How does soto build a central idea of his story in the excerpt? by showing how carolyn’s family lives in a way that is strange to him, soto supports the idea that culture causes conflict between people. By showing how carolyn’s family lives in a way that is boring to him, soto supports the idea that people from different cultures do not share interests. By showing how carolyn’s family lives in a way that is familiar to him, soto supports the idea that people from different cultures can also share a culture. By showing how carolyn’s family lives in a way that is similar to him, soto supports the idea that there are very few differences among cultures.