Horace

"Doesn't matter," said Marvin. "Doesn't matter what person Columbus was. Doesn't matter how many Indians he killed or didn't kill, or if he was or wasn't an asshole. From what I've read, Columbus probably was an asshole. He probably deserved to get hung. But heres the thing: He didn't get hung. The man climbed on a wooden watercraft and collided with North America by accident. It doesn't matter what happened afterwards or what his motives were. He found it. It happened. He's what history is. It was his destiny to be that particular man, and it was his destiny to do those specific things. But nobody at that newspaper cares about anything that happened before they were born, which is why they don't give space to things like Columbus Day. Which is why I stopped reading the newspaper in '74. After they busted Nixon, it all became bullshit and advertising" (Klosterman).

So I know the name 'Horace doesn't come up in this passage but this is one of Horace's friends talking to him. This passage reminds me of how everything is publicized. Like politics and what not. The election for instance, the media has so much to do with people's perception of everything. Democratic newspapers bash on the Republicans and visa versa. So I just thought it was interesting how Klosterman made a character in this book that, in a way, lives above the media. This passage is very true, I think, because a lot of people don't pay attention to things that aren't relevant to them or things that pertain to them. I hardly know anything about Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK and even Christopher Columbus for that matter. And like this passage says it has a lot to do with newspapers (and media) because they don't talk about things like Columbus Day. When you think about it, having the Owl newspaper push coverage of Columbus Day aside is completely absurd, without Columbus Day they wouldn't be writing ANYTHING for ANY newspaper. I chose this passage because I completely feel the point of view Marvin is convoying.