Semejante a la Noche, una history escrita por Alejo Carpentier

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En la breve historia Semejante a la noche, escrito por Alejo Carpentier en el año 1952, pasa veinticuatro horas en la vida de un joven soldado, a la vez que cuenta la esencia del ser humano tras tres mil años. Carpentier divide el relato entre cuatro secciones marcadas por números romanos a través de las cuales salta entre seis distintas épocas de guerra. Superficialmente es un relato sencillo de un joven soldado preparándose para embarcar en una gran expedición guerrera naval. Detrás de esta fachada, la narración del cuento es mucho más detallado y complejo. La voz narrativa salta entre seis soldados que narran el cuento desde tiempos históricos y lugares diferentes. Es posible identificar las cambias de perspectiva porque Carpentier deliberadamente menciona personajes, lugares, y hechos de fechas determinadas en la historia. Al resultado, el lector puede identificar la guerra de Troya, la conquista de las americanas por los españoles, las expediciones colonizadores de Francia, la Cuarta Cruzada, la Gran Guerra y la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Tras estas épocas, la narración del relato esencial sigue ininterrumpido para construir un sentido de metáfora entre las seis vidas. El título del texto, "Semejante a la noche" es una referencia al Canto I del la epopeya traducido al español por Alfonso Reyes. La elección de un título que tiene raíces en la Ilíada sirve para subrayar la continuidad y la universalidad temporal del cuento. La yuxtaposición de las historias y construcción de una coherente sirve para identificar las similitudes y la esencia del ser humano.
A primera vista, el cuento empieza con un joven soldado que mira el mar con ojos llenos de esperanza y el espirito de aventura. "El mar empezaba a verdecer entre los promont...

... middle of paper ...

...es jerárquicas no pueden existir sin la pobreza y la ignorancia que los conflictos armados pueden causar. De esta manera, la guerra se libra por el grupo dirigente contra sus propios súbditos tanto que contra los enemigos oficiales. Las guerras modernas no son nada más que versión más brutales de las antiguas con intenciones iguales.
Parece que la visión del futuro Carpentierano es desolado, pero hay unos rayos de esperanza si podemos entender su mensaje. La primera época que menciona ocurre durante la Ilíada, un texto conocido como uno de los más fundamentales de la cultura europea, y las otras épocas son conmemoradas en obras de literatura y textos históricos. Si la gente puede aprender de la literatura y las experiencias de las personas del pasado conmemoradas en nuestros textos de historia, puede ser posible construir un futuro sin la guerra insensata.

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