Comparing The Invention Of Morel And The Last Voyage Of Columbus

The Journey: Rebellion and Incorporeality

When a character in a piece of literature chooses to travel, the character usually has a purpose confined to the motivations of the individual. Distinct from this, in The Invention of Morel and The Last Voyage of Columbus the journey is a device employed by an author to imbue the travel of a character with purpose. The journey is an experience which comprises much more than travel from one location to another. Journeys can represent a literal or symbolic deviation from the expected path, and ultimately transform a character in the process. In The Last Voyage of Columbus by Martin Dugard, Christopher Columbus rejects preconceived notions of what lies to the West and begins a journey which transforms

Columbus into a legend and acts as the mechanism which fulfills Columbus’ destiny. In The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, the narrator is expelled from society and journeys to a seemingly desolate island and undertakes a spiritual journey with similarly transformative effects. In both of these works, journeys symbolize the fulfillment of destiny but affect their characters in remarkably different ways. Journeys serve as tools for personal growth and revealment, shaping not only plot but themes and ideas as well.
The Last Voyage of Columbus is explicitly about travelling from the Old World to the New, but within this historical event Martin Dugard creates a literary journey which interrogates the man and myth of Columbus. In the beginning of the novel, Dugard details the common conception the Spanish held of Columbus. They viewed him as a low-class foreigner with an outrageous plan inexplicably funded by the queen (Dugard 9-11). When Columbus undertook an expensive expedition to the New World, he was not just flying in the face of convention and the desire of Spanish nobles, he was operating under the assumption that the common belief in a flat Earth was wrong (Dugard 17). Dugard presents this voyage as a break from convention. Columbus’ journey represents his unique character in relation to most people from his time, much like the narrator in The Invention of Morel. Columbus is distinguished by his journey and the traits which compel him to leave Europe. In this case, the journey represents the unique nature of the main character and the fulfillment of his destiny. The journeys of Columbus turned the man into the legend, eventually cementing his legacy as the man which discovered the Americas for Europeans. In the case of The Last Voyage of Columbus, the journey represented Columbus’ destiny coming to fruition. This similar process occurs in a less physical and more transcendental manner in The Invention of Morel.
The journeys of The Invention of Morel have similar symbolic qualities to The Last Voyage of Columbus, but represent their own unique role in the characterization of the narrator. The first journey is, similar to Columbus’, an ocean voyage to an island separate from society. The narrator is a fugitive forced to travel to this desolate island, running from police and banished from society completely (Casares 9-11). His journey is not merely relocation to an island, it represents a departure from society in a similar vein to Columbus. The journey employed by Casares and Dugard is a tool to distinguish our narrators as “other” in a way which explains the pivotal moments in each story. The experience of a fugitive journey then translates and explains the narrators second quest: a mental one. The narrator completes his arc by projecting his image in sync with those of the islanders from the past, finally coming to peace with his own tormented mind. This evidenced by the change in tone to a more serene narration in contrast to his erratic ramblings of the beginning of the book, with a realization that “my life is not so atrocious” and a mechanical description of his death and legacy (Casares 100-103). This journey, similar to his physical one which washed him up on the island, represents an acceptance of legacy and the interrogation of the concept of being an outsider. The narrator spends the rest of his days appearing as a ghostly image only ostensibly within the island’s society, and this separation from reality and acceptance of destiny is also seen in the process of Columbus becoming his legend and legacy.
The transformation of the titular character in The Last Voyage manifests itself in both physical and incorporeal ways.

Columbus’ multiple journeys to the New World turn him from a young renegade into an old man who eventually fades physically and socially. In the centuries following his death, he was only viewed as a minor Renaissance explorer, tardily acknowledged for his accomplishments in the late eighteenth century (Dugard 257). Similarly, Columbus’ physical health degrades throughout the course of his voyage, directly because of his travels. His eyesight fails from long hours of looking into the distance on the ocean (Dugard 57). The journey transforms Columbus and wears him down in search of what he believes to be his destiny. However, this painful process for Columbus eventually leads to reverence and legend, albeit a mixed one (Dugard 267-268). In this case the journey is a painful process of transition and becoming, but one which will eventually lead to a solidification of destiny. This is similar to the Latin American experience of history. Unlike the rise of powerful nations in the West, civilizations at the very height of their power are conquered by people with technological advantages and the help of disease. The journey of Latin American culture and history is similar to Columbus’, tinged with pain but ultimately a story of becoming legend. The Last Voyage of Columbus represents the fruition of a lifelong journey to formulate a legacy as well as a physical journey to the

Americas.
This tendency for journeys to transform and provide commentary on characters and culture can also serve to propel the plot forward. In The Invention of Morel, the narrator undergoes a similar character and physical transformation in order to fulfill his destiny. Towards the end of the novella, the narrator says he has “scarcely felt the progression of his death” in a calm and measured manner (Casares 102). His choice to project himself with Faustine infects him with radiation poison, yet his stoic recollection of these prevents contrast the severity of the situation and his previously erratic behavior. Similar to the process by which Columbus physically degrades but spiritually accepts his legacy, the narrator passes away but is content in his decision. He may seem assimilated with the rest of the vacation party, but we understand his status as other. Both journeys in this novella, to the island and becoming a projection, serve as a way to separate the narrator from society, yet to the outside world he is mixed in. This is similar to the process of cultural and racial mixing in Latin America. Colonizing and technologically advanced Europeans come to a “new world” where they eventually force the “natives” to assimilate, but never truly adopt a Western identity or retain their own. In the narrators case, he is forced to become one of the colonizers, but is still a complete outsider. This ignorant isolation shields the narrator from the process of marginalization these journeys represent.
The story of Latin American history is one of travel, interaction, clashing and finally marginalization. The unique character of its people was formed in a crucible of the journey. The same processes that molded Columbus and the narrator of The Invention of Morel can be seen in Latin America. The narrator’s loss of identity and Columbus’ physical pain along the journey manifests itself in the intersection of Western and Indigenous culture. Both characters fulfill their destiny and forge a legacy on their journeys in a way which separates them and causes them to become “other.” The journey serves as a turning point in the lives of characters. It is more than the combination of physical travel and emotional growth; the journey is a process which reveals both the characters motivations and their ultimate fate.