Nate writes blog posts

 Lee Harvey Oswald is the center of the manipulation in Don DeLillo's Libra . For the assassin of John F. Kennedy he is ruled in real life to be a lone gunman by investigations. But, Don DeLillo tells an alternative story where Oswald is a pawn of a larger conspiracy. The plot to assassinate Kennedy, kicked off by Walter Everett Jr., Larry Parmenter, and T-Jay Mackey, relies on having a scapegoat to take the blame. Oswald is viewed as this person after his attempt on General Walker's life. Not only is he viewed as capable of being understood by the people as a lone acting American turned crazy by communism, but also as a manipulatable subject. Parmenter clearly articulates their intent to manipulate on the phone to Everett Jr., "'We could put him together...If he thinks he's operating on the left, pro-Castro, pro-Soviet, whatever his special interest, we'll help him select a fantasy" (DeLillo 75). One reason Oswald is susceptible to their future manipulati

 Time travel is very crucial to the central plotline of Kindred as Dana travels back in time to the early 1800s to the Weylin plantation where she meets her enslaved ancestors. She also meets Rufus Weylin whom she apparently gets traveled back in time to save in near-death scenarios, as it's discovered he is also one of Dana's ancestors. What stands out about the time travel in Kindred is how it's not explained. It is not like other science fiction novels where they develop fictional explanations or devices to enable the characters to travel through time. Alternatively, it remains a mystery how Dana suddenly gets transported back into the 1800s involuntarily. She is the only character throughout who is directly time travel, however she can bring Kevin to and from 1976 and the 1800s by way of physical contact.  What makes Butler's use of time travel brilliantly unique is how it bridges the gap between modern times and history in an unfiltered way from the traditional te

An interesting part of the book Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow that stood out to me was the strange scenes introducing Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan. These two juxtaposing rich influential men of the early 1900s stand out after the previous chapters had us reading about Tateh and his daughter. Henry Ford and J.P. do go on to play a role in the more central plot line of the story. As Henry Ford's manufactured Model T was one that Coalhause drove and then was destroyed and J.P. Morgans Library was the setting for the Coalhause's break-in and final stand. Henry Ford and J.P Morgan shared some very distinct similarities, as both are very wealthy leaders in their fields of production and business and were believers in reincarnation. this shared belief is what led them to found their secret club, The Pyramid.  E.L. Doctorow writes about Henry Ford in a much more serious manner. Doctorow introduces Ford's beliefs in Chapter 18 when he describes Ford as "long believed that most human b