Bennet Omalu: Nostalgia In The US

Bill was a young boy when his parents had a nasty divorce. Their hatred towards each other couldn’t be matched with anything. Billy, an only child, had nobody to look to as he was constantly being moved from his father to his mother. Not to mention, the bottomless poverty his parents were falling into. Forever would his childhood be plagued with the abominable nightmares which was the life around him. Twenty-five years later, Bill was a grown man with three kids, a beautiful wife, and his income was incredible. Bill was overall living a peaceful new life. However, his deep past would come back to haunt him occasionally through nostalgia. Most people attach nostalgia with positive feelings and thoughts. Nostalgia can affect people negatively via past memories, depression, and current issues. Negative nostalgia is an underlooked subject. To start things, the first example of …show more content…
A key point in the book, is Bennet’s depressed state of mind. Bennet grew up in poverty and his father was killed. He dealt with depression while living in Nigeria and thought moving to the U.S could bring him a new life with new opportunities. He was wrong, depression followed him to America through nostalgic moments of his past. The following is what Bennet thinks of depression: “Depression isn’t a thing that lifts or disappears just because of a change of scenery. The voice follows you no matter where you go, reminding you that you are worthless.” (Laskas). The reason which Bennet feels his depression is because of the burden of his past which haunts him. Bennets memories connect with what John Tierney wrote in “What is Nostalgia Good For?” Tierny says, “Nostalgic stories aren’t simple exercises in cheeriness, though. The memories aren’t all happy, and even the joys are mixed with a wistful sense of loss.” Having memories which are all not joyful connects with Bennet’s mixed