Motorcycle Diaries Analysis

The novel The Motorcycle Diaries is written by Ernesto Guevara was published by Verso in 1995 and is 155 pages in length. The genre of this book is that of an adventure novel, but it blends the notion of fiction with the notion of non-fiction. The book is written as a fiction type story, but with a non-fiction perspective. This provides the reader with a unique reading experience that is not often found in many books anymore.

In the novel The Motorcycle Diaries written by Ernesto Guevara, it records the journey of the young man and his friend Alberto Granado across the continent of South America. The theme of the story is that in the novel Ernesto dreams of having a united borderless Latin America free of prejudice and injustice. The journey starts out in Argentina and works its way west into Chile where it then works its way north up the Pacific Coast of South America and into Colombia and ultimately Venezuela. The point of view is from the view of Ernesto Guevara who was not yet at the time nick-named “Che.” His best friend and trusty companion on his journey shares many experiences and interacts with many characters along the way as well. The story starts out discussing the troubles and other problems incurred by the two men at the start of the trip, but it quickly shifts into a discovery of people, civilizations and corruption throughout the region. Along Guevara’s trip on “La Poderosa” the motorcycle, it ends up breaking down in southern Chile which is a large turning point for the men in the story where they then end up taking any other mode of transportation possible to complete their journey. Along the way, the two men were faced with many different situations and were introduced to different people as well as their individual situations. For example, Guevara and his expedition partner were introduced to many injustices of the average people in Latin America such as the mining operations in Chile and knowing how many Chileans had died as a result of the American mining companies. In addition to this the corruption that faced these people on a regular basis was nothing short of outright stripping them of their rights. People were not allowed to be communist in many regions and Guevara resented this. I feel like this plot is so compelling because it provides a direct insight of the trip that was taken by the two men and allows the reader to transplant themselves to the time and place at which this story is taking place. For me I am able to create direct imagery with the surroundings that are described by the two men, but primarily Guevara. Another aspect of the plot that makes it so interesting is the way in which the story is told and that it is a true story. For me true stories mean more than just a fictional series made up or defined by different events, but not actually as an eyewitness account.  A firsthand experience such as the one this novel provides is a much better way of conveying to the reader specific feelings that are emotionally elicited rather than fictional ties to characters. What I mean by this is that it is extremely easy for the reader to make emotional connections with the characters and their feelings because they are real people who really did this journey and in fact makes the clear distinction between fiction and reality.

In the book, one major turning point is when the motorcycle breaks down and for this reason the two men are forced to work odd jobs here and there to earn enough money to travel. This is important because they were relying on the civilians in the regions that they travelled, for food and shelter in some cases. This worked well because they were doctors that were willing to help many sick people in most instances and therefore the communities respected them for this and it was their way of “paying” the men. Although this was not the case in all places that the two men visited, it was a way that the men received food. Near the end of the book Granado decided to stay in Venezuela rather than going with Guevara to Miami and then back to Argentina. This is important because to me this signifies wholly Guevara’s total independence that he had gained on this trip because now he was taking a sort of “mini-trip” within his original trip to Miami, all on his own.

Guevara’s discovery of the conditions in which many people in South America were forced to live, gave him an entirely new appreciation for everything that he had had, and that he was able to practice medicine. This gift of studying medicine was a great gift, and one that his parents so eagerly wanted him to complete upon his return from his eight month voyage, he did in fact end up completing his studies. I did not personally notice any foreshadowing in this novel and many other literary devices that were employed were solely to increase the visuals within the reader’s mind as they read along. All of the above mentioned ideas are crucial to Guevara’s notion of a borderless unified Latin America, and more importantly the theme of the entire book. In this respect I feel as though Ernesto Guevara did achieve his purpose and in fact opened up the eyes to many not only in the areas that he visited, but as well as around the world. I say this with all confidence because this has been an extremely popular novel particularly in Latin America as well as even here in Canada. I have heard lots about it since I was a young child, and I have no familial ties to Latin America that I am aware of. The writing in this book, as mentioned above allow the reader to have a great description of the places and things that Guevara and Granado are seeing in the flesh. For example, a quote from the book says; “He had a scar just above the shoulder blade, from a bullet show at almost point-blank range out of ‘vinganza’ he said in a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese,” (130). This quote shows just how detailed the book was in providing a description to the audience about the conditions the two men were surrounded by. This makes the writing not only effective but extremely powerful. For a novel to be able to illicit specific emotional reactions such as the one of cringing at such a thought of a bullet piercing through skin at point-blank range, shows the powerfulness of the text itself and how it is demonstrated. In addition to the text being effective and powerful it is also extremely easy to read. This book is one that provides no difficulties for readers with fairly limited reading abilities. By in large the majority of the vocabulary and language used throughout writing in the novel are simple and plain. The text gets right to the point with enough detail and accuracy that there is no need for confusing language and a varied vocabulary. At the time when this book was produced, it was important to write it in such a way that was easily comprehensible as well as easily depicted in the minds of the readers. In summary, the whole narrative of the book itself is very beautiful in its construction, its layout and its writing style. The fact that the reader is given enough detail to create images in their mind on their own is enough alone to be able to consider it beautiful, however, the fact that the book works all of these details out in a straightforward narrative that serves as a catalyst for the rest of Guevara’s life, is even more beautiful.

