Mateo's Manifesto

The Pure Trinity Mateo Hernandez           J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is, by far, one of the most interesting books that I’ve ever read. Salinger’s novel follows Holden Caulfield, a young boy searching for meaning in a world that is seemingly “phony” all around. Told in the unique perspective of a conversation between you and Caulfield, he speaks about his crazy winter break, after he is kicked out of Pencey prep, and wanders around New York City. Throughout the novel, he appears to criticize nearly everything that he encounters. He especially likes to criticize the people around him. Nobody seems to get him, and from his perspective, he is always in the right. Although Caulfield does have respect for a few people. The  ‘Holy trinity’ in a sense. His mysterious childhood friend, Jane, never encounters Holden during his wild adventure. Phoebe, his bright younger sister. And Allie, his redheaded younger brother, who died years ago. Reading th...

  Mateo Hernandez Delillo’s ‘Truth’ Libra. If you’re anything like me, you came into this book expecting something totally different. A simple history, perhaps, that is truthful and accurate regarding every event that occurred. But in the end, after we get an extremely complex conspiracy, Don Delillo leaves you with even more questions that beg to be answered. Although there are many different paths this post could take, I’d like to skim the surface of Lee Harvey Oswald’s story, from his early childhood up to his first assassination attempt on General Walker. The best way to go about this post is to start from the ‘beginning’, aka, what the government told us happened, and what the average American would believe from their story. Then dive into one of the first conspiracies of the world, Don Delillo’s Libra, whose goal is to satisfy the need for a believable narrative. Delillo takes the facts of Lee’s broken background, adds a believable narrative that gives a reasonable explan...

Octavia Butler's Take on the Theme of Choice in Kindred By: Mateo Hernandez Octavia E. Butler’s novel was a novel that I enjoyed and was disgusted by at the same time. It’s a unique story that follows Dana, a young African American writer living in 1976. One day, while in the process of moving into a new apartment with her husband Kevin, she undergoes a sickness and finds herself back in the early 1800s, saving a boy who called her for help. The novel highlights many themes, but mainly focuses on the idea of what it would be like to live in this time period of slavery, where oppression and violence are real, especially as a black woman. One theme that I want to dive into is the theme of choice, which is portrayed differently for all kinds of people in this time period. For slaves, it is nonexistent, and for white individuals who own them, they are the ones who create the suppression, which leads to no choice.  To begin with, Dana’s view of choice evolves throughout the novel. At ...

Controversial Corner: Ishmael Reed’s Attack on Western Society By: Mateo Hernandez           Mumbo Jumbo. A novel hyped up to be one of the most confusing books that we’ll ever read. Whether it was the writing style or just in general, the hard-to-follow plot line, Mumbo Jumbo, seemed to confuse a lot of us. But honestly, in the end, I really enjoyed it. I thought that it was one of the most controversial books that I have read in a long time, especially regarding Ishmael Reed’s critiques on Western society and culture, and taking a COMPLETELY radical view, as some might say. Reed argues that Western society is hyper-Eurocentric and closely tied to Christianity, and it’s all corrupted, with its supposed goal to stamp out Black culture in order for its Eurocentric roots to remain in power; but Reed suggests that Black culture is what society should be centered around, for true happiness and authenticity.  To begin with, Reed uses the Atonists and the ...

 The American Illusion     By: Mateo Hernandez      The American Dream is an idea we all have heard of. It’s the idea that anybody can be successful and free in America as long as you work hard enough and have the right mentality. But how realistic is the American dream? Is it achievable or is it simply an... illusion? E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime is proof that the American dream is faulty at best and limited to a select few.    Take a few of the most successful characters in Ragtime. Henry Ford, a Michigan-born farm boy who worked his way up from nothing, founded one of America’s biggest car companies and became one of the most successful businessmen of his time. Evelyn Nesbit, who was born into poverty, used her beauty and sex appeal to marry into one of the richest families in the country. Finally, immigrants like Tateh and Harry Houdini’s family were drawn into the U.S. because of this vision of success. Tateh lived in the slums of New York with hi...