Imagery and Metaphor as Resistance in Miguel Asturias' The President
In The President, Miguel Angel Asturias uses madness as his initial tool to launch a social examination of evil versus good under the strains of a terrifying dictatorship. To paint a vivid picture of the political and social atmosphere under the regime of The President, Asturias wields rich and abstract imagery, repetition and metaphors throughout his novel to punctuate, foreshadow, and illuminate. Wind is one of these recurring metaphors, and is used as a representation of a storm brewing, a constant reminder (premonition of) that what is to come. Like the weather, acts of political tyranny cannot be foreseen with much clarity. The underlying corruption of government, depicted by flies, denotes the rotting, state of affairs on which the story is founded.
While the imagery of Satan versus Savior is manifest in Miguel Angel Face's metamorphosis triggered by his love for Camila. What develops as a result of lunacy, is a deeply metaphoric discourse on good versus evil in the face of corruption.
The introductory lines of The President illuminates a sense of disjointed chaos under which the story will unfold, "¡Alumbra, lumbre de alumbre, luzbel de piedralumbre!" (p5). The disorder of this opening provides an insight into the turmoil of the world in which the characters of the book live (Walker, 1970), that of a terrorizing dictatorship. To further indicate this sense of instability, Asturias uses the acts of a lunatic to propel the circumstances of every one of the primary characters in the novel. The lunatic, el Pelele, embodies the helplessness of the citizens of the President's reign (1970); he is a taunted, subjugated, victim of circumstance. El ...
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...ames of imagination, fire the hopes for freedom described by Asturias in The President.
Sources Cited:
Engelbert, Jo Anne, 1988. And We Sold the Rain: Contemporary Fiction of Central America. Edited by Rosario Santos. Four Walls Eight Windows, New York. (ix-xxiii).
Fuentes, Carlos, 1972. The Enemy: Words in Literature in Revolution edited by George Abbott White and Charles Newman, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, U.S.A.
Stein, Susan Isabel, 1995. The President: Overview. Edited by Lesley Henderson, St. James Press, U.S.A.
Walker, John, 1970. The Role of the Idiot in Asturias' El Senor Presidente," in Romance Notes, Vol. XII, No.1, Autumn, Chapel Hill, N.C. Dept. of Romance Languages, University of North Carolina, pp. 62-7
Note: All page references are from:
Asturia, Miguel Angel, (NA). El Señor Presidente. Editorial Lex. La Habana, Cuba.
Teja, Jesus F. De La. A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguin. Austin: State House Press, 1991.
A sense of ominous foreboding permeates the woeful passage from "Three Dirges." The conflict is immediately apparant: "Don Lazaro, you've got five boys in Comitan teaching the campesinos how to read. That's subversive. That's communist. So tonight, you have to kill them." Don Lazaro, the mayor of the war torn village, San Martin Comitan, seems to have no choice but to carry out this heartless command. His response is indicative of a desperate man searching for answers, yet already resigned to carrying out the task at hand. "What can I say? --you tell me!" cries an anguished Don Lazaro to the villagers. Is he pleading for their understanding, or asking for a miraculous solution that would alter the path that lay before him? It is this uncertainty that, when coupled with melancholy foreshadowing, leaves the reader at a suspenseful crossroad; suspecting that events are transpiring, but doubtful as to the outcome.
Throughout an individual’s life-time, he/she has a vision as o what his/her should be. But when things do not go as planned and the unexpected occurs, does that person face it, or run away? In “An Act of Vengeance” by Isabel Allende, running away is not an option at well. Through the usage of plot, character and irony, Allende illustrates the cost of war.
Junot Diaz’s “Otravida, Otravez” depicts a perspective of life where one’s present and future always reflects their past in some way. Diaz’s representation of symbolic figures, convey how a person’s past can be carried into the future. Diaz’s use of symbolic figures includes the dirty sheets washed by Yasmin, the letters sent by Virta to Ramon, and the young girl who begins working with Yasmin at the hospital. These symbolic figures and situations remind the readers that the past will always play a major role in one’s present. Additionally, Diaz’s word choice, where Spanish words appear in many different parts of the reading, suggests that indirectly, one’s past habits are not easily broken.