A strength of the book is that it provides another view of the world from a Communist minded eye. This is extremely important particularly living in Canada or the United States because Guevara provides a totally different outlook on the same situation just solely based upon his ideological perspective. In Canada and America, it is hard to imagine anything but a capitalist viewpoint as a way of viewing the world, but in Latin America, communism was very much a viewpoint as well. Although it was largely controlled by the capitalists living and controlling the economics of the areas, it shows that capitalism, however strong and mighty is not the sole perspective taken on the world, and when looking at the world from another perspective, it sheds light on matters that before seemed to be obsolete. The first and earliest example I can think of is just the Spanish themselves conquering the Americas and in specific the Incan empire. Although the ideologies of capitalism and communism were not yet present during this time, it seems as though this invasion was foreshadowing what was to come in their not too distant future. For the Incan empire, their religious ceremonies were stripped from them, and their religious temples torn down. The materials from these torn down temples, as noted by Guevara, were used to construct the new Churches of the Spanish rulers. Not only did this serve to desecrate the culture, but humiliate the Incans over the next thousand or so years. The fact that the Spanish exploited what the Incans had already built to be able to create their own establishments is much the same as what many capitalist American mining companies do in Chile. This was the case when Guevara was on his expedition through the Southern part of the Americas, as well as today. This perspective of seeing life through the eyes of the poor, sick, indigenous and otherwise politically inept people reserved the communist viewpoint as the main ideology of looking at any situation. In my opinion there is no weakness to the book except that maybe Guevara’s voyage did not last nearly as long as I would have liked to continue reading about.

 My overall response to this book is that it was extremely moving for the fact that it was able to provide me with an entirely new perspective on Latin America, different from all the perspectives with the knowledge that I currently have about Latin America. This book was interesting enough to keep my attention which is not always the case, and in addition to this, it was able to teach me something new about my own perspectives. I knew that growing up in Canada I was not always getting the “full truth” about certain aspects of the world, but I did not realize that this truth was as skewed as it was. I know that many people think of Canada as a free country of thought, but until you really start to learn about other nations, that is when you learn the most about your own. I think what I am really trying to say is that not only did this book teach me about Latin America and the hardships faced during the time from a much more communist viewpoint, but it also taught me a lot about my own country. This in return means that I do consider the book very moving, because if a book is able to teach me anything it is successful, but if it is able to teach me about the topic, as well as my own country and perspectives then it is extremely moving. I learned from this book that there is always more than one way to view the world, and this was exactly the way that Guevara looked at any situation because he thought about things from the perspective of the people living in that situation. This is what made him so popular in Latin America after his journey.

Generally speaking this novel in Latin had more than a large impact on the society. It was not only the novel itself, but the ideas developed by Guevara during his travels that created many movements in Latin America towards a more distinguished society of what the people actually wanted. Of course, Guevara was eventually killed by the Bolivian military for his radical movements, and the fact that he was “implanting” many of these ideas into the heads of other Latin Americans. Guevara challenged many of the governments in Latin America, and in doing so he inspired the people to follow in his direction, so that they would be able to fight for this more unified and borderless set of nation-states. With the help of Guevara and his radical communist ideologies, many people were inspired to follow in exactly the same steps that he had taken in order to force the government in their region into a more democratic state, rather than a dictatorship.

My overall response to the book is that it was a very interesting book and was extremely insightful. Just the account alone of the novel is extremely insightful and the fact that these two men decided to take a journey throughout Latin America. Their accounts of everything along the way make the book moving and a book that I would definitely recommend to others. I would recommend this book to others because of all of the insightful material discussed above and the fact that it could potentially change one person’s view about the whole world. Obviously it is a powerful book if it can so easily change one’s whole outlook on the world, as it did to mine.

In conclusion, this book written by Guevara about his adventures and travels in South America is very inspiring by in large because of his descriptions of all the places that he travelled to, as well as the people he met along his travels. No matter where he was in South America he was almost always able to find someone to help him out even if they themselves had not much to offer in return for his services, or just out of their own kindness. This demonstration of good will from all of the poor, indigenous and sick in South America was a direct inspiration for what I do in my own country and inspires me to think twice about decisions that I make as a person and consumer here in Canada. It is important that people in the first world countries whom are rich and enjoy many luxuries reflect on those who go through living their daily lives without even the most basic needs to survive. The difference in perspectives and worlds between North America and the Southern Hemisphere is a great difference and one that needs to be discussed further in order to provide the people of these regions with the assistance that is necessary for them.

Bibliography

Guevara, Ernesto. The Motorcycle Diaries. Verso, 1995. Book.

Spartacus Educational. Che Guevara. n.d. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDguevara.htm. 11 June 2012.