The Old Gringo Analysis

The novel The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes is set in the northern desert of Mexico. “It is a complex novel that intertwines psychology, mythology, and political events to examine the culture of modern Mexico.” (Introduction & Overview) It is inspired by the folklore of the disappearance of an American Writer named Ambrose Bierce, “the old gringo.” When Bierce was seventy-one years old, he retired to Mexico to join the rebel army of Pancho Villa. Afterward, he was never heard from again. From here, Fuentes picks up the story, and tells it through flashback memories of Harriet Winslow. Fuentes’ reason for the setting is to show a relation between individual destinies, and actual historical events. Bierce’s disappearance enables Fuentes to show the history of the development of these two nations.

Harriet Winslow is a character who remembers the story of her adventure in Mexico through flashbacks. Harriet is unmarried when she agrees to go to Mexico to teach English to the Miranda family’s three children. However, when she arrives she finds the country in chaos, and the Miranda home in ruins. Harriet is used by the revolutionary leaders, and becomes involved with a revolutionary general, Arroyo. Ambrose Bierce, the “old gringo,” is a real-life writer whose true identity is not revealed until towards the end of the novel. He is known for his bitterness and cynicism, but after working over twenty years for William Randolph Hearst at a newspaper, a person can understand why. Now he regrets wasting his perfectly good talents on a newspaper company. In the fall of 1913, the old gringo retires to Mexico at the age of seventy-one years old. He is an alcoholic who wishes to find Pancho Villa, and join the adventure of the Mexican revolution. ...

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...al beliefs used by Mexicans today.

Traditional medicine in Mexico is based on the Greek belief, brought by the Spaniards, in the four humors: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. A balance of these is believed to be needed for good health. These beliefs were brought over by the Spanish during colonization, and over the years combined with some of the already existing ones to form a belief, which is based on a balance between hot and cold. Correction of this balance is by consumption of foods or herbs of the opposite quality. Hot and cold as far as healing goes, has nothing to do with the actual physical temperature of the food and definitions of this can vary depending on the region in Mexico the individual is from. (Smith)

In conclusion, The Old Gringo is a great mix of culture, history, and a writer’s vivid imagination as to what happened to Ambrose Bierce.