The collection of stories in The Aleph as a general theme, tend to employ lots of physical violence. Whether that comes in the form of executions, knife-fights, political killings, or revenge, many of these tales are in the lean, machismo, cold-hearted tradition.
A story that caught my attention in particular was that of “The Dead Man.” On the surface a simpler story; violent, fast-paced, and in a typical Borges fashion, a surprise ending where we realize the connection between the title and the protagonist’s fate is revealed. However, upon a second or third reading, it becomes evident that Borge’s famed puzzles and subtle commentary are indeed at work here.
Amongst other things, “The Dead Man” is a story of political ambition, and personal pride which ends up being the downfall of our protagonist. Benjamin Otalora, the Argentinean Buenos Aires hoodlum turned Uruguayan gaucho, is ambitious and most of all brave. However, he is also reckless and lacks any kind of discretion whatsoever. His physical daring is un-complimented by any higher meaning or purpose. He doesn’t save Azevedo Bandeira, the mobster boss, in the knife fight because of any morals or virtues he believes in, but simply because he was drawn “to the sheer taste of danger.” Otalora’s braveness is also completely selfish. It is a raw, violent, braveness that ultimately blinds him to the reality to which he becomes self-aware in the last moments of his life; he is a man who is completely oblivious to forces outside himself. Otalora’s uncontrolled ambition and unchecked bravery disallows him the ability to calmly make calculations, to make the most intelligent choices, to think things through; all essentials in leadership and especially in ultimately coordinating a power grab from someone the likes of Azevedo.
Otalora is the manifestation of the Order Created by Man, or rather the illusion of the Order Created by Man. Throughout the story, Otalora is completely unaware of the trap that is being slowly set for him, and is convinced that he is in complete control. While the reader knows, or at least believes, that he himself is nowhere as uninformed, brash, and reckless as our protagonist, nevertheless Borges is trying to say that we shouldn’t completely surrender ourselves to the egocentric idea that we are in total control of ourselves and the world around us. There is something deeper, more sinister, subtle, yet ultimately controlling and unavoidable; that is the Chaos of the Universe.
Believers of the Old and New Testaments claim that violence is a sin and can only lead to more brutality and death; poet Tony Barnstone firmly agrees. In his poem “Parable in Praise of Violence” Barnstone lambastes the American obsession with violence-- that it is often triggered by inevitable events which could be handled in different manners. The speaker in “Parable in Praise of Violence” reflects on all parts of his “sinful” culture and comes to the realization that people often use violence as a way to deal with emotions of grief and anger caused by events and concepts they cannot explain.
An Analysis of Peter van Inwagen’s The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: a Theodicy
"Suicide, what a terrible concept. There are two types of suicide: physical, and theoretical. Physical suicide is the more commonly heard type of suicide. It entails the person actually, physically killing himself or herself. On the other hand, theoretical suicide is when the person does something that will, in turn, get him or her killed. For example, in “All About Suicide” by Luisa Valenzuela, Ismael, a man that works at a minister’s office, murders the minister, a high-ranking public official. Ismael has been forced to be quiet by the government; therefore he lashes out by killing the minister so that he can reveal the truth about the government. In doing this, Ismael technically “kills himself” because he knows the government will eventually find him and execute him. The theme of this story is that quite often, the truth is misconstrued or is hidden from the public. In order to reveal the truth, action must be taken to bring the truth to the people. Valenzuela reveals this theme through flashbacks, pronoun usage, and imagery.
...though Babo suffers a literary death, he is the one with the last laugh. Don Benito enters a monastery and dies shortly after as a weakened and beaten man, while Babo’s “head [on a spear] … meets, unabashed, the gaze of the whites”.
Regarding these two stories of hope and desolation, it is very importent to throw the biography of their creators which are no less popular as their books. Combining the events of both Borges' and Kafka's life in the post world war I era, the stories provide a grim picture of the world but there lies an element of hope that is gradually realized in the end. Characters in Kafka’s story go through life changing events which alter their whole outlook in the system that governs them, some moved, some very hopeful. The protagonist in Borges’ story has a profound experience with a mythical object that changes his outlook on life.
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 ...
...ad a sense of relief that came over him when his duty is fulfilled, while the servant had a rush of excitement, followed by anxiety and nervousness from the old man’s heart beating and the fear of being exposed. Unquestionably, the guard and the servant see and experience things differently even through they are both faced with the obstacle of ending a life. They both take part in arranged killings and are vital parts to the death of the victims. But on the other hand, the guard sees he values of life while the servant could not care less for it, and the guard feels relief after the death while the servant experiences a shift of emotions from confidence to nervousness and anxiety. Without a doubt, both the protagonists are fundamental in determining the fate of the characters they kill, but in turn they equally have different views and responses towards their acts.
