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In every town and society you have different rules, norms and values. In Siri Hustvedt’s essay “Living With Strangers” from 2002, she describes these differences due to her moving from the countryside of Minnesota to the big city of New York in 1978. In the essay she goes through some things, which she later on refers to as characteristics of the town. In the very beginning, Siri Hustvedt is clearly challenged in her attempt to settle down and adapt to her new surroundings. She witnesses a lot of things, which she shouldn’t have. To mention some examples she overhears a couple arguing, and she also sees two boys walking around in nothing else but their underwear. These things are considered private and therefore Siri finds herself in an unusual position. The people surrounding her, the New Yorkers, are to begin with nothing else but strangers to her, and yet again she has to put up with them. Another thing which is quite new to Siri Hustvedt is the massive amount of people. In her hometown she used to greet everyone she met as a sign of respect, but doing so in New York would simply be impractical due to the many people, the many strangers.In order to survive the urban life in New York, there’s a simply rule or coping-technique you need to follow: the “pretend it isn’t happening-rule.” The way you follow this rule is what shows whether you are a New Yorker or an outsider. To begin with, Siri doesn’t like this rule, as it seems unethical to her. But as time goes on, she learns that one should only mind one’s own business. This can be seen by the three examples, she mentions. The first example is about a woman who isn’t properly dressed in public. Only wearing a bathrobe, she makes a scene by shouting she had forgotten something. (P...

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...ssay, I think that the New Yorkers basically are described negatively as selfish and non-caring people, whereas the Minnesotans are described more positively as friendly and kind people. So due to the reason that Siri and her family live in New York, they adapt to the new rules, norms and values. This results in them becoming somehow similar to the New Yorkers, as we see them use the “it isn’t happening-rule” multiple times. With that said, one should remember that Siri, throughout the essay, is allowed to be subjective in her descriptions of New York and its citizens. Her view of the city and its norms, values and rules surely affects us as readers to a point that we get the same opinion as her. So by this essay, Siri proves to us that every city has its own characteristics and it’s up to us as individuals to judge whether these characteristics are good or bad.