Thursday, September 23, 2010

Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena --- Pt. 3

Pgs. 164-247

The last few chapters were a little violent. There were comments made about how Danny was a weak character and that he was an escapist. Even I thought these things, but throughout the reading he has grown. This was expected, but it is still nice to see. He doesn't run from a fight, he stands up for what is right, he has his friends back and he realizes that he is his own man.

Pena did discuss the letters a little more. However, there was not a single letter in this section! That was a little frustrating. But, I think it is clear as to why the letter bit was dropped. Danny learns that he doesn't need to pretend about what he wants. He comes to understand that he can make things happen by doing them. He just has to be brave enough to go for it.

I do think that Pena did an amazing job at finishing the novel. He doesn't make a perfect happy ending. Instead, he makes references to the future. He talks about what the characters want to do or plan to do, but he doesn't say if it works out or not. I think he left it open enough to let the skeptics believe what they want and to let the romantics believe that everything will work out in the end.

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