Themes

The main theme of the excerpt “Open” by Andre Agassi is the relationship between generations. The excerpt explores all kinds of family relationships: between grandparents and parents, between parents, between parents and adult children, and between an uncle and nephews and nieces. The story’s theme is enhanced through motifs like violen…

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The relationship between generations

The text explores the relationship between different generations in Andre Agassi’s family, through the perspective of eight-year-old Andre. First, the text explores the relationships that Andre’s grandmother has with her son, her daughter-in-law, and with her grandchildren.

All these relationships are characterized by conflict, mostly because of the old woman’s personality, according to the narrator: “She makes my father miserable, she bosses me and my siblings around, and she engages in a strange competition with my mother.” (ll. 30-33)

The old woman tries to impose herself and her views on the other family members, creating thus a generatio…

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Immigration

The theme of immigration is explored through Andre’s family. Andre is born in the US, but his father and his father’s family are immigrants from Iran.

Andre’s grandmother is depicted as feeling homesick as she frequently talks “about the old count…