Sanchez 1 Carla Sanchez Prof.

Zelaya CAS 114B 26 April 2014 Project Text: Second Draft The Good Cripple After having read The Good Cripple by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, through his novel, Rey Rosa was very set on portraying the characters a certain way, and having the course of the events unfold in a specific matter. The narrative is told and developed backwards, thus causing the reader to be left guessing what the story is actually going to be about. The story follows the life of Guatemalan main character Juan Luis, and the series of unfortunate events that occur in his life, after being kidnapped for ransom, and having some of his body parts be sent to his wife Ana Lucia, and his wealthy father, Don Carlos. One theme that I have identified throughout the novel, is that there is an immense amount of violence throughout the story. This is no surprise, due to the fact that the Guatemalan war was going on at the time, and lasted from 1960-1996. The characters in the novel seek to resist social normative impositions, because they are not shocked by the amount of violence which surrounds them, and act almost as though they are used to it. According to the Migration Policy Institute, and an article by James Smith on the emigration during the Guatemalan Civil War, The crackdown against the newlyunited coalition, the Guatemalan Revolutionary National Unity, marks one of the most violent periods of the civil war during which a large number of indigenous civilians were killed. This statement alone, proves that these effects affected not only the communities, but the people and soldiers in Guatemala at the time, as well. The fact that these soldiers had already gone through so much, also contributes to the understanding of their aggressive behavior, and desire for sex

Sanchez 2 with more than one woman, also proven in the novel, when attending the brothels. This also expands on why the men throughout the novel, constantly seeked to be more dominant than the next. In the novel, Don Carlos in specifically, Juan Luiss father plays an omniscient character, due to the fact that he is wealthy, thus has control over the fate of his son and what happens to him. The decisions that he makes, affect everyone and those around him. Because of his wealth power, the kidnappers decide to intensify the gravity of the situation, and send him parts of his sons body. The intense violence in this scene, is almost not validated, due to the fact that Don Carlos doesnt even believe that those parts are indeed his sons. There is certainly a relationship between power and violence throughout the novel, because as soon as Don Carlos comes to terms with his sons kidnapping, he decides to invest the money and end the violence for his son in order to get him back. The cycle of violence in this novel begins to decrease as soon as Juan Luis is freed by the kidnappers. He does however, turn to alcohol and brothels, in order to be able to escape his violent past, however mentally, I feel as though such a traumatic event, will stay with him for the rest of his life. Throughout the novel, Juan Luis is constantly wanting social recognition and approval, from everyone including from his own father. Based on my informed opinion and on my understanding of the novels argument (which was violence throughout), the price that one pays for being socially recognized and approved, is by spreading blood, violence, and being involved in dangerous activities, as well as putting those that you care most about, in dangerous/harms way. The Guatemalan Civil War that took place at the time of the novel, plays an immense role in explaining why violence is such a crucial part towards developing this essays argument: that

Sanchez 3 violence, although portrayed all throughout the novel, was not necessarily taken as seriously as it should have, simply because of the fact that the communities, soldiers, and characters in the novel, were already so accustomed to the violence that was occurring at the time. This violence, not only took on the main emphasis of the storys plot, but it also however, allowed the readers to be able to experience a turning point in Guatemalan history, where witnessing violence was an issue that became as common as going to the grocery store, as well as to be able to understand the reasoning behind why some of the characters were introduced as they were. All in all, the novel really expressed how violence influenced the lives of every person involved, and really allowed the reader to see how violence changed their characters as the novel progressed and how it came to conclude.

Sanchez 4 Works Cited

"Guatemala: Economic Migrants Replace Political Refugees." migrationpolicy.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/guatemala-economicmigrants-replace-political-refugees>. Rosa, Rodrigo, and Esther Allen. The good cripple. New York: New Directions Pub., 2004. Print. "Timeline: Guatemalas Brutal Civil War." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/latin_america-jan-june11-timeline_03-07/>.