The book Louisa Reynolds has written is an excellent source of information for someone to learn about events in the Guatemalan Civil War. It is a very detailed representation that allows an outside reader look threw an unfiltered lens at the horrors that occurred in Dos Erres. The events that took place in this unfortunate village have been examined and described in great detail that they can be used as a launching point in understanding what the Guatemalan government was willing to do to stamp out the guerrillas and the indigenous people of rural Guatemala. Louisa Reynolds’ clear and brutally honest depiction of events with detailed descriptions including the well, as one example, give more weight to the story being presented. Reynolds is …show more content…
able to tell the story of the massacre with such detail, there does not need to be any major backstory research ahead of reading this book. Although, it sends the reader to find more information and gain the truth about the acts the military were willing to do. The style of the book is very narrative. The author flows through the lives of many villagers as we learn their story and their lives as they attempt to find justice. The Long Road To Justice is a fascinating account of the events in Dos Erres and can be ultimately useful in looking at the Guatemalan Civil War threw a micro lens at one specific event to understand what went on throughout. The research conducted by Louisa Reynolds was clear ad concise. It was a detailed account of the massacre and the long process it took to find justice for the very few survivors. Reynolds was able to form a narrative surrounding the situation, writing about the individual lives, and the brutality and evil that came to the village. He use of extreme detail, such as the depiction of horror centered around the well and the savagely mutilated bodies that were thrown in. all of this graphic detail was meant to spur emotion and anger in her readers, so that they could get some feeling of loss and pain. Reynolds’ graphic details, such as “The bodies would then be thrown into the well and the groans that were still heard from the depths and darkness of the well would be silenced with a hail of bullets and the explosion of a hand grenade,” intensify the writing. Thus leaving no chance of letting the reader continue with a false sense that these events were not as bad as their imaginations could imagine. The number of bodies listed in Reynolds’ work does not stop at listing 162 skeletons, but she breaks down the ration of men and women, lumping together all ages and genders. But she goes all they way in stating the statement that two unborn foetuses were part of the carnage in the Dos Erres well. Though out the entire book there are extreme depictions of violence, pain, and suffering. Examples of the soldiers of Guatemala include; “They all showed signs of having been savagely tortured, including the little boy, whose fingernails had been ripped off.” This depiction leaves the reader to understand what the military was willing to do if someone, such as Rosario Cuevas, was to demand justice and the truth. The book was well written and had a very strong sense of novelization. The character’s ideas and views were present through out in a way the person reading could understand what they went through and their lives’ next chapter of finding justice. Their accounts were not presented in an overly academic fashion that puts off some readers. Anyone willing to learn what had happened could read this account and follow where they went. Reynolds’ depiction of Ramiro Cristales’ first encounter with a helicopter is just one of the many possible examples of her narrative style. It compels you to understand and gain a connection with the young boy and be willing to see his eventual future. The personal stories implemented into this book help with the detail and exactitude in which Louisa Reynolds is intending to depict. She uses personal accounts and employs great detail as to convince the reader of the horrors that transpired in Dos Erres. The idea that one needs to understand the situation well in advance before reading his book is not totally true.
