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'Mexican Whiteboy' By Matt De La Peña

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Mexican Whiteboy
How does the author use language in the story to express their culture? Mexican Whiteboy, a 2008 novel by Matt de la Peña, is set in National City, California, and is based on the life of Danny Gonzalez. Danny is a sixteen-year-old boy who moved in with his cousin, Sofia, for the summer while his mother and sister are in San Francisco because he had a secret plan to save up money and fly to Mexico to reconnect with his father. Danny is faced with ethnic identity concerns as he spends time in National City, he doesn’t feel he’s Mexican enough to fit in with the other kids. Danny is also a baseball prodigy. His introverted personality and ethnic insecurities began to hold him back though. Throughout the book, the author uses many linguistic devices and multiple forms of figurative language to express his culture and struggles. …show more content…

The primary conflict type in this book is Character VS Self when Danny is confronted with ethnic identity issues. Though this identity dilemma is persistently exhibited throughout the novel, it is especially flaunted through the original title, Pocho. Pocho is a pejorative Mexican slang word used against Mexican Americans, emigrants, Mexicans that don’t speak Spanish, Mexicans who don’t follow Mexican traditions or culture, etc. That term directly presents the author’s way of expressing his experience as a Mexican American. The Spanish version of the novel likely uses “Pocho” to refer to Danny (and possibly others) but the English version does

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For example, the way the characters acted are like the cholos. De La Pena has a unknown birthday and year, but he was born at San Diego, California. Just like Danny (the main protagonist in M. WB), De la Pena father is Mexican and his mother is white. De La

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This place that offers harmony and all the secrets revealed is a sanctuary providing a long trip but the comfort of being at ease. In the novel Mexican Whiteboy, by Matt de la Peña, we are introduced to a shy, Mexican-American, sixteen-year-old boy named Danny. Who always feels some type of neglect by his two mixed cultures. Along with the wreckage of his ethnic identity, he has a problem overthinking everything he does; he wants to be more connected with his Mexican side. He asks questions about having

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