- buddy’s maturity at such a young age
- borders + boundaries
-> adults vs children
-> racial boundaries
-> gender boundaries - directly talks about race more than the other books
- dads taking up so much space/moms as background characters (weird to see as someone who grew up without a dad)
-> the kid’s liking their dad’s more even though they’re less empathetic (applies to all the books, but doesn’t make them bad people though) - non-verbal communication as a sign of closeness
- rampant misogyny (also all the books)
- accents and FOB
- remarriage and half-siblings
- family + sibling + generational differences
- antiblackness + asians inserting themselves in black/white relations
-> the complexity of black/brown relations - august 1968 chapter title and its significance
-> change + transition in himself, his community, the country, black power and white supremacy, vietnam war
-> DNC (democratic national convention)
-> his fight with aaron mirrors the dynamic of the events happening around them - coming of age: for buddy, for the pilipino community, etc
- colonialism + overbearing parent dynamics (ex. england + america)
- self-fulfilling prophecies
- the american dream
- religion (toward the end)
-> mainly catholicism - dark blue suit -> filipinos practicing conservatism (politically) to appear more american
-> sign of class + capital (the suit itself) - criminalization + stealing/”criminal” activity as a means of survival
- death + loss as a coming of age time
- half-white pilipinos and stephie -> “my mom says i’m gonna be on tv, but even if i’m not, i’ve got a future. i’m half white, you know.”
seminar notes on Dark Blue Suit
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