Analysis Of Strangers In Their Own Land By Arlie Hochschild

Arlie Hochschild’s book, Strangers in their Own Land, demonstrates the sharp division prevalent in today’s society between all of the political parties that define American government. Hochschild poses questions and thought-provoking ideas when interviewing individuals with differing lifestyles and beliefs. Hochschild puts on many hats in this book, when playing a third-party interviewer, a Berkeley professor, a sociologist, and a curious bystander. Hochschild’s motives for writing this book center around a desire to understand individuals that she views as the exact opposite of the people that she is surrounded by in her everyday life. Throughout Hochschild’s contradictory and thought-provoking interviews, she identifies key issues and topics, all based around the “general Louisianian” perspective. In …show more content…
Hochschild, being a recognized sociologist, identifies Janice Areno’s “deep story,” and relays the information to the reader throughout the interview process. In Strangers in their Own Land, Hochschild finds ways to understand individuals by identifying and being open-minded to the life-altering events that make one’s beliefs the way that they are. When interviewing Janice Areno, Hochschild chooses to highlight Areno’s loyalty to the Republican party, her independence from government aid, and her defensiveness against today’s accepting society, in order to further understand the roots of Areno’s belief system. As the title of chapter 10 reads, “The Team Player: Loyalty Above All,” one of the first characteristics that Areno presents is her devotion to the Republican party (153). One