Hyman Kaplan turned out to be a lot smarter than I anticipated. When the book began I was not too fond of Hyman for many reasons. I found Hyman to be more than anything just comic relief, but by the end of the book I began to really admire the character. There is a lot to admire about the character of Hyman Kaplan one being his unbelievable resolve. Hyman clearly has a hard time grasping the finer points of the English language but his approach to learning the language is commendable. I really admire the way that he questions everything he is exposed to about the English language. Often times he has to argue a certain point to the entire class and he does so with great success, even though he is answer may be incorrect. Hyman I believe is just trying to hold on to a sense of individualism in a society that wants him to seamlessly assimilate with everyone else. Everything about Hyman is unique and over the top and it is clear that he is trying desperately to hold to that. So I admire Hyman because he clearly wants to learn about American culture and the English language but he also realizes how important it is to maintain his own individualistic beliefs.
Do you think it is possible to maintain your prior held beliefs but also at the same time learn and understand another culture?
Yes, I do believe that it is possible to maintain your prior beliefs and at the same time learn and understand another culture. The proof is in just about everyone. Most of us start school in the states learning English and by the time we enter high school we learn another language. While we learn our second language we also learn about its culture, beliefs and why they use one formality to another. This also works vice versa where English is the second language and culture learned. Just because you learn another language, beliefs and culture doesn't necessarily mean that your forget/lose your own.
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