Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Father of Barack Obama and husband of Ann Dunham, Barack Obama Sr. is a proud, highly intelligent, ambitious, and charismatic man who came of age in Kenya during the country's decolonization. Obama Sr.'s intellect and ambition allowed him to leave Kenya to study abroad in Hawaii and later at Harvard, after which he became an economist in Kenya.

A highly idealistic man, Obama Sr. is not particularly adept at navigating the postcolonial Kenyan bureaucracy. His refusal to accept the status quo—labeled as arrogance by some of his family members and acquaintances—eventually led to a falling out with Kenyatta, Kenya's first black prime minister. Obama's inability to find a middle way between his idealism and reality is his defining character trait and fatal flaw, one that haunts his son.

Obama Sr. is also a failure in many ways as father and husband, at least from the perspective of his son and the half-siblings represented in Dreams from My Father. Obama Sr.'s failure to be present in the lives of his children, his alcoholism, and his failure to make provisions for his many children explain in large part why his legacy to his children is such a fraught one. 

Hussein Onyango Obama is the patriarch of the Obama family in Kenya. Described as a strange child, Hussein Onyango comes of age during the period of British colonization of Kenya. Raised in a traditional Luo culture, Hussein Onyango nevertheless decides to go to work for the British colonial government. His collaboration with the British alienates his family members, who ostracize him. The material benefit of his work for the British is that he is able to build Home Square, the family's country homestead.

Hussein Onyango is described as a rigid, cruel man who regularly beat his children and wives. His inability to manage his personal relationships results in the fragmentation of his family when Akuma, his second wife, leaves him and in his estrangement from Obama Sr., who carries the scars of his father's ridicule for the rest of his life. Hussein Onyango begins the cycle of abuse and abandonment that plagues the Obama men.

The daughter of Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, Ann, called "Stanley Ann" as a girl, is the mother of Barack Obama. Ann is described by her son as an extraordinary young woman who always sought friendships and relationships that transcended racial and cultural lines, as illustrated by her marriage to Barack Obama Sr. and Lolo Soetoro during a historical period when such relationships were rare.

Ann's defining traits are her idealism and her sense of independence. She teaches her son the importance of fairness and right action that aligns with those ideals. Ann is atypical in terms of her choices as a woman and a mother. She left Obama with her grandparents in order to pursue graduate studies in anthropology and do fieldwork in Indonesia, for example, a decision that prioritized her professional development over traditional notions of mothering that would have still been prevalent during the 1970s.

Stanley Dunham is Barack Obama's maternal grandfather. Stanley Dunham grew up in the Midwest but had a troubled family background that made him less than respectable in the eyes of his community. Stanley is the first dreamer in the Dunham family. His desire for independence, adventure, and a more egalitarian society explain his decision to enlist during World War II and his pursuit of opportunities in Hawaii.

Stanley's idealism leads to frequent disappointment, however, as he struggles to make a living for his family. Obama's relatively gentle portrayal of his grandfather traces Stanley's early optimism to his growing disillusionment as his dreams for himself and the U.S. fail to materialize during the late 1970s and the 1980s.

Barack Obama's half-sister and daughter of Obama Sr.'s first wife (Kezia), Auma is the independent, highly intelligent half-sibling who first makes efforts to re-connect Obama with his Kenyan family. Auma's early life was scarred by her witnessing of Obama Sr.'s descent into alcoholism. Auma escapes this life using a scholarship to study abroad in Germany, where she has a boyfriend.

Auma's major struggles as a person include her sometimes unsuccessful efforts to balance her desire to succeed and her feelings of responsibility toward her less fortunate family members, her desire to embrace important aspects of Kenyan and Luo culture and her desire to escape the traditional gender roles available in those cultures, and her fear that she will end up like her father. 

The eldest of Obama Sr.'s children, Roy leaves Kenya to work as an accountant in the U.S. Like all of the Obama children, Roy struggles to craft an identity that honors his Kenyan roots and his ambitions to succeed outside of Kenya. Roy also has a fraught relationship with his father. Over the course of the narrative, Roy goes from being an overweight, unhappy man in the midst of a dissolving marriage to becoming a more stable man who decides to resume his Kenyan name and take on the responsibilities of being a Luo eldest son by starting an import-export business that can provide support for his extended family. Roy shares some of the same impulsiveness and impracticality that plagued Obama Sr.

Toot is Barack Obama's maternal grandmother. Like her daughter after her, Toot is a woman who experiences professional success (as a bank vice-president in her case) during a moment when having a career outside of the home is unusual. Toot is a Midwesterner like her husband but comes from a more respectable family. Her defining character traits are her practicality and common sense, traits that serve as a needed balance to her husband's idealism.

