Analysing Latin America as Seen by Prominent Writers: Prajakta Kanegaonkar - Term Paper Example

?Analysing Latin America as seen by prominent --- Prajakta Kanegaonkar Fantasy is every domain and perhaps also the domain of every common man residing everywhere in the world. This common man who doesn’t have a face, an identity and a life which is extraordinary continues to feature in the literature of the writers, poets, researchers of the world. While analysing the three literary works, ‘The Hour of the Star’, ‘An Old Man with Enormous Wings’ and ‘Apocalypse at Solentiname’ we are going to study various aspects of social, political background as well as the anonymity of life of the nameless common individual portrayed by all the three writers. Socio-political background: There are thousands of girls like this girl from the Northeast to be found in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, living in bedsitters or toiling behind counters for all they are worth. They aren’t even aware of the fact that they are superfluous and that nobody cares a damn about their existence. Few of them ever complain and as far as I know they never protest for there is no one to listen. (Lispector, the Hour of the Star) Oh, if only I could seize Macabea, give her a good scrubbing and a plate of hot soup, kiss her on the forehead and tuck her up in bed. So that she might wake up to discover the great luxury of living. (Lispector, the Hour of the Star) These quotes indicate an area in Rio where there are many nameless and faceless immigrants like Macabea who live a life of anonymity and learn to find happiness in their listless life. Through the first quote given to Rodrigo it is Lispector who voices the life she had seen and lived. She wants to draw attention to this life which people conveniently choose to ignore. “A poor woman who since childhood had been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; the Portuguese Man who couldn’t sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleepwalker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake; and many others with less serious ailments” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, An old man with enormous wings) For years when Gabriel Garcia Marquez has seen the Columbian masses suffer endlessly in poverty, the story takes the form of political satire. It is the irony of the government when it has got democracy in the form of wings but on an old man who doesn’t have energy to fly or move. Being old is represented as being bogged down with age and not the wisdom of age. Every form of restriction on the government is represented in the surroundings of the old man. He is put in a chicken coop, he is old, he takes to illnesses very easily, and he talks in a language which people don’t understand. Sleepwalker mentioned in the lines above is the government who wants to undo everything when everyone around is not noticing. These examples depict the socio-political background within which the stories are set. They clearly give an idea of the change required to the reader. The poverty described in both the stories sadly gives anonymity to the characters. Even though Marquez puts the scene in humorous tones, one cannot escape the reality of political incompetence which leads to more misery for people in the country. Use of various symbols and motifs: In case of Garcia Marquez and Cortzar, we see the use of fantasy woven intricately into real life of an individual. We see the simple symbols and motifs used in these three works it becomes astonishingly clear that through these simple objects the writer wants to drag our attention to the scene beneath. The girl in the novel the hour of the star loves coca cola and Marilyn Monroe, artificial symbols which are larger than life for a poverty stricken girl. She survives on hot dogs, doesn’t even think beyond day to day survival and is not aware of the world beyond enclosing limits of her surroundings. When the old man is discovered, he is hidden in a chicken coop. Pelayo or his wife Elisenda don’t even think of the beauty of the wings, or possible positivity associated with it. They simply hide him away in a place which only a limited resource person can think of. It not only indicates lack of appreciation of beauty which comes with education and luxury but also lack of time on behalf of Pelayo. He doesn’t even give a moment’s thought to the stranger although he takes him in. This is what happens when survival takes charge of other things in life. Camera lens is again an excellent symbol of viewing the world, Cortzar has used. What one sees through the lens of the camera is something one doesn’t see with naked eye. Besides the scene one captures is what one wants to see and not what it really is all about. Here he portrays the viewer’s approach to stand on the boundaries and see only he wants to see. The picture of the reality is indeed magnified through these motifs and symbols used. The central characters of the stories: Macabea the central character of the book the hour of the star is ignorant of the surroundings. She is happy as in the state of happiness. Only when the fortune teller tells her what pathetic life she is leading, she realises that she is unhappy after all. This is a classic case of ignorance denial and anonymity. The protagonist of the book, the writer who comes from a well to do background is actually stunned and annoyed by her state of mind. As for the girl, she