Richard Pompeo12 May 2014E Block American Fiction In Marcelo in the Real World, Marcelo is thrust into a world where he experiences things he has never seen during his sheltered life in Patterson. Even though Marcelo works at the post office, he is still forced to make decisions that go against his moral values. He is forced to choose between doing what he believes is right and what others tell him is right. This is the internal battle that everyone faces in life and we often have difficulty choosing a side. Marcelo constantly strives to maintain his moral and spiritual code when employed at Arturo's company. Marcelo really wants to succeed in the "real world" by spending the summer at the post office so he can return to Patterson in the fall. When he starts working, he really tries to follow all the real world rules and do his job correctly. The only thing that comes before all of this is Marcelo's moral code. The first moment he shows that his morals are the most important thing to him is when Mr. Holmes calls him into his office. Mr. Holmes tells Marcelo ““Jasmine, Jasmine. What your father sees in her is beyond my understanding. I suddenly feel hot-headed. Even though I don't quite understand, I get the feeling that Stephen Holmes is attacking Arturo, the one thing that always makes me angry. Without thinking I say: “Jasmine must be a good worker if Arturo likes her”. I don't care if what I say and how I say it seems disrespectful. (67) From the first day of work Marcelo disrespects his boss because Marcelo thinks he speaks badly of his father. This shows that Marcelo's morals are very important to him because he would risk getting into trouble and... middle of paper ......or maintaining his moral and spiritual centers. It takes a tremendous amount of work to be able to maintain your moral and spiritual centers and still succeed in an extremely competitive world. Most people cannot find a balance between these things and are forced to take one side. Marcelo was able to experiment with his live and choose both. Marcelo is one of these people, and in the end he chose the moral path, and because of this his summer at the post office, in his father's eyes, was a failure. He would not be able to attend Patterson in the fall and sacrificed all that so he could maintain his moral and spiritual center. To maintain your moral and spiritual codes in a world driven by competition, you must make a constant effort to maintain your code, be willing to make sacrifices, and be willing to risk failure to maintain your moral and spiritual center..