Cohen 1

Julianna Cohen

Prof. Rodrick

ENGL 115

16 November 2017

Where Do I Belong?

Do you know who you are yet? Have you discovered that one great thing that makes you

realize who you have truly been all this time? In the novel Another City, with the story titled

Minnie Riperton Saved My Life written by Luis Alfaro, a young boy in school finds out he is

going to be bussed to another school and talks about the struggling period of being able to

identity his true personality and identity to the outside world. The main character has to change

his outer personality and identity in order to fit in and survive the world of Los Angeles and its

growing population and diversity but when he discovers jazz and blues music, like Minnie

Riperton, he is able to find out his true identity and is able to vocally express who he is. In the

story, Los Angeles is able to maintain a strong presence among the formation of identity of the

main character with the citys growing diversity, the introduction of music brought into the city,

and seen with the characters own personal example.

Los Angeles is a city with a growing population and diversity of individuals and the main

character experiences this diversity with trying to create an identity that supports each situation.

Los Angeles in recent years has grown into a wide community with a range of many different

types of people from all races especially seen in the last few decades. As written by Andrew

Edwards for Press Telegram, For the first time in U.S. history, children under 5 who identify

with an ethnic minority group outnumbered white children a trend that has already been true

in Los Angeles County for more than four decades which means that the main character being
 Cohen 2

surrounded by people of different races was growing in an environment where he was forced to

put on different faces for the public (Andrews). The main character was unable to know who he

was supposed to be and where he belonged and the growing population of Los Angeles would

have just improved the situation. The main character is conflicted and wants to fit in but he does

not know where he would truly belong so at the point of the story, he is just ambiguous in who

he is. Los Angeles is a city of growth and expansion and Edward Andrews states in the article

that, in the county of Los Angeles 83 percent of young children in the United States were part

of a minority race or ethnic group as of mid-2014 which means that even during the time period

of the story, the main character had to create an identity to form with his family and an identity

to form with the expectations of the community surrounding him (Andrews). The main character

wanted to know whom he was and without knowing which aspect of his life was more important

to him, he would not be able to. The growth in Los Angeles brings forth even more people,

which is the same experience in the story, which allows the exposure of different viewpoints and

ideas to be present. The main character with his own views and interests is surrounded with all

kinds of people and with the introduction of different views, he has to figure out if he will

conform to those views or stay with his own.

 Cohen 3

Work Cited

Edwards, Andrew. New Census figures show nation is following Los Angeles in diversity.

Press Telegram, Press Telegram, 31 Aug. 2017,

www.presstelegram.com/2015/06/25/new-census-figures-show-nation-is-following-los-

angeles-in-diversity/.