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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
INTRODU(7nON
MARIO VARGAS LLOSA AND THE LATIN AMERICAN NOVEL.. 1
CHAPTER
m. INTERTEXTUALITY 33
CONCLUSION 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY 51
ui
E^JTRODUCnON
MARIO VARGAS LLOSA AND THE
LATIN AMERICAN NOVEL
His seventh novel. La guerra del fin del mundo (1981) (The War of the
End of the World 1984), for which he won the Pablo Iglesias Award in Spain
in 1982, and the Ritz Paris Hemingway Award in March, 1985 (Souza 69),
was in part, a departure from form for Vargas Llosa. His first, and so far
only, historical novel is set in mral northeastern Brazil shortly before the turn
of the cenmry, not in modem Pern. It is also his first work to deal with the
subject of religion. Although it is a work of epic proportion, nearly six
hundred pages, and does employ many of the innovations in technique that he
introduced in some of his earlier works, it is, in a sense, also one of his most
traditional novels. Less technically complex than his novels of the 1960s, it is
narrated by a controlling omniscient narrator in a basically straightforward and
chronological manner (Williams 128). Williams considers it a synthesis of
Vargas Llosa's writing career, less complex but a synthesis of the narrative
techniques perfected in his earlier novels (5).
La guerra del fin del mundo is a historical novel dealing with an episode in
Brazilian history known as the Canudos rebellion which took place in the
harsh, unforgiving drought-ridden backlands of northeastern Brazil known as
the sertao. In the late nineteendi century, a wandering mystic named Antonio
Vicente Mendes Maciel, who came to be known as Antonio O Conselheiro, El
Consejero in Spanish, gathered around him a following of peasants and
reformed outlaws from the mral sertao. The people attracted to his following
were the poorest of the poor, the outcasts, and the misfits of this region of
outcasts and misfits. For many years he wandered the backlands of the
Northeast repairing churches, chapels, and cemeteries, and preaching to the
people. He prophecied the coming of the end of the world and preached that
the newly formed Republic of Brazil was the embodiment of the Antichrist
because of its secular nature. El Consejero and his followers sought to
establish a community of the blessed, those who would be spared in the
coming turmoil and would gain the Kingdom of God. Seeking to establish a
community safe from the cormption of the world, in 1893 El Consejero and
his followers took over an abandoned cattle ranch, Canudos, and set about
building their ultra-Catholic Utopia. Preaching against the edicts of the
Republic such as separation of Church and State, civil marriage, taxation, and
the census. El Consejero soon came to be the target of poUtical attacks by both
the liberals and the conservatives. The government perceived him and his
followers as a menace to the Republic; monarchists, supported by pro-
monarchy factions and the English who sought toreestablish the Empire. So,
in 1897 a small military expedition was sent to disperse the rebels. The
expedition was soundly defeated before even reaching Canudos. It required
three more expeditions, each larger than the previous, and in the end a full
military assault, to finally completely destroy the starving and ahnost unarmed
community. The cost of the Canudos campaign, however, was immense, not
only monetarily, but also in lives lost, and lost prestige of the military and the
government.
The end of the nineteenth century was a period of great changes in Brazil.
Slavery had been abolished in 1888, the Empire of Dom Pedro n was
overthrown, and the Repubhc of Brazil was estabhshed in 1889. This was a
time of transition and uncertainty in Brazil. The nascent Republic was trying
to establish its identity, create a viable government, and forge a unified
country. It was a society changing yet imchanged. The motto of the new
Republic was Ordem e Progreso (Order and Progress) based on the principles
of positivism. The decline in the importance of sugar and the rise of coffee
shifted prosperity and industry to the south creating a great rivalry between the
northern and southern regions. The military did not consider governing to be
part of their duties, although there were some officers who believed the best
would be a military dictatorship, their duty was to maintain order, regardless
of who might be the instigators of disorder. Catholicism was the religion of
the land; however, the religions and gods of the African slaves and the native
Indians had not been completely abolished but rather syncretized into the
rituals and saints of the Catholic faith. Messianism was common in the
Northeast; the residents of Canudos were members of the last great messianic
Vargas Llosa brings this society to life in the pages of La guerra del fin del
mundo. He gives it color, movement, and feeling. The people, the attimdes,
the customs, the different regions, and the institutions of late nineteenth-
century Brazil flow through the novel. Gerdes states that he "presents...a
complete social spectrum of nineteenth-century Brazil" (169). Although the
action of the novel takes place mainly in the mral Northeast, with some scenes
in Salvador de Bahia, the capital of the state of Bahia, Vargas Llosa manages
to encompass all of Brazil in this "spectrum of society." He includes not only
mral northeastern Brazil, but also the urban and sou them regions, with their
vast social and economic differences, and the rivalries between these regions.
