man hanging from a tree. This image also faded from his memory quickly due to the astonishment of seeing talking volkswagen. The irony behind his lack of consideration, lies in the fact that an American’s encounter with a dead man hanging, is so unusual and frightening, that it wouldn’t be looked over. In the country of Congo however, a lack of importance is noted due to the communities outlook on
The author's wikipedia page creates a sense of irony by the statement of, “Dolezal came to media attention when her white parents said publicly that Dolezal is a white woman passing as black”.
This confusion of character only creates an image of someone who is missing something in their life, and tries to replicate and mirror an image she biologically wasn’t born into. This sense of amusement is noted due to this scenario being so unique in it’s own ways, or the fact she had claimed 9 allegations of hate crimes of a race she isn’t necessarily a part