On one hand knowing the back-story could help in understanding this book fully. But knowing who the leadership of the government and military are not totally important to understand what happened in Dos Erres. It is possible to read this book and only learn whom the subjects of the book were. But if you want to gain a true understanding of the situation informing yourself of other facts could be an asset. Although the court cases are depicted in detail by the end, as a means to talk about the long search for justice, it takes a long time and pain to get to this point. That is exactly what is intended. Louisa Reynolds gives enough detail that there is no need to look at other sources to understand what happened in Dos Erres and what happened to the individuals. Her first person accounts of individuals interview for this book were written in an compelling narrative form. For each person, such as the old man Tranquilino Castañeda, our first encounter with this seventy-year-old man begins with a description as seen by the author; “Tranquilino Castañeda has trouble walking as he suffers from arthritis in his right leg, but he does his best to maintain himself upright. By doing so he might be able to cheat Death so that it doesn’t come knocking on his door before he can embrace the son that he believed to have lost.” Reynolds expanded on the court system by dealing with the important fight for justice. She did an excellent job in describing the system and the people involved in the search for justice. In one case Judge Valdez’s verdict expanded on the events and the facts so that the truth could come out. She expanded on personal stories such as Manolo Vela Castañeda who clearly demonstrated the guilt of those who perpetrated these vast crimes. The judge mentioned the survivors and witnesses had “clearly demonstrated how the same state that had encouraged
impoverished peasants from Guatemala’s southern coast to migrate to Petén had used the might and force of the army to launch a brutal counterinsurgency operation against civilian populations that were purportedly aiding guerrilla groups, during which 201 innocent men, women and children were slain in Dos Erres.” The author of this meaningful book gave a story and presented the facts about the village of Dos Erres as a microcosm to the civil war. The entire narrative looked at events in the village, thus any events outside were not in focus. The book Louisa Reynolds has written was an excellent narrative but the way she put the chapters together was less then ideal. Splitting one story into different sections made reading a little confusing, until you realized the next chapter was part of the one before it. Other then this fact, the information and presentation was excellent. You were able to get a sense of what happened, who the real people affected were, and understand what sort of horrors occurred in Guatemala. Louisa Reynolds
Starting with the first chapter, Deverell examines the racial and ethnic violence that took place in the wake of American defeat. In no more than thirty years or so, ethnic relations had appeased and the Mexican people were outnumbered quickly (as well as economically marginalized and politically disenfranchised), as the second chapter discloses. The author examines a variety of topics to further his case but the most compelling and captivating sections of the book come into the third, fourth and fifth chapters. The third chapter focuses its attention
When it comes to analyzing the “banana massacre” scene in chapter 15, I found three narrative techniques the author used to describe this scene. Therefore, one can notice that this part of the book is the climax. As a result, one infers what the author is trying to say about Latin American history and politics.
Teja, Jesus F. De La. A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguin. Austin: State House Press, 1991.
It is no secret that the United States has a history of economic and political interventions in countries around the world, especially in Latin America. By comparing the lives of the characters in Tobar’s novel, The Tattooed Soldier, to events that occurred in Latin American history, this paper will focus specifically on how U.S. imperialism, political and economic interventions in the central American countries of Guatemala and El Salvador forced many to flee and immigrate to the United states. Where the newly immigrated Central Americans faced lives of hardships and poverty compared to other Latin communities such as the Cubans who had an easier migration due to their acquisition of the refuge status.
Ann Rinaldi has written many books for young teenagers, she is an Award winning author who writes stories of American history and makes them become real to the readers. She has written many other books such as A Break with Charity, A Ride into Morning, and Cast two Shadows, etc. She was born in New York City on August 27, 1934. In 1979, at the age of 45, she finished her first book.
As far back as Rigoberta Manchu can remember, her life has been divided between the highlands of Guatemala and the low country plantations called the fincas. Routinely, Rigoberta and her family spent eight months working here under extremely poor conditions, for rich Guatemalans of Spanish descent. Starvation malnutrition and child death were common occurrence here; rape and murder were not unfamiliar too. Rigoberta and her family worked just as hard when they resided in their own village for a few months every year. However, when residing here, Rigoberta’s life was centered on the rituals and traditions of her community, many of which gave thanks to the natural world. When working in the fincas, she and her people struggled to survive, living at the mercy of wealthy landowners in an overcrowded, miserable environment. By the time Rigoberta was eight years old she was hard working and ...
Under what circumstances would you go through to better and provide for your family? Would you embark on these six deadly sins above to just get a simple loaf of bread on the table? There is no solid blame or black and white definite answer throughout this novel, The Devil’s Highway. The author Luis Alberto Urrea takes his readers to different perspectives and offers different points of view whether you appear to be a walker, coyote, or the border control on the topic of illegal immigration. Being that Urrea puts the reader in each person shoe’s and truly sees what immense, harsh, conditions for example these immigrants had to go through. Again there is no solid blame or black and white answers, both sides are at fault and in need of a solution to the problem.
