The battles in the desert by Jose Emilio Pacheco

The story begin with Carlos (who is the principal) talking about his childhood in the forty’s and his first
love. Carlos and his family were of middle class they have been living at Doctores street but he went
to the school at Roma Street therefore his best friend was Jim a child of high class.
The author is talking us about how was the life style at this time, about the food, the radio and the music
were more and more influenced by the North American culture. Also in this year’s began the war in
Israel, between Arabians and Jews, and Carlos as a child play in the yard of the school about this, like
“battles in the desert”.
The drama start when Jim invite Carlos to eat at his home, Carlos accept the request and there is when
Carlos meets Mariana the Jim mother´s, Carlos fall in love immediately, Mariana was 29 years old and
she was a pretty woman, when Carlos ask for Jim about his father, Jim only said that his father works
with the president and is very important in Mexico´s government but he almost never have seen him.
So one day Carlos decide escape from the school and go to see Mariana, he walks until Jim´s house
and knock the door, when Mariana opened Carlos said that he forgot a book there, Mariana invite
Carlos to enter and when Marian has been sitting beside Carlos, he declare his love for her a gave her
a kiss, Mariana was very confused but take the declaration with responsibility and tenderness she
explain Carlos that is impossible he can love her because she is older than him and is the mom of his
best friend, Carlos understand the situation and he went out of there sad and depress.
When the teacher of Carlos notice that he wasn’t at classroom, asked for him and Jim said “he probably
have been to my house because he fall in love of my mother” so the teacher call to Carlos´s house and
he said this to his mother. When Carlos arrived his mother start to nag him and said that he was crazy
or got a problem in his head, this do that Carlos mother´s change him of school and forget Jim and
Mariana.
Some years later Carlos Found a friend
of his old school selling gums in the
street, Carlos invites him an ice cream,
but he wants a snack because he hasn´t
have breakfast yet, when Carlos ask from
Jim and Marina, his friend told him that
Mariana suicide her and explain in a
letter that his husband have been on love
of someone else and takes Jim to live
with him in San Francisco. When Carlos
listen this ran to Jim´s house and when
knock the door other person opened the
door and asked from Marina but told him
that nobody named Mariana have been
living there, and never more knows
something about Jim or Mariana.
And Carlos never knew if Mariana was
real or only his imagination.

Villafaña Martínez Arturo