Vargas Llosa uses a variety of techniques to breathe life into various aspects
of Brazilian society during this period. Some of these include the use of
representative characters, description, dialogue, letters, and newspaper
articles. Each event, anecdote, and character has a purpose, explains or
describes some aspect or characteristic of the Brazilian people or society.
Included in this portrait of society are many of the attimdes and customs of the
era, as well as military attitudes and life, politics, religion, and how people
from different segments of society relate to one another. This thesis will
techniques that Mario Vargas Llosa uses to recreate it in his epic historical
Part Two, the shortest part, is stmctured differently. It has only three
segments and deals exclusively with the nearsighted joumalist and the
newspaper article he has written. The first segment describes him as he writes
the article covering a meeting of the Bahian legislature. The second is a
transcription, verbatim, of the article for the Jomal de Noticias, the
Republican affiliated newspaper, and the third is a conversation between the
journalist and his editor in which it is decided that he will accompany the third
expedition to Canudos as a reporter for the newspaper.
Parts Three and Four are stmctured like Part One. Part Three contains
seven chapters consisting of five segments each. The first segments recount,
from the army's perspective, the third military expedition which was led by
Colonel Moreira Cesar. The second segments introduce the traveling circus
characters, and the meeting and fight between Galileo Gall and Rufino. The
third segments, set inside Canudos, are concemed with the organization of the
community, their preparations for war, and the attack on the city. The fourth
segments recount Rufino's long, difficult search for Gall, their deaths, and the
chance meeting of Jurema, the dwarf, the nearsighted joumalist, and Padre
Joaquim, The fifth and final segments of each chapter in Part Three deal with
the Baron de Canabrava, his meetings and conversations with his friends,
political cronies, enemies, and various main characters.
Part Four contains six chapters divided into four segments each. The first
segments of each chapter are a conversation between the baron and the
nearsighted joumalist in the form of aflashback as they remember the events
leading up to the destmction of Canudos several months previous. The
second segments deal with the final assault on Canudos and the death of El
Consejero from the perspective of several main characters within die
community. The third segments again recount events inside Canudos, this
time from the point of view of the joumalist, Jurema, and the dwarf. The
final segments focus on the internal problems experienced by the fourth
military expedition and the final, complete destmction of Canudos. The sixth
chapter of Part Four departs somewhat from this format in that the first two
segments offer dramatic conclusions to their story Unes, the conversation
between the joumalist and the baron and the death of El Consejero. The third
and fourth segments clear up loose ends in the narrative (167-172).
These narrative segments do not stand alone; there are cross references of
characters and events; the action begun in one may be concluded in another
from a different perspective, and events mentioned in one segment are
expounded upon in a later segment. The flow of events and characters
through the chapters and segments creates a panoramic view of the events and
a sense of simultaneity and coherence. Each episode does not deal directly
with the Canudos campaign. A multiplicity of associated stories creates a
panorama that includes more than just the sertao and the creation and
destmction of Canudos. It is many of these anecdotal segments that introduce
aspects of urban and southem Brazil. The hundreds of characters introduced
in these many narrative segments give Vargas Llosa ample opportunity to
touch upon various and varied aspects of Brazilian life and culture, from the
very simple and mundane to things of vast political and economic import.
The third segment of each of the seven chapters of Part One each
introduce a character that will become part of El Consejero's entourage. As
these characters are introduced, the biographical and background information
in these segments provides the reader with many details about life and society
in the sertao. Chapter One introduces Antonio da Mota who later came to be
known as El Beatito, In describing his childhood, the narrator contrasts it
witii the pasttimes of the other young boys of the town who spend their free
time in "corretear por los potreros, montar a pelo los animales chijcaros, cazar
palomas o ir a ver castrar a los toros ..." (21). El Beatito participated in
religious processions through the streets of the village where there were altars
on the comers to place the images of the Virgin and Christ so they could rest.
Religious processions, mentioned many times in the novel, were a common
part of the religious life in both the rural areas and the cities. The second
chapter introduces Joao Grande, one of the best examples of the slave
breeding program of Adalberto de Gumucio. This segment includes much
about life on a typical sugar plantation. Joao is sent to live in the big house so
As far as the people of the region were concemed, the government in the form
crimes, battles, escapes, even their clothing. It also introduces the coiteros.
"Corria el mmor de que este [Ze Faustino] era coitero, es decir que hacia
(66). It is later learned that it is also the custom of the landowners to give the
These segments contribute a wealth of details about life in the sertao, from
die detail that the men often drink cane brandy with sour cherry to the relating
of the ballad of Roberto el Diablo, from the Hermandad de Penitentes who
practiced self-flagellation to a viUage wedding celebration. They also include
the crops, food, dress, and weapons of the backlands. The backgroimd
information on the nearsighted joumalist in a later segment provides insight
into life in the city from the perspective of a poor but educated working man.
