Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa was an interesting book since I could relate to many aspects of the Samoan's lifestyle. Mead used a translator to interact with the Samoan girls to disable the disadvantage of the language barrier. The translators also gives more freedom to the native girls to express themselves. In her book Mead describes her findings of many aspects of the Samoan life and how she was able to gather the data she has.
At the beginning Mead explains that she travels to Samoa to study the lives of 50 adolescent girls in the different towns. Chapter one begins by analyzing adolescence and how young people start developing physical changes and rebellion against authority. In chapter two, she describes a typical day in their life and what each family member does. In chapter three, Mead starts describing the different types of responsibility each member has. An example is the older girl taking care of the newborns so the mom can carry on her other activities. She goes on to describe that relatives are always expected to help out each other. Mead describes how there is a highest hierarchical title for both men and women. Mead explains the importance of dance in Samoan culture. This activity seems to be the only one where people of all age groups and gender can participate in. In dancing the children are actually the main focus. There comes a time when people have to choose if they will continue their education to become professionals, or they don't want to continue their education and just work.
This was a very interesting read because it kept me impressed on how many things the Samoan culture and the Mexican culture are very similar. The hierarchical roles are incredibly marked. Everything is based on how the society views certain family members. I believe it was a good ethnography book.
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