Dear Alexandros - meaning of life

The first letter is written by a Greek boy called Alexandros who lives with his sister and grand mother who has been taking care of him. He does not have parents, so now he is under a support of an international charity organization called Hope, Incorporated. As he says ‘I am keeping well, for which I thank God, and hope that it is the same with you. May God keep you always well, and grant you every happiness and joy.’ (Updike, 150) he is quite a devout and thankful to his happy life. His letter is a full of expression of gratitude and concern to his American parents who support him, as well as his pleasure of things like sea, friends and school.

The second letter is the reply to the first, by Alexandros’s American parent Mr Bentley who supports him through the relief program. He is now in separation, or perhaps divorced, from his wife and two children. After brief greeting paragraphs, he abruptly tells that ‘Mrs Bentley a

Therefore the proposition that story suggests, what the better life is, is brought by this juxtaposition of a poor person who owns his life and a wealthy person who does not. It seems that Updike wrote this story as an obvious allegory which criticises the society of the US in mid twentieth century and draws people’s envy toward simple and free life like the one Alexandros has. It is most significant in the comment of Mr Bentley on Greek and American literature ‘Your nation [Greece] should be very proud of producing masterpieces which the whole world can enjoy. In United States the great writers produce works which people do not enjoy, because they are so depressing to read.’ (151). However, due to the characteristic of the first person narration it is complicated to make a judgement on a topic like this. Two narrators are totally unreliable in a way that their writing is completely biased by their own beliefs or feelings of the certain time the letters were written. More specifically, Alexandros may not write about his dreadful situation which he has to face in real life simply because it is unnecessary to tell his American parents; Mr Bentley’s life may be full of enjoyment brought by his wealth but he could be bitter and critical when he writes just because he enjoys doing so. After all, Mr Bentley seems to have the better life because he is at least rich and kin

Some topics in this essay:
Alexandros’s American, John Updike, Greek American, Whereas Bentley’s, Socialism Updike, Hope Incorporated, Alexandros Bentley, Russia Khrushchev’, bentley’s life, american parents, Alexandros Finally, person narration, poor person, john updike, life alexandros, life letter, parents support,