The segments related from the point of view of various soldiers fumish
particulars about life in the military such as food, duties, punishments, racial
makeup, and conflicts and problems between different companies based on
their region of origin. For example, the soldiers from the south were gauchos
who had fought in the war against Paraguay; they and the soldiers from the
SertlQ despised each other. Although this is mentioned briefly several times,
Colonel Geraldo Macedo and Second Lieutenant Maranhao, a gaucho from the
south. In an incident just like so many other incidents the Colonel's men have
mearle encima.
Details such as these can be found throughout each chapter of the novel.
One segment describes a typical market held every Saturday in Queimadas
where people from the area come to sell their wares; beggars, traveling
minstrels, and gypsies as well as merchants and farmers attend the fairs.
Several episodic segments briefly mention details about die inclusion of folk
beliefs and other religions into die rituals and beliefs of the Catholics,
especially in mral areas, "a las practicas catohcas se injertaban a veces, como
plantas parasitas, cosmmbres dudosas" (93). Some of these include the
dances of the Negros and Mulattos, herb concoctions of the Indians, palm
readers, curanderos. sorcerers, practitioners of smoke cures, and people who
could read the future in coffee grounds or a basin of water. The recollections
of the joumalist also mention candomble rites, voodoo ceremonies, ancient
religious ceremonies of the Africans. Various superstitions are mentioned
throughout the narrative segments. The jagungos believe that if they die by
having their throat slit, the favorite method of execution by the southem army,
their soul goes straight to hell. They also believe that to reach heaven they
must be buried with wood above them, preferably a coffin, but due to a
scarcity of wood in Canudos twigs and slivers of wood have to suffice. The
strong beliefs and superstitions of the region is further emphasized by the
story told by Jurema about die wooden San Antonio in the church at
Queimadas.
La encontraron en una gmta, hace anos, y la llevaron a la Iglesia
y al dia siguiente desaparecio y aparecio de nuevo en la gmta. La
amarraron en el altar para que no se escapara y, a pesar de eUo,
volvio a irse a la gmta. Y asi estuvo, yendo y viniendo, hasta
que llego a Queimadas una Santa Mision, con cuatro padres
capuchinos y el Obispo, que consagraron la Iglesia a San
Antonio y rebautizaron al pueblo San Antonio das Queimadas en
honor del santo. Solo asi se quedo quieta la imagen en el altar
donde ahora se le prenden velas. (62)
people. These episodes do not always contribute directly to the action, but
they create a depth of background knowledge that makes the people and
insight into die attitudes of the era. The dialogues between Baron de
Caiiabrava and his various friends and enemies yield a great amount of
well as some of the history of the Republic. After the fall of Canudos, the
maintain the status quo of the region and prevent the federal government from
The baron goes on to explain that he will retire from politics completely, and
usted, (330-331)
conversation with the Vizconde de Ouro Preto describes die riots, mobs, and
murders in the soudi, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, as a result of die defeat
of Moreira Cesar and the accounts of die monarchist conspiracy printed in the
republican newspapers,
between Rufino and his friend Caifas clarifies die sertanejo code of honor and
an obligation to an employer. He also talks about die need for revenge, "Se
que no duermes y que todo en la vida ha muerto para ti. Que incluso cuando
estas con los demas, como ahora conmigo, estas vengandote. Asi es, Rufino,
asi es cuando se tiene honor La muerte no basta, no lava la afrenta. La
mano o el chicote en la cara, en cambio, si, Porque la cara es tan sagrada
como la madre o la mujer" (184), In anodier segment a conversation between
Moreira Cesar and his officers demonstrates die intense disdain and dislike
diat the soudiem men and devout republicans have for the Bahians, especially
the Autonomistas, One dialogue between Moreira Cesar and the baron goes
into the different attitudes and developing economies of die Soudi and die
Northeast,
Sugar cane was the principal crop of the Northeast and the Enghsh were major
the coffee plantations and the industrialization of the south late in die
region and becoming more closely linked widi the United States radier dian
Europe, A later conversation with his friends explains further die decline of
die region, and laments die destmction of die plantations, "los focos de
actions, reactions, attitudes, and die culmre and conditions diat cause the
technique widi great effectiveness. Some of diese characters are not fully
22
self-sufficient, traditional in his beliefs,wary of strangers and of change.
Bom and raised on die plantation of die Baron de Caiiabrava, Rufino depends
on him much as a vassal depends on his feudal lord. It is die baron who
chooses his wife for him and gives him permission to leave the plantation to
make his living as a guide and tracker. Such is his loyalty to the baron and his
honor code diat Rufino must ask the baron's permission to kill Jurema when
she disgraces him, and he asks die baron's blessing before beginning his
search for her and Galileo Gall. When he speaks to die baron, "mantenia la
postura respetuosa y miraba siempre al suelo" (188). Rufino's code of honor
is strong and inviolable; he and his friend Caifas discuss honor and die
raped by Gall. According to his code of honor, die only way to regain his lost
honor is to strike Gall in die face and then kill bodi Gall and Jurema, but first
he must be released from his promise to die baron to take care of her.