exists in an impersonal limbo, untouched by what is worst or best. She merely exists, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling. Why should there be anything more? Her existence is sparse. (Lispector, The hour of the stars) He is unable to understand that how can anyone who is living in such abject poverty and lowliness of life can be so internally happy and anonymous. This ignorance comes only in two situations; when one fantasizes the reality to be a fantasy and the other is when one escapes to fantasies to escape the realities. Both help to keep the sanity and cope better. Macabea is doing probably the same, but her ignorance keeps her happy and going. Her easy escapism bothers Rodrigo who thinks that her happiness to be unnatural. Continuing the implications of societal poverty, Pelayo and his wife Elisenda have developed their own ways to handle it. They do not take the intrusion of the old man kindly. They are not unkind either, which reflects the burden of their values. They think of putting the old man on a raft with food for two to three days and letting him drift in the sea. Pelayo is practical. Elisenda is more practical than him. She finds the old man utterly useful as long as he is a star attraction and gets her money. However when he becomes useless she doesn’t want him around. Pelayo doesn’t regard the question of the old man’s identity much. He conveniently puts the matter into the hands of the church and father Gonzaga. Pelayo neither has time nor the inclination to get into any theological or religious discussion. He is religious but doesn’t give any time beyond necessary to the religion in his life. Elisenda realises the beauty of the old man flying away when the old man regains his strength and decides to move. He goes suddenly as he comes but he is not able to change the mind set or the approach of the people he comes in contact with. This highlights the irony of a common man’s life. Irrespective of the magnitude of change happening in the surrounding, it doesn’t really affect the common man’s life, or even if it does he is unable to grasp the magnitude of change, be it social or political. In fact this gives rise to an extremely neutral attitude in future towards any political or social change happening The narrator who takes the photos in Cortzar’s story is Cortzar himself. He however detaches himself and sees the scene from a third party perspective. He perfectly depicts the tourist approach of anyone within the society who only wishes to know all that is beautiful and what is the takeaway. He doesn’t want to know the history and the sufferings of the society. The photographer sees through his lens and his view. Only when he analyses the photos, the photos tell him another story. The photographer is ignorant and the irony is only he sees the bloodbath and the horror stories of the revolution. This indicates that even if the catalysts of change or leaders see the inevitable happening, it takes further time for the society around to grasp and implement the change. Every generation adds it’s on colour and vividness to the fabric of the society by bringing in new thoughts and new changes. These changes are viewed by writers and creative people and then brought to the attention of the world through their work. All the three stories depict these changes through their works. The photographer tries to make his wife see what is trying to see. The fortune teller tells a bright future to Macabea but she gets killed in an accident but at least believes in a life that is going to be happy in the time of death. The frivolity of the mind of the masses is indicated by their attention getting switched to spider woman in Marquez’s story. Politically this is a very strong situation he creates. People always want angels to solve their problems, do something good for them. However when they see the futility of going to an old angel they divert their attention to someone else. For any ideology to take roots and gather following it has to have a consistent connection with the common masses. Once it is lost, people are bound to move to a new attraction, however frivolous it may be. Conclusion: Every society undergoes socio-political changes in its existence. For some the process of change is fast due to spread of education and awareness. However for some it is slow and painful process. The sensitivity of a literary artist absorbs the changes that are going around and also sometimes acts as a catalyst to accelerate those changes. Like in case of Cortzar, parts of his writings were used as a material to create awareness amongst people. In case of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, he was the negotiator chosen by various warring factions for peace. Lispector could not stay away from Brazil and chose to return to the country to write about its poverty stricken population and create awareness through her work. This sensitivity and awareness is reflected in their writings and through various symbols and storylines they create. Even when we read it from the perspective of analysing the socio-political background of these works, we cannot help admitting the reflection of larger than life role these three have played in the history of Latin and Central America. References: 1. The Star of the Hour – Clarice Lispector 2. An Old man with Enormous Wings – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 3. Apocalypse at Solentiname - Julio Cortzar Read More