Marty Kaufman is the Jewish community organizer who hires Obama to run the DCP in Chicago and teaches Obama the importance of footwork and personal relationships in politics. Marty is described as a person who presents as a ruthlessly pragmatic person but one who nevertheless still has some idealism. Marty struggles to succeed in Chicago because of his race and his refusal to listen to his staff and the communities he serves. 

Ann Dunham's second husband, Lolo is one of Obama's early father figures. Lolo is a generous stepfather who insists that Obama learn how to defend himself and who emphasizes the importance of having power and strength in order to avoid becoming a victim. Lolo is portrayed as a person who engages in corrupt, dishonest behavior that eventually leads to the break-up of his marriage with Ann Dunham.

Ray is Barack Obama's first African-American friend in Hawaii and one of Obama's teammates on the Punahou basketball team. A native of Los Angeles, Ray represents an authentic African-American identity from Obama's perspective. Ray struggles with the racism of Hawaiian society and regularly engages in harsh arguments with Obama about how best to respond to racism. Ray is physically described as a runner with an unusually big belly that belies his speed.

Frank is an African-American poet who came of age in Chicago during the Harlem Renaissance and is a casual friend of Stanley Dunham. Frank drinks constantly, and in keeping with his experiences as an African-American man, is deeply suspicious of whites (including Stanley). His role in the novel is to confirm for Obama his "nightmare vision" (85) of the U.S. as a place where white supremacy would always set the terms on which African Americans would experience life.

Hussein Onyango's second wife, Akuma is a fiercely independent Luo woman who runs away from her cruel husband numerous times during their marriage. Akuma ultimately manages to escape the marriage but leaves behind her children, Barack Obama Sr. and Sarah. Her abandonment of the children is one of the many fractures that traumatize the Obama children. 

Called "Granny" by the Obamas, Sarah is the third wife of Hussein Onyango Obama. Granny passes down the family's history to Barack Obama as an oral history, Hussein Onyango's wage book, and Obama Sr.'s college application letters.

Elected in 1983, Washington was Chicago’s first African-American mayor and serves as an example of a successful African-American politician for Obama, who moves to Chicago shortly after the election. A beloved figure for African Americans, Washington nevertheless struggled to bring real and lasting change to Chicago. His struggles become an object lesson to Barack Obama as he attempts to learn the practical aspects of politics.

A minister at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Wright is a spiritual figure in the novel who embodies the social gospel, the idea that faith and concerns that are usually seen as a part of the secular, political world should work hand in hand to improve people's lives. Wright officiates at Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson's marriage ceremony and gives a sermon that pushes Obama to recognize the importance of faith to his identity as an African American.

The eldest sister of Barack Sr., Sarah Obama is the daughter of Hussein Onyango's second wife, Akuma. In the memoir, Sarah is described as a bitter woman who was just as intelligent as her brother, Obama Sr., but who was never given the opportunity to have an education because of the patriarchal nature of Luo society during those times. Sarah's insistence that most of Obama Sr.'s potential heirs are illegitimate is a source of tension in the family.

Barack Obama's half-brother, Mark Obama is the son of Ruth (Obama Sr.'s third wife, a white woman). Mark grew up alienated from his culture and family. His decision to reject these aspects of his identity make him a foil to Barack Obama. During his brief appearances in the memoir, he is described as an unhappy man who identifies as a Westerner.

Bernard is Barack Obama's half-brother and Auma's full brother. Bernard is young, aimless, and like many of the Obama children, content to wait on the disposition of Obama Sr.'s estate to make his future. Obama describes Bernard as kind but lacking in initiative. 

Rafiq is an ex-offender and former gang member who owns a business in Chicago. He attempts to collaborate with the DCP to support his black nationalist ideals. His political beliefs at times make the members of the DCP uncomfortable because they veer over into anti-white racism. Rafiq is used by Obama in the book to represent what he sees as the intellectual incoherence of black nationalism.

Will is a staffer at the DCP. Will once had a position in a bank but lost it and now works as a janitor and at the DCP as a volunteer. Will is presented as a sincere man whose beliefs in a social gospel compel him to volunteer but whose instincts sometimes lead him to rub people in the wrong way.

A staffer at the DCP, Angela befriends Obama and is one of the major voices who decries Marty Kaufman's refusal to come up with plans that are relevant to the black residents he is attempting to organize.

A DCP volunteer whose decision to wear blue contact lenses despite being African-American forces Obama to think about the toll of internalized racism on African Americans.

The son of Roby Styles, Kyle is a quiet but intense teenager whose quick temper and hopelessness symbolize the challenges facing young people coming of age in Chicago.

Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, is a native of Chicago. In the memoir, she is portrayed as a no-nonsense woman like Toot and a counterbalance to Obama's idealism.