In his book Black Dog of Fate, Balakian tells his story as a third generation Armenian immigrant living in the United States. As Peter is growing up in New Jersey in the 1950's and 1960's he cares little about his family's past and their homeland's history. Young Peter Balakian does not truly appreciate his culture. Instead it has more to do with being different from mainstream American culture. He manifests his desire to be Jewish like many of his neighbors in Teaneck, and a few years later he wishes to belong with the Columbia alums in "Scott-plaid pants and blue blazers" in Tenafly. All he wants in terms of a cultural identity is to fit in. It is only years later when he is already a young adult that Peter becomes interested in and learns about his family and people's past.
Balakian belongs to a generation of contemporary Armenian authors who have written about the struggle of their people in the 20th century. The novel reminds me of another book I've read that involves Armenian culture, especially the Armenian genocide. However, instead of describing the life of a third generation genocide survivor living in the United States and striving to find his culture in a very different land from that of his family, Adam Bagdasarian's Forgotten Fire tells the story of a teenage boy, the author's great uncle Vahan Kenderian, who eye witnessed and survived the genocide in the Ottoman Empire, including his father's disappearance, his brothers' murders, and his own escape, leaving his mother behind in a killing field. Vahan was eventually able to immigrate to the United States in 1921. His arrival at Ellis Island marks the crossing point between his past and his future.
Both authors, Balakian and Bagdasarian, talk about the lives of Armenian genocide survivors and their descendants. Bagdasarian talks about the actual ordeals of earlier 20th century Armenians in the Ottoman Empire whereas Balakian chooses to discuss how that Armenian culture can fit in to the more complex American culture, which incorporates cultures from all over the world. It is the story of rebuilding a family's life after tragedy and about trying to find one's identity and place in society. Together, the two narratives can be seen as two chapters in the same story of overcoming suffering and starting anew.
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While I agree with your point about Peter Balakian just wanting to fit in with his environment, I think there is more to his appreciation, or lack there of, of Armenian culture. I believe that one of the factors is that he never was directly informed by his parents or relatives about his people's history and traditions. How can you appreciate something you know very little about? Because of this he has almost no cultural identity leading him to desire to be like everyone else around him who has knowledge of his or her traditions, customs, and past. Through his childhood desire to fit in, Balakian is also portraying that until Americans and the rest of the world know about the Armenian genocide and accept that it occurred, Armenian culture won't be able to be accepted in the melting pot of cultures that is America and Armenians won't be able to complete mourning and start anew.
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