Subjective Reality

Throughout Trust, Diaz examines the subjectivity of reality through the character Andrew Bevel. In Bevel’s incomplete autobiography, “My Life”, he claims that he is a shrewd businessman who understands “that a healthy economy, prosperous for all, [has] to be safeguarded” and that “a selfish hand has a short reach” (174). He spends a large part of his memoir defending his business practices and lauding his involvement in the restoration of the American economy following the stock market crash in 1929. While his account is factual, he was, as corroborated by Vanner’s novel “Bonds”, involved in philanthropic endowment and government regulation of the economy during the depression, he does not discuss his actions leading up to the crash. Bevel contorts the reality of his past life by focusing on details that support a glowing public image, while omitting information that would evidence his involvement in causing...