Nothing can swerve him from his purpose even diough he is also kiUed in die
as she awaits her fate. From her perspective she has no odier choice.
However, she manages to survive where Rufino and Gall do not and, after
terrible suffering, gains more control over her life once she reaches Canudos.
She is able to reject Pajeii, the very influential cangaceiro. and choose her own
course, even diough it is not independence, but life widi anodier man. This
time it is a man of her own choosing, and she is not totally dependent upon
aloof to the action, even diough he is die center around which die plot and
action of the novel moves. His type is, however, very important in die
society of die Northeast as die messianic prophet who comes to lead die
oppressed and poor of die sertao to salvation and die Kingdom of God. He is
a medieval figure, well suited to die medieval society present in die sertao
(Souza 80), His concem is widi living and suffering on Earth by die laws of
God in order to attain a better life in die Heaven. There were several such
prophets roaming die backlands during die late nineteendi cenmry. One of the
most famous was Fadier Cicero Romao Batista, a suspended Roman Cadiolic
priest, who founded a religious movement in Joaseiro, a small village in the
state of Ceara, also in die sertao. This "mystical city" existed for nearly fifty
years despite die hostility of Church and State (Delia Cava 402). El Consejero
"embodies traits of the many spiritual heroes of the region, especially those of
die long-awaited Sebastian whom all expected toreappear some day" (Tippit
152), People flocked to these prophets by the thousands in the belief and
hope of escape from the misery of life in the sertao and the promise of etemal
salvation.
These four characters present an outline of the typical poor of the mral
northeast of Brazil, the hardships they faced in daily life, and their resignation
and fatalism in the face of constant misery, poverty, drought and its resulting
starvation and epidemics. Details provided as these characters are developed
also describe small details of the customs, homes, dress, and daily activities
of the sertanejos. These details are provided through descriptions of them and
their surroundings, conversations, and their thoughts and memories when
they are the focalisers of the narrative point of view.
The odier side of die coin of life in die sertao is die landowners, die rich
and powerful owners of die great sugar plantations and cattle ranches. The
Baron de Caiiabrava is die most powerful of die old aristocracy of Bahia. He
represents die old-fashioned, conservative, landed aristocracy. He represents
die old way, die feudal society of titled aristocracy and die people of die land
who depend on diem for dieir jobs and dieir weU being. The baron and his
wife epitomize die life of die rich of die period. The reader's introduction to
die couple also includes an introduction to Salvador widi its narrow
cobblestone streets and donkey drawn carts as well as to die lifestyle of die
wealdiy Bahians,
The baron also maintains a less lavish but grand home at his plantation,
Calumbi, and diey are accustomed to spending several months out of the year
in Europe. Upon their retum from Europe, they expect to be met by the
hundred loyal and jubilant Bahians , It is a sign of the changing times when
they are met by only a few old friends, and die govemor does not greet diem
publicly but awaits them in their home. Not only important in the economic
and social life of die region, the baron as founder of die Partido Autonomista
de Bahia, the conservative party of die majority under die new Republic, is
one of the most influential men in die state. The conservatives are still in
power in Bahia, but die opposition is not a weak opponent and is able to use
die Canudos incident to its advantage. Not only a politician but also a
diplomat, he realizes diat he and his kind must adapt if diey are to survive and
maintain any semblance dieir life before die advent of die Republic.
admit that their power over the land and its people is no longer absolute. The
baron, a more pragmatic man, realizes diat these changes cannot be stopped,
only survived as best as possible,
These four characters represent die wealdiy and die political organization
of the region. Along with the four previous characters they give die reader an
idea of die organization of society in die Northeast, cleariy divided between
die rich and die poor. Even diough diere are two political factions, neidier
seems to be concemed widi die people of die region, only with die power and
influence that they wield within dieir class. Theirs is a semi-feudal society in
which the rich and powerful control the lives of the peasants who work for
them, living on their land and in die villages under their influence.
and beliefs of die Repubhc (Souza 78). In his worid diere is no room for
mysticism or religion; science and rational diought dominate his worid and his
beliefs. His beliefs, attimde toward die aristocracy, and die purpose of die
military are presented in a diatribe directed against his enemy die Baron de
Canabrava.
los honores y acaso ni siquiera el poder para el. Lo mueven cosas abstractas:
que solo el Ejercito puede poner orden y salvar a este pais del caos y de la
defamation of die honor and prestige of die Republic as well as diat of die
army. After his defeat and deadi, die train began depositing in Queimadas, die
jumping off point of the campaign, "a militares profesionales, cuerpos de
policia y regimientos de voluntarios que vienen desde todas las regiones del
pais a este pueblo ensefioreado por las moscas, a vengar a los patriotas
muertos, a salvar a las instimciones humilladas y arestaurar la soberam'a de la
Repiiblica" (356).The war becomes a national vendetta to regain the army's
lost honor as well as to save the Republic from the monarchists and
Sebastianists.
