Facundo (Chapter 1-5)
I was not completely sure what to expect from this novel. Based on our discussion in class, I knew that the reading would have something to do with “murder, madness, and mayhem”; I did not, however, realize how graphic some of the descriptions would be. As I am not a geography major, the first chapter was greatly appreciated to understand the natural features of the Argentine Republic. I felt that the chapters flowed in a manner which was easy to follow; from describing the landscape to describing the people inhabiting the landscape, etc. The chapters unfolded in a fascinating and controversial manner by establishing a sense of “civilized” city versus “barbaric” countryside. As mentioned in the translator’s introduction, Facundo represents the “violence and evil fostered by Rosa’s tyranny” (p. 18), which became painfully obvious in chapter V. In describing the life and character of Juan Facundo Quiroga, Sarmiento demonstrates the power of written word. With the might of his pen, Sarmiento conveys how merciless and callous Facundo was; without the use of diagrams, simply allowing the reader to rely on the power of his or her mind. From the reading I also learned about the life and ways of the gaucho. Sarmiento portrays the character of the gaucho; his ideas, customs, and characters, in a powerful description as “nomadic inhabitants of the Pampas” (p. 5) who rejected authority and city life. I expected the gauchos to be described as wholly barbaric, but they were shown to be great horsemen and autonomous individuals. Having the vivid imagination which I possess, I found it difficult to read certain passages in which Facundo kills for the sake of killing. It is obvious the author is hiding behind the mask of Facundo in his attempt to describe Don Juan Manuel Rosas. While many allusions were made regarding Don Rosas it was the depiction of him as a rancher who “made his residence into a kind of asylum for killers, without ever consenting to its use by thieves” (p. 75) which sent chills down my spine. This reference to Rosas set the stage for descriptions of the ruthless Facundo. From reading the first five chapters I believe this book will be a great insight into Latin American ideas, customs, and traditions which shape their history; in particular the history of Argentina.
5 comments:
I agree the introductory geographical remarks were quite helpful, although you may have found the opening chapter more intriguing than I did - at times I found it hard to continue reading, despite the easy flow of his descriptions from chapter to chapter.
I also found the somewhat positive description of the gauchos an interesting perspective.
Since you seem to have a clearer grasp on the characterization of the book, could you expand on your ideas of Facundo and Rosas and their relation to one another?
Similarly, I actually thought the opening chapter was useful but extremely long winded in parts which distracted me from the actual text.
In reference to the power of the written word, I'm curious to know how influential this book was at the time of its publication. This made me think about another class I'm taking about the Holocaust. Memoires were written as a method of working through the pain of what happened and in order to tell their story so that such a atrocity would never happen again. Those who suffer at the hands of violence seem to need to express ourselves, in these cases, through writing.
I also liked the geographical content in the first part of the book, but found the language to be fairly long winded (most likely because of the translation)... I agree with Amanda's comment that it would be interesting to learn about how influential the book was at the time it was published...
Erica, just a technical note to remind you to tag your posts span312 (all one word; rather than span 312) so that they will show up at http://www.technorati.com/search/span312?authority=n&language=n.
Jon
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