Second installation of thoughts on Rivera

The overwhelming sentiment running through the individual tales of this book is tragic. The second half chronicles a betrayed love-induced suicide, a burning truck of Mexican workers, a house-ridden mother who suffers extreme anxiety and encounters blatant racism when she finally gathers the courage to venture into white America, and a sheisty businessman who tricks his own people not only out of money, but of beloved personal memories as well. This unforgiving view of the Mexican and Chicano experience on the northern side of the border is what gives the book its appeal as a genuine account.

 

However, Rivera takes a turn towards the hopeful in the last chapters of the novel. By entering into the minds of various passengers aboard a stopped truck, we are privy to a broader perspective, and I think the sense of community that Rivera wants to portray becomes much more obvious. Personal suffering is transformed into public compassion and acceptance. The end of chapter “morals” that the author provided us with throughout the book often had a negative note, but the final one we are given is undoubtedly positive. It speaks of a traveling Mexican poet who incorporates specific people from his community into his work and reads it to them aloud, creating not only a sense of interconnectedness, but of love and hope as well.

 

Of course, the final entry solidifies this idea, as we realize that, indeed, all of the events retold in the book were interrelated and contained within a fairly small group of families. The narrator, although remembering some harrowing stories, comes to a point of inner peace and joyfulness at the simple thought of being part of a community, and his only desire is to join all of these people in a massive embrace. He realizes that the key to a happy existence is inclusion, not segregation, an important message for Americans (and people in general) of all backgrounds.

Wow, so it would appear based on my last two entries that I am starting to see the world in a somewhat cheesy new light. Hahahaha. Sorry, I just watched Zeitgeist: Addendum and I really can't help it. Also, I think I actually believe it.