One of die techniques used by Mario Vargas Llosa to convey to die reader
a sense of Brazilian life at the end of die nineteendi cenmry is dirough die
written texts of odiers. These texts represent different points of view of die
events of die novel. They include die letters and joumal entries of Galileo
Gall and a newspaper article in die opposition newspaper in Salvador. The
letters are written to Gall's friends at L'Etincelle de la revoke, a revolutionary
newspaper he had helped found in Lyon, France. He does not know if his
friends are still alive, much less if the paper is still being published, but he
continues to write to them regardless. Gall, a Scotsman, phrenologist,
idealist, anarchist, and revolutionary came to Brazil by virme of being
shipwrecked off the coast of Bahia. He travels diroughout Bahia exploring
the injustices of Brazilian society. He is a keen observer, and his
observations serve the reader well as a window into Brazilian life. Gall also
serves as a foil to the more regional and national views of the other characters.
According to Raymond Souza "Su manera de pensarrepresenta una curiosa
mezcla de ideas anarquistas del siglo XIX y pensamiento marxista" (81). His
character articulates the views and philosophies of modem Europe.
33
observations of Brazilian Hfe and, sometimes, die conclusions he draws from
diese observations. Two of die letters are quoted in dieir entirety in die novel.
The odier letters are included only dirough comments about dieir contents by
die narrator and a few quotes taken from die text, but even diis minute bit of
information contributes to diereader's knowledge of die daily life, politics,
and rehgion of die era.
In his letters Gall speaks of die injustice found in Brazilian society and of
die abject misery of die poor who migrated to die city to escape die drought of
the sertao. This injustice further strengdiens his belief in revolution. This
information emphasizes the harshness and poor living conditions of the very
poor in contrast to the rich landowners and also reinforces the harshness and
severity of the region and its droughts. From this letter the reader can also
glean that agriculmre is the mainstay of the economy because those who own
the blue-tiled palaces own plantations and mills.
Gall's first ten letters are included in Part One of die novel. Only eight of
die ten are referred to specifically. The first, written shordy after his arrival
in
The second letter describes how the very rich and the very poor live side
by side, not in segregated neighborhoods as in Europe. In diis letter he
describes the parades of rich on dieir way to Mass every Sunday widi dieir
entourage of servants, what he calls "el conmbemio del oscurantismo y la
explotacion ,.," (40). He also writes of die amazing mixmre of races present
in society even diough, "han hecho de la blancura un paradigma, la
quintaesencia de belleza" (40). The narrator reports diat in a later article Gall
wrote diat despite die prejudices, "los descendientes de pormgueses, indios y
africanos se habian mezclado bastante en esta tierra y producido una
abigarrada variedad de mestizos: mulatos, mamelucos, cafusos, caboclos.
curibocas" (40), Even diough whites considered diemselves to be superior,
racial mixing was very prevalent diroughout most of Brazilian society and
gave Bahia "una atmosfera cosmopolita y variopinta,"
His sixdi letter deals widi die advent of die Republic. Gall tells how it
really did not affect daily hfe, "que en la aristocratica Bahia habia significado
solo el cambio de algunos nombres" (41). In odier words, for most people
the change from Emperor to President did not cause a great change in dieir
way of life. This was especiaUy tme in die mral areas where news arrived
slowly and was often inaccurate. In odier letters and joumal entries, as well
as conversations. Gall elaborates on die evils of die Republic and its
oppression of die poor which he considers an extension of die oppression
under die monarchy. He also comments on and discusses die meaning of die
Canudos uprising, its origins and purpose. He interprets die rebellion in light
of his personal behefs and his analysis is very different from how the rebels
describe themselves. Gall clarifies a different perception of die simation.
The eighth, ninth, and tenth letters deal widi punishments and torture
devices.
La octava, sobre los castigos corporales que habia visto impartir
a los siervos en patios y calles de la ciudad, y la novena sobre los
instmmentos de tormra usados en tiempos de la esclavimd: el
potro, el cepo, el collar de cadenas o gargalheira. las bolas de
metal y los infantes, anillos que trimraban los pulgares. La
decima, sobre el Pelourinho, patibulo de la ciudad, donde aiin se
azotaba a los infractores de la ley (Gall los llamaba "hermanos")
con un chicote de cuero cmdo que se ofrecia en los almacenes
con un sobrenombre marino: el bacalao. (42)
The abolition of slavery had not abolished die cmelty of public beatings for
errant servants. Apparendy some of die worst tormres were no longer
practiced at diis time, however, die use of die bacalao. a mediod diat had been
used since die days of slavery, was still common. The simation had not
changed very much, die main difference being diat all diose punished were
free men because there were no longer any slaves.