Violence is a recurring theme for many stories, particularly in the York Play of the Crucifixion and Beowulf. The York Play of the Crucifixion went into detail of the soldiers’ task to crucify Jesus. Violence was a reflection of their job and of the times at hand. Beowulf is a heroic story of how one man concurred many monsters, his violent acts made him superior to others, making him a great King. This glorified him amongst the people. These two stories utilize violence in different aspects, while at the same time uniting their enjoyment to inflict more pain to their adversaries.
...all want to believe that the crime was truly “foretold”, and that nothing could have been done to change that, each one of the characters share in a part of Santiago Nasar’s death. Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about the true selfishness and ignorance that people have today. Everyone waits for someone else to step in and take the lead so something dreadful can be prevented or stopped. What people still do not notice is that if everyone was to stand back and wait for others, who is going to be the one who decides to do something? People don’t care who gets hurt, as long as it’s not themselves, like Angela Vicario, while other try to reassure themselves by thinking that they did all that they could, like Colonel Lazaro Aponte and Clotilde Armenta. And finally, some people try to fight for something necessary, but lose track of what they set out for in the first place.
The four scenes that best illustrate the theme of selfishness and the realities of a self-centered life, and empathy are the first scene in which Juvencio begged his son to save him, the scene in which Juvencio describes the crime he committed with a total lack of empathy, the scene in which don lupe describes the viciousness with which Juvencio killed his father, and the scene in which don lupe’s son orders that Juvencio be killed. All of these factors add up to a very interesting work of
During a freedom march on May 29, 1964 in Canton, Mississippi a boy by the name of McKinley Hamilton was brutally beaten by police to the point of unconsciousness. One of the witnesses of this event, and the author of the autobiography which this paper is written in response to, was Anne (Essie Mae) Moody. This event was just one of a long line of violent experiences of Moody’s life; experiences that ranged from her own physical domestic abuse to emotional and psychological damage encountered daily in a racist, divided South. In her autobiography Moody not only discusses in detail the abuses in her life, but also her responses and actions to resist them. The reader can track her progression in these strategies throughout the various stages of her life; from innocent childhood, to adolescence at which time her views from a sheltered childhood began to unravel and finally in adulthood when she took it upon herself to fight back against racial prejudice.
The chapters based on the further meaning of violence and Christ like figures are the ones that can be applied to “Chronicles of a Death
In The Ring, a film by Gore Verbinski, Rachel Keller is a journalist who is examining a tape that may have killed her niece and three others who viewed it. The folklore behind the tape is that whoever views it will die seven days after. If the lore behind the tape is true Rachel has seven days to save her, her sons and his father’s life. Rachel believes that if she discovers the history of the tape that she can save them. She uses her background in journalism to find out that the tape was created by a girl named Samara. She was murdered by her mother and threw down a well. Rachel believes that if she saves Samara from the well and buries her she can save them all from dying after viewing the tape. Although Samara is exhumed from the watery grave and buried, the violence does not stop. Her son’s father is killed by Samara and she and her son are saved because they both copied the tape and therefore continue the circle of violence that Samara wants. Two specific claims that are taken from Simon Malpas’s “Introduction” that also appear in The Ring are Metanarratives, and the way we categorize films. A metanarrative is a set of rules we use in a specific field. For example the Scientific method is an example of a Metanarrative in science or the rules of a sporting event provide the metanarrative to the narratives or stories told on the field. When watching the movie we use our judgment of film to categorize it. When it starts off with Rachel’s niece in a room with a friend and the background is filled with rain and thunder, it is safe to assume this is a horror flick. Malpas’s other claim is the use of Grand Narratives. Rachel has the Grand narrative view that she has to keep them alive and that the ring of violence will continue ...
When I first read Chronicle of a Death Foretold, I did not pay close attention to the deflating of authority with the characters Poncio Vicario, Colonel Aponte, and Father Amador. After listening to the presentations, everything made more sense. The true depth of the Vicario brothers’ threat to kill Santiago fails to be recognized by those in authority. The most respected official of the town, Colonel Aponte, does little to prevent the murder and fails to uphold the honor he has been charged with protecting. Instead of letting Santiago Nasar know about the murder plot against him, the Colonel goes back to his game of dominos at the social club. In addition “Colonel Lazaro Aponte, who had seen and caused so many repressive massacres, becomes a vegetarian as well as a spiritualist” (Garcia Márquez 6). The punishment for his neglect results in him eating liver for breakfast.
His final works contain a certain resolve, despite a lack of reason. His inhuman nature persists and he fully intends to take a pound of Antonio’s flesh.