An American Childhood

Within her memoir, Dillard presents a growing child’s perceptions of the world. These perceptions and their changes comprise a significant theme within the memoir: as Dillard learns more about the physical world around her, she expands her consciousness and understanding of that world, and of her inner world. The outer world influences her consciousness. She finds fulfillment and happiness in her hobbies and pursuits, including sports and intellectual interests. However, Dillard does not know if other children experience the world the way she does, nor does she know how the adults around her perceive their worlds.

When Dillard becomes a teenager, and develops a preoccupation with boys and her looks, just like the other girls her age, she becomes unhappy. She finds that these superficial pursuits do not bring her the happiness that she felt when she was younger. Her only hope is that some of her previous enjoyment of the world can replace the rage and boredom of her teenage years as she matures into an adult.

In other words, Dillard’s self-awareness grows throughout the memoir, as does her perception of her beloved parents and other adults around her. Other than her parents, she admires her friend Judy Schoyer’s father, a judge, for his deep reading and thinking. However, as her consciousness grows, she finds that her perception of her parents changes too: her parents are not always correct, particularly her father. Dillard’s contempt for many of the adults in her socioeconomic class, though it does not encompass her own parents, centers around their apparent lack of a meaningful inner life, due to the topics they discuss and the hobbies they pursue. In addition, the adults all share an expectation that their children will follow the path laid out for them, taking their parents’ places in the running of Pittsburgh and its upper-class duties. Dillard’s parents share this expectation of their children, too.