In anodier letter, quoted in its entirety. Gall recounts his visit widi Fray
Joao EvangeHsta de Monte Marciano in die Monasterio de Nuestra Senora de
la Piedad. Even though he has an abhorrence for religion and clerics, he is
curious about die situation in Canudos. The Friar had traveled to Canudos by
order of the Archbishop to discover what was occurring in this obscure and
distant region of die country and to attempt, unsuccessfully it mms out, to
persuade the followers of El Consejero to remm to their homes. The letter
relates how Gall first came to leam of die community being formed in
Canudos and his interpretation of their actions, "que, en Canudos, hombres
humildes e inexperimentados estan, a fuerza de instinto e imaginacion,
llevando a la practica muchas de las cosas que los revolucionarios europeos
sabemos necesarias para implantar la justicia en la tierra" (55). This and other
comments in the letter give insight into current revolutionary beliefs popular in
Europe at the time. Gall also comments on the proliferation of Freemasons in
die Republic which has weakened the Church. The Church had accepted die
Republic and its secular laws even though diey weakened its influence. The
religious cult now forming in Canudos in opposition to die laws of the
Republic also endangers its influence because any rift widiin die Church
further weakens it. The Church's point of view and what becomes die point
of view of many Brazilians is expressed by a quote from die Friar, "Son una
secta poHtico-rehgiosa insubordinada contra el gobiemo constimcional del
pais, constimyen un Estado dentro del Estado .. .(56)." The letter even
includes a little about die medicine and healdi of die period as Gall comments
diat his source of information about die Friar's visit to Canudos was a relative
of die baron's who was being treated for a tapeworm by die doctor for whom
Gall worked.
diat "los yagunzoa muertos resucitaran para estar vivos cuando aparezca el
Ejercito del Rey Don Sebastian (un rey portugues que murio en el Africa, en el
siglo XVI)" (90). Much of die letter is phrased in die fomi of questions. In
diese and odier questions posed in his odier writings and musings, Gall
ponders die place of die Canudos rebellion in die history of rebellions and
philosophy. He makes clear his belief in science and rationality as die answer
to all questions.
By acmally including these questions in this letter and his other letters, the
author articulates many of die reader's questions about the simation. Even
diough they are not answered widiin the letter, the reader is allowed to come
to his or her own conclusions from die knowledge gained diroughout die
novel.
In one letter which Gall intended to write but probably never completed,
he planned to tell his compattiots in France, "que el paisaje del cielo era
infinitamente mas variado que el de latierra en esta region del mundo y que
esto sin duda influia en la disposicion rehgiosa de la gente" (124). The people
of die sertao were known for dieir religious fanaticism and propensity to
follow charismatic, messianic rehgious leaders such as El Consejero. Gall
offers diis as one reason diat could contribute to diis tendency; die infinite
variety and beauty of die heavens, which is the residence of God, contrasted
so sharply with the cmel, monotonous land where diey resided and die
difficult, dreary Hfe diat diey led, that diey mmed toreligion, sometimes
fanatically, as a way to cope with their hardships. Their goal was to reach
Heaven, and in order to do so they had to be strong believers and suffer the
hardships of Hfe in die sertao. This is a medieval attimde which fit in well
with the semi-feudal organization of their society and die bmtaHty of their
lives.
Much of the information gamered from GaU's writing is from his joumal
entries where he records many of his thoughts and impressions, and from his
memoirs, which he leaves with the Baron de Canabrava. While waiting for
Rufino to guide him to Canudos, Gall writes in his joumal about Rufino, a
typical sertanejo.
As pointed out in die second chapter, Rufino is fairly typical of die sertanejo.
Gall sums up his characteristics, attimdes, and way of life in just a few
words, simple, inflexible, uneducated but able to survive in one of die most
inhospitable regions of Brazil because of his knowledge of namre. Aldiough
Rufino is not particularly religious, he adheres to his code of honor much as
odier people of die sertao adhere to dieir religious beliefs.
Canudos or the war the government is now waging against die followers of El
Consejero. It simply and straightforwardly describes a major industry of the
area and die people diat it supports. That is its purpose, to familiarize die
reader with the region and its people. It has no bearing on the uprising itself
but helps the reader to understand the economy and life of die area. In this
section also, the narrator describes, through GaU's eyes, a political raUy of the
Partido Republicano Progresista, the accompanying fair, and the indifference
of the people of this backlands town. The attimde of the townspeople says
much about the importance of politics in their lives.
