Urban Living in New York City in by Siri Hustvedt's Essay, Living with strangers

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Living with strangers
The essay; ”Living with strangers,” written by Siri Hustvedt deals with the attitude of urban living in New York City. There are many different rules of living between the country side and the city and there exist many unspoken rules in all cultures and societies. Siri Hustvedt tells us that she grew up in the country side rural Minnesota were it was a custom to greet everyone you met or else you could be accused of the worst possible sin, snobbery. Then she moved to New York City in 1978. Here she discovered how unpractical it would be to greet every person she met. Siri quickly learnt the simple survival law of the New Yorkers: Pretend it isn’t happening. The title “Living with strangers” refers to the paradox that we are becoming more isolated while being surrounded by increasingly more people.
The essay is based on Siri´s thoughts and feelings about living with strangers and we can divide it into three parts. First part is her personal background story, this personal level of the essay gives the readers a feeling of knowing the author and it establishes a s...

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