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 ...
Gleijeses Piero. Shattered Hope The Guatemalan Revolution and The United States, 1944-1954. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
The corrido has been identified as having distinctive characteristics that make up its theme and plot. First, the corrido has a “context of hostile relations between Anglos and Mexicans along the border and the establishment of a scenic structure, geographical locale, and opposing social forces” (Mendoza 146). The corrido’s hero “is a hard-working, peace-loving Mexican, who, when goaded by Anglos, outrages into violence, causing him to defend his rights and those of others of his community against the rinches, the Rangers” (Saldívar). This hero “is quickly introduced in legendary proportions and defiant stature” and many people must die before the hero reaches his triumphant, but tragic, demise (Mendoza 146).
The prosecution proved with evidence that General Rios Montt was guilty of 1,771 indigenous people, forced displacement of 29,000 people, at least nine cases of sexual violence and various cases of torture (Burt 2). The violence was overwhelming when described in court and included powerful testimonies that showed indiscriminate massacres, rape, infanticide, destruction of crops to induce starvation, abduction of children (Burt 2). The use of defense patrols was also produced as evidence against the General, citing that these where used as methods to undermine local populations and instill fear amongst the citizens of these villages.
Life in Mexico was, before the Revolution, defined by the figure of the patron that held all of power in a certain area. Juan Preciado, who was born in an urban city outside of Comala, “came to Comala because [he] had been told that [his] father, a man named Pedro Paramo lived there” (1). He initially was unaware of the general dislike that his father was subjected to in that area of Mexico. Pedro was regarded as “[l]iving bile” (1) by the people that still inhabited Comala, a classification that Juan did not expect. This reveals that it was not known by those outside of the patron’s dominion of the cruel abuse that they levied upon their people. Pedro Paramo held...
The conflict occurred over Haitians stealing Dominican Republic citizens land and crops. Many of these Haitians survived unjust oppression, inhumane crimes or infringement of freedom by authorities. Through this story, Danticat has the power to tell the experiences to an often-unaware world and through these stories much truth to be found. This massacre shows an accurate depiction of an intimate experience that shaped many generations of Haitian citizens.
Eva Hoffman’s memoir, Lost in Translation, is a timeline of events from her life in Cracow, Poland – Paradise – to her immigration to Vancouver, Canada – Exile – and into her college and literary life – The New World. Eva breaks up her journey into these three sections and gives her personal observations of her assimilation into a new world. The story is based on memory – Eva Hoffman gives us her first-hand perspective through flashbacks with introspective analysis of her life “lost in translation”. It is her memory that permeates through her writing and furthermore through her experiences. As the reader we are presented many examples of Eva’s memory as they appear through her interactions. All of these interactions evoke memory, ultimately through the quest of finding reality equal to that of her life in Poland. The comparison of Eva’s exile can never live up to her Paradise and therefore her memories of her past can never be replaced but instead only can be supplemented.
The government, through the use of martial law, controls the people quite readily. The government maintains itself through "Big-Brother" tactics that include the use of censors, secret police, and ordinances like "TALKING POLITICS FORBIDDEN." The sweeping control that is present under this martial law is evident in the every day life of the Colonel and the people of his town. The first example of the nature of their lives is shown through the funeral. A poor musician has died of natural causes; the first in a long period of time. The government in attempt to avoid a demonstration and possibly a riot, reroutes his funeral procession to avoid the police barracks. Since the musician is a first to have died of natural causes, we can assume that martial law has resulted in the untimely death of many people. Another example is the death of the Colonel's son, Agustin, Whom after his death has become the embodiment of the underground. It is rightly so, being that he was the writer of the "clandestine" papers.