post 26
May 3, 2011 by jessicafisher255
“There is nothing more subversive than instantly turning desire into reality, and that’s why they try to surround us unborn types, and later, when we’re children, they limit us, surround us with schools and jails and churches and programmed vacations and calendar holidays and economic whorehouses erected between a child and the object of his desire”( Fuentes 231). In this passage, we see Fuentes questioning the functions that society puts upon people and puts upon children. From a very early age, children are taught how society wants them to act in school. They are taught to listen and to follow directions from whoever is in charge. They are learned to repeat the answers that there teacher wants them to hear. They are given similar lessons in churches. They are told to sit and listen to what the priest is teaching them. They are not supposed to question what is being told to them. They are encouraged to blindly accept these lessons. This is what the Mexican government wants its citizens to do also. It wants them to follow the agenda that they have. Fuentes also brings up in this novel that what the Mexican government wants and expects from its citizens often is what the American government wants and expects of the Mexican people. Fuentes is trying to show the relationship between the corruptions of both governments. The Mexican government isn’t the only government that tries to control its population. Most countries can look at their education systems and their religious systems and one would see that these institutions are working with an agenda. They want their followers to act accordingly to follow whatever plan the institution has for them. They want their students/members to trust what they are being told and not question their reasons. Colleges today are run differently. They encourage students to question and explore new ideas, but back when Christopher is developing and growing in his mother’s womb, colleges and students did not have the same freedoms that they have today. Many colleges were expected to spit out good citizens who would work jobs for the government to ensure that the owners of these companies made a lot of money off the lands’ resources and people. Leaders have no problem being corrupt if their pockets are full. This is seen in many governments but Fuentes focuses mainly on the Mexican government.
