1. Contreras 1
Abraham Contreras
Professor Sara Doan
Engl 250
February 5, 2015
Home At Last by Dinaw Mengestu
Dinaw Mengestu’s “Home At Last” is an essay about his personal identity as an
immigrant from Ethiopia. After immigrating to the United States at two years old, Mengestu’s
family never quite settled down in one location. Due to his several transitions from city to city,
Mengestu begins to disassociate with any particular location (75). In his essay, Mengestu uses
personal experiences, first-person narrative, and imagery to connect to readers and project his
message.
Mengestu writes about his own personal experiences to be able to provide the reader with
intimate knowledge about himself. What other way to connect with readers than to write about
your personal life. Making the reader connect to the context then allows for the author to appeal
to their emotions. He begins appealing to emotions of sympathy and compassion by describing
his childhood living with his parents. Mengestu describes how his parents are “tied and lost to
their jobs,” (76) and how he learns “what it meant to lose and be alone,” (76). It is these kind of
personal experiences that make his writing very intimate. The reader either relates to his life, or
sympathizes with it.
Writing in first-person is a technique that Mengestu uses to share his story. He creates the
sense that he is speaking to the reader directly, although he never uses the term “you.” He
accomplishes this by using a first-person narrative as if sharing his story. Giving the sense that
he is sharing his story, implies that he is sharing it with someone other than himself, perhaps the
2. Contreras 2
reader. Towards the end he shares some of the things he admires about Kensington saying,
“What I admired about Kensington, was the assertion that we can rebuild and remake ourselves
and our communities over and over again,” (79). In this sentence, Mengestu is clearly sharing his
thoughts either with himself or with someone else. When Mengestu talks about rebuilding and
remaking, he seems to address the people living in Kensington, and anyone else that might have
gone through similar experiences. The first-person narrative gives him the ability to share his
thoughts so personally and makes it seem as if he was sharing them with the reader.
While describing his personal experiences, Mengestu uses imagery to illustrate his
newfound neighborhood. He places the images of “a Latin American restaurant and grocery
store, a Chinese fish market, a Halal butcher shop, followed by a series of Pakistani and
Bangladeshi takeout restaurants” (77), in our heads, giving the reader the illusion of actually
making their way to the F train. He uses reoccurring images of immigrants, who have recreated
their lives in Kensington, and his interaction with them as a way to illustrate the new community,
which he has now become a part of. Immigrants such as his landlord’s father, “and old gray-
haired Chinese immigrant who spoke no English” (77) or “the men behind the counters of the
Bangladeshi takeout places that knew him by sight” (77). The vivifying illustrations of the
community elucidate the fact that he has found a home at last.
Mengestu’s point of view, emotional appeal, and use of imagery are the basis for his
claim, that no matter where you come from, anyone can find a home somewhere, even if it just is
a corner on Brooklyn. If it were not have been told in first person and if it were not based on his
own life, Mengestu’s claim would have made less of an impact on the reader. His vivid imagery
helps appeal to the emotions of the reader and shows the transition from getting to know
Kensington to becoming a part a community.
3. Contreras 3
Work Cited
Mengestu, Dinaw. "Home At Last." Identity: A Reader for Writers. Ed. John Scenters-Zapico.
N.p.: Oxford UP, 2013. 74-80. Print.
