Blog Post #8

The Los Angeles riots of 1992 were a very trying time in American history. The beating of Rodney King was a truly horrendous act and no one could have guessed the repercussions that were to come from it. It brought to light the hypersensitive topic of racial inequality in American society. And even more controversial the prejudice conduct displayed that night by the LAPD, the department sworn to protect and serve the citizens of Los Angeles. Although racism is what sparked the riots, its impact was anything but discriminative. People from all walks of life were affected, as the violence and turmoil lasted for 6 days. Ryan Gattis does an astounding job of showing this by recounting 17 different perspectives of the riots in his thrilling novel All Involved. 

Violence is a big part of the novel. Almost all of the characters are affected by it at some point whether it is violence done to them, violence that they witness, or violence done to someone that they know. This violence connects all of the different “voices” together. As pessimistic as it might sound, nothing is as relatable as suffering. As all of these characters struggle through these trying times, they will never forget the lessons and horrors that the riots bring them. 

The voice I chose to focus on was Ernesto Vera. Besides being the opening voice of the Novel, Ernesto has undoubtedly gone through the most agony. Although Ernesto is only alive for a couple of pages in the Novel, we learn a lot about him and how living in Los Angeles has affected him. He is the son of illegal immigrants and the oldest of three siblings. Because of all of the gang violence around him, he has become numb to most of it. When he first hears about the riots he is somewhat unfazed. To him, it is just another day in this troubled city, so he chooses not to focus on any of it. Even though he lives amongst all of this anguish, in his own way, Ernesto is very driven. He only wants to focus on his goals and career, he wants to quit working at his Mexican food truck, and become a Japanese cuisine chef. Some might consider this mindset selfish. But to Ernesto, he is just being smart. He chooses to accept the city for what it is, and make the best of it for himself.