Gall also wrote his memoirs, "un resumen de lo que soy, de lo que
pienso" (243), and an account of all diat had happened to him in his quest to
help the residents of Canudos. Most of diis information has already been
passed on to die reader as the narrator foUows die characters dirough die
novel. GaU leaves his papers widi die Baron de Caiiabrava, asking him to
send it to L'Etincelle de la revolte. The readers never get to read diis
testimony, aldiough die Baron shares it widi some of his friends as diey
discuss the events diat have occurred and how diey affect dieir lives, die
government, and the lives and attimdes of odier Brazihans.
Galileo Gall's letters and joumal entries are not set off from die more
conventional narration in die novel in any special manner. The gifting and
closing of die letters quoted verbatim are not included. However, diey are
important in diat diey are written in diefirst person and impart information
directly from Gall's point of view radier dian dirough die omniscient narrator.
The odier letters, even diough diey do represent Gall's impressions, are
filtered dirough the narrator and dierefore take on a more distant interpretation.
The other written text that Vargas Llosa utilizes in his novel is a
newspaper article written for dierepublican newspaper in Salvador, the Jomal
de Noticias. The newspaper is owned and run by Epaminondas Gon9alves,
president of the Partido Republicano Progresista, opponent of die old political
guard led by the Baron de Canabrava, founder of the Partido Autonomista de
Bahia. The article is quoted verbatim; its style is joumalistic radier than
literary. The article covers the session of die Bahian legislamre caUed after die
defeat of die second miHtary attempt to reclaim Canudos from die rebels. The
two parties confront each odier over die events at Canudos and die discovery
of rifles being smuggled to die Sebastianist rebels by die so-caUed English spy
GaHleo GaU. Many tilings can be learned from diis article, not only about die
political attitudes of the Bahian legislators, but about die history of the
Republic and customs of the time.
One of die main impressions gained from die article is die amount of
hostility, bitterness, and lack of cooperation between die two parties. The
Progresistas accuse die Autonomist Party, the Govemor, and die Baron de
rebels to overthrow die Republic and reestablish die monarchy. They dien call
The Autonomistas protest and offer the baron's service to die state and his
They further hold forth diat he is diefirst victim of dierebeUion because die
confiscated ranch, Canudos, is his property. The opposition accuse the
baron of aiding dierebeUion by giving die rebels die ranch and insist diat "la
ausencia, en vez de exculparlo, podia delatarlo, y que a nadie enganaba
semejante coartada pues todo Bahia era consciente de que en el Estado no se
movia un dedo sin autorizacion u orden expresa del Baron de Caiiabrava"
(134). It was proposed that he was in Europe for the sole purpose of
conspiring with the British Crown. The debate raged amid insults and threats
for more than five hours with "momentos de sumatirantez en las que, varias
veces, los Excmos. Sres. Diputados esmvieron a punto de pasar a las vias de
hecho" (132) until a recess was caUed to give the Deputies time to cool down.
The break itself threatened to degenerate into a brawl. The enmity between the
two parties is evident despite the formal, poHte language they use with each
odier. Also evident are some of die misconceptions that the Brazilian people
Besides die poHtical climate many odier details about customs of the
region can be divined from die reading of the article. One of these details is
tiiat smugglmg, especiaUy of arms, is a common activity in die backlands, an
accepted way of life.
El Excmo, Sr. Diputado Don Joao Seixas de Ponde dijo que era
una hipocresia amiar semejante alboroto por el haUazgo de unos
fusiles en el serton, cuando todo el mundo sabia que el trafico y
contrabando de annas era desgraciadamente algo generalizado en
el interior y, si no, que dijeran los Excmos. Sres. Diputados de la
oposicion de donde habia amiado el Partido Republicano
Progresista a los capangas y cangaceiros con los que habia
fomiado ese Ejercito privado que era la Uamada Guardia Rural
Bahiana, que pretendia funcionar al margen de las instimciones
oficiales del Estado. (136)
This also comments on die difficulty of life and die scarcity of goods in die
region; smuggling is an activity diat generally only takes place when goods
cannot be acquired by any odier mediod. It is also discovered dirough diis
passage and others diat die Rural Guard, die police force of die state, is
organized, recmited, financed, and controUed by die party of die opposition.
