The way Americans perceive others and history are sometimes altered. In José Luis González’s short story, The Passage, he portrays a world that is not constructed by Americans, altering American perceptions. Some perceptions Americans might have towards Puerto Ricans, the ethnicity portrayed in The Passage, as eccentric, outgoing, and lazy. González creates two separate characters, Juan and Jesús, to show the parallels between the American perception towards Puerto Ricans and the actual representation of Puerto Ricans. The short story opens with the both of them meeting “by chance at the subway exit of 103rd Street, and Juan—who had a job—invited Jesús—who didn’t—to have a beer” (González 369), showing the parallel between the two characters.