The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes
For this week, I decided to read The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes. It touches on themes including memory, regret, war, and family. The Old Gringo, who turns out to be the American author Ambrose Bierce, travels to Mexico at the time of the civil war to die in the revolution. I found this reading to be a little difficult to read, but still quite interesting.
I enjoyed how we were able to trace how each The Old Gringo, General Arroyo, and Ms. Winslow’s pasts played a role in how they all ended up encountering each other. For the Old Gringo, his past actions and the downfall of his family and the lifestyle that led to the death of his sons brought him across the border. It is often repeated in the text how “to be a gringo in Mexico is one way of dying,” (89). The old man comes to Mexico with the intent to die, but before he does he builds a relationship with Ms. Winslow. There are many times within the story that we see one of the character’s identities being impacted by their parents. Especially for Ms. Winslow and Arroyo who were abandoned by their fathers and try to compensate for this through their respective relationships with the old man. This is made clear when Ms. Winslow has the old gringo buried as her father, I think it’s an act of closure for her to have someone to put to rest in that grave. However, because of this father/daughter dynamic, I was confused by their suggested romantic relationship.
I found it really interesting to learn that this story was based on a real American short story writer, journalist, and soldier. Also, the concept that Carlos Fuentes used of taking a real narrative and filling in the gaps with a fictional story to answer the mystery of the circumstances of his death. This along with the poetic style Fuentes wrote in, made it a unique narrative that allows the reader to reflect on the greater themes. I think because the story was told from Ms. Winslow's point of view, the readers were able to have a better understanding of both the old man and General Arroyo from the perspective of a woman who understands and was exposed to both their perspectives.
My question for the class is why do you think Fuentes used Ambrose Bierce’s story as a point of view for the Mexican revolution?
Finally, a question about Bierce! Thanks for this, Megan. I've added it to our list: https://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca/fuentes-questions/. And let's not forget that in a way that in a different way, Fuentes also uses another author/story: Cervantes' Don Quixote. What do we make of this?
ReplyDeleteHi Megan, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I also thought it was really interesting how the author chose to base this on a true story. I think Fuentes may have chose Ambrose Bierce's story because it would give the novel more of a realistic impact on the readers. People might be more intrigued by a story knowing the events that happened were true.
ReplyDelete