It consisted mainly of capangas (hired gunmen) and cangaceiros. Anodier
minor detail which is leamed is diat dueHng is still an accepted mediod of
settiing disputes. According to the reporter the vehement debate included
"amenazas de duelo" (132) and on another instance when one Deputy is
insulted by another the injured party, "exclamo que ese insulto tendria su
respuesta en el campo del honor.. ."(133). A few historical facts can be
gleaned from the newspaper article also. These center around die great
national hero Marshal Roriano Peixoto, the Iron Marshal, "el glorioso
gobiemo del Mariscal Roriano Peixoto, benemerito de la Patria, cuyo
recuerdo vivira siempre en el corazon de los brasilefios" (133). The Marshal
cmeUy but effectively put down a rebeUion in the soudiem state of Rio Grande
do Sul and saved die Repubhc, one of die reasons he is considered die
greatest hero of die nation. A similar uprising in Santa Catarina, put down by
Colonel Moreira Cesar, has been previously mentioned. The article also
briefly mentions plans for die expansion of die railroad into die interior in an
attempt to modemize die region, help it catch up widi die rest of Brazil, and
The use of diese texts provides the reader with a different perspective on
die events of die novel. The letters and joumal entries of GaU are admittedly
biased because of his strong phUosophical and ideological beliefs, but the
information provided can still be useful in interpreting Brazilian society. The
newspaper article is also biased, in this case from the republican political point
The Brazil diat takes shape under die pen of Vargas Llosa is that of a
divided and restiess nation. The divisions can be categorized in several ways:
economic, political, regional, and philosophical. The Northeast is a harsh,
backward land still mled by feudal lords and worked by their vassals, even
though slavery has been abolished. The economy of die region is based on
sugar cane, livestock, and their by-products. The people are strong, simple,
uneducated, superstitious, and prone to religious fanaticism. The rich who
govern the region, regardless of their political affihation, are concemed with
maintaining their stams and power. Any improvements, such as the extension
of die railroad, are calculated more for dieir benefit dian for die benefit of
their
constiments. The south, on die odier hand, has embraced die positivist ideals
of order and progress, the new Republic's motto. They welcome science and
technology, and strive to build an industrialized society pattemed after the
United States of America. These different attimdes and ways of life have
48
developed into stereotypes and prejudices which hinder die development of a
tmly united nation.
Under die new government, formed in 1889, die Cadiolic Church has lost
much of its influence. The Republic is a secular government which
recognizes die separation of Church and State. Marriage and burial, once die
strict domain of die Church, have become die domain of die government,
which has also established taxation and a national census. The Jesuits had
already been thrown out of die country, and die remaining religious orders are
unable to minister to die entire nation. In mral areas there are few priests to
shepherd the residents of vast areas. Churches and cemeteries have faUen into
min. What priests remain are known for they sinfulness, greed, and abuse of
power.
The last decade of the nineteenth cenmry was a period of transition from
Empire to Republic, from a slave nation to a free nation. Vargas Llosa has
brought to life die stmggles of a new nation seeking unity and trying to
establish a national identity as the new cenmry commences. He not only
includes a panoramic view of Hfe in BrazU, but also mcludes die everyday, the
mundane, details diat give die reader die feeling diat diese are real people
stmggling with real problems. In doing so, he paints a vivid portrait of
Brazilian society of die 1890s and some of die problems it faced.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brody, Robert. "Mario Vargas Llosa and die Totalization Impulse." Eds.
Charles Rossman and Alan Warren Friedman. Mario Vargas Llosa: A
CoUection of Critical Essays^ Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 1978. 120
127.
Calasans Silva, Jose. No Tempo de Antonio Conselheiro: Figuras e Fatos da
Campanha de Canudos. Salvador: Progresso, 1959.
Campos, Jorge. "Vargas Llosa v su Guerra del fin del mundo." Mario
Vargas Llosa. Ed. Jose Miguel Oviedo. Madrid: Taums, 1981. 298
303.
Castro-Klaren, Sara. Mario Vargas Llosa: Analisis Introductorio. Lima:
Latinoamericana, 1988.
Dauster, Frank. "Aristotle and Vargas Llosa: Literamre, History and the
Interpretation of Reality." Hispania 53.2, May 1970: 273-276.
51
Garcia Pinto, Magdalena, "Anatomia de la revolucion en La Guerra del fin del
mundo e Historia de Mavta " The Historical Novel in Latin America. Ed.
Daniel Balderston. Gaidiersburg MD: Hispamerica, 1986. 159-171.
Menes, Carlos. "La vision del periodista, tema recurrente en Mario Vargas
Llosa: A proposito de La guerra del fin del mundo." Revista
Iberomnencana 49 April-Sept. 1983: 523-529.
321.
Montero, Janina. "Historia y novela en Hispanoamerica: El lenguaje de la
ironia," Hispanic Review 47 (1979): 505-519.
Poppino, RoUie E. BrazU: The Land and the People. New York: Oxford
UP, 1968.
Vargas Llosa, Mario. La guerra del fin del mundo. Barcelona: Seix Barral,
1981.
Brody, Robert. "Mario Vargas Llosa and the Totalization Impulse." Eds.
Charles Rossman and Alan Warren Friedman. Mario Vargas Llosa: A
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