In the year 1939 the formidable General Francisco Franco rose to power during a time of government and economic struggle in Spain. He contained an ability that he began to develop and strengthen, allowing him to easily and efficiently take control of a situation, all while growing into a natural, very influential leader. His striking tactics of manipulation and articulate speech were cultivated from a young age, transformed into what would become mechanisms of terror. Due to a life that was submerged into the military and the path taken because of his specific division of the army, Franco developed these characteristics of a dictator, using them to accomplish a complete takeover of Spain’s civilization by whatever means necessary; the country was then plunged into a whirlwind of political, economic, and social struggles but also improvements that would continue to alternate until his death.
Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
A main theme presented in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is that Montresor shows obsession with the murder of fortunato. This is exemplified by Montresor’s precise planning, carefulness and slowness of speed in the process.
Calderon, Hector; “Chicano Literary Studies Past, Present and Future”; Left Politics and the Literary Profession; Columbia Press; New York, NY; 1990
The Cask of Amontillado is a short tale of revenge, written by Edgar Allan Poe. The two main characters in the story are Montresor, who is the murderer, and Fortunato who plays a wine connoisseur and the victim. In this dark story, we can see a lot of irony, hate and revenge coming from the main character who has been planning this all along. In this essay I will analyze, examples of irony and foreshadowing used by the writer, symbols and themes, among other things. (Hasanbelliu)
Rodríguez, Ana Patricia. 2009. Dividing the Isthmus: Central American transnational histories, literatures & cultures. U.S.: University of Texas Press, 130-167
Esenwein, George Richard. "Introduction: Interpreting Spain's Civil War and Revolution." In The Spanish Civil War: a modern tragedy, 1-10. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” exposes the greed and selfishness of humans. Marquez expresses Elisenda and Pelayo’s hatred for people on their land who want to catch a glimpse of the angel when he says “Her spine twisted from sweeping up so much market trash, then got the idea of fencing in the yard and charging five cents admission to see the angel.” The inconveniences that the angel has caused drove them to use him and make money off of him by turning him into a giant spectacle. Despite the fact that the angel is not unusual the townspeople treat him as if he was a zoo animal as they “Burned his side with a hot iron.” This sends a message that people often ignore the fact that their actions have the power to create miserable situations for others.
Castillo first shows the reader her distrust of patriarchy and its vertical structures through La Loca Santa’s death. The first structure under scrutiny here is the Catholic Church. After La Loca awakens she throws herself into the air and lands on the top of the Church, saying that those below her carry the same scent that she had smelled while in hell. With Loca high above the others she can be seen as a “substation” for a new Chicana Christ figure (Delgadillo 895). She tells those gathered below that she has been sent back to pray for them so that they would be able to see their Creator in heaven. Father Jerome pleads with her to come down so that the congregation could pray for her. She then reminds him that it is she that was sent to pray for them. With La Loca in the position of a Christ figure of the system, the structure of the system, in this case religion,...
The character of Demetrio Macias proves to be quite ironic. One facet of his character reveals his determination to find Pancho Villa’s army, while the other side of his character parallels the extraordinary qualities Pancho Villa had as a hero. People viewed Pancho Villa as a revered hero who pushed out foreign "proprietors" and fought for the common man. On one hand, there is the compassionate man who helped those in need and rescued orphans providing them with food, education, and a home. On the other hand, there was the ferocious general who destroyed villages and killed innocent victims. Villa was generous and helpful to his followers, of which he insisted on loyalty and trust, but to those who violated his trust and authority, he was merciless and cruel. We can clearly see the similarities of these two leaders when we analyze their noble actions. Demetrio’s reluctance to stop ...
... little world, and is so narrow-minded, that it is impossible to accept that something different from itself could possibly rank higher in the overall scheme of things. The angel does nothing to incur civilized society's disrespect, anger, and abuse. Instead of acting in a civilized manner, society is suspicious, ignorant, savage and cruel in its treatment to someone who is different from all the rest. Instead of taking a civilized approach of intellectual refinement and enlightenment, society acts unsophisticated, primitive and crude. By bringing these actions to light, Marquez skillfully enlightens the reader to conclude that humanity is indeed vulnerable and not all that "civilized" after all.