To begin with, Asturias's The President, is a breath of fresh air coming out of Facundo. While Asturias's work is definitely written in a unique style, it is far more familiar than Facundo in that it is readily identifiable as a novel. There is an over-arching plot; a cast of characters who feel less like historical caricatures and more like they could be real, living, breathing people; and a writing style that flows (even in the mind of the mad) in sequence from one thing or even to the next. As I said though, it is unique and somewhat out of the ordinary. In many novels, the titular character is usually introduced (at least from my experience) directly to the audience or at least makes an appearance very early on in the story. However, if we take the President to be the main character, then he isn't physically introduced until the story is well underway. In fact, going through the book was like walking up a pyramid in that the first characters we encounter are from the lowest rung of society: the beggars (the Zany, Mosquito, etc...); and then through the Zany we are introduced to the next level: the woodcutter; and from the woodcutter we meet Angel Face, the favourite, and soon after when we meet the doctor, and it is through Angel Face that we meet the illustrious and infamous President. While we do not "meet" the President until this point, his presence and will are constant factors throughout the story that are largely responsible for shaping the other characters' fate. So even though he's hardly seen by us, Asturias ensures that he is always in our minds.
So far, I have found Angel Face to be the most intriguing character. He always leaves me a little bit puzzled as to what his true character is. Is he an Angel or a Devil? Like the title of this post says, "he was as beautiful and wicked as Satan" (a phrase that Asturias seems to repeat almost every time that Angel Face makes an appearance), reminds me very much of Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray from The Picture of Dorian Gray whose beauty was not a reflection of his soul's state. On the one side our first meeting of Angel Face is of him helping the woodcutter bring the Zany to the hospital, however, at the same time, he is the President's favourite, and the President hasn't exactly shown himself to be a kind and merciful figure, so what has Angel Face done to become his favourite? He seemed willing enough to lie to General Eusebio Canales in order to have him killed for a crime that he knows the General never committed, and yet he shows genuine concern over the well-fare of his daughter, Camila. In chapter 21: Vicious Circle, Angel Face has a tortuous internal struggle with regards to who he is and why he is doing what he's doing. I love a character with internal conflict as they are bound to change and evolve (or devolve) throughout the course of the novel, making much more interesting reading than characters who are static.
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5 comments:
Yes! Angel Face is a very interesting character, you can find him as an angel or as satan. I think that in the second half of the book we will find that Angel Face is maybe a symbol of the dictatorship. Good speech, it seems to be working for the others but at the end the real part is the corruption and the evil that the tyranny has.
Wow, the beginning of my post is almost exactly the same as yours! What are the odds? We also agree on the omnipresence of the spectre of the President, even though he rarely appears. His disembodied presence in the novel seems to be only rivalled by that of God and religion. A connection perhaps? or maybe I'm just trying to hard, as I feel that the President himself feels almost weak and inconsequential. And it seems almost to easy to label the president as the opposing Devil. Besides, Angel Face already has that job.
I suppose Angel Face became 'the favourite' just by flattery, like the Talking Cow(or whatever is was called) that poured praises on him for being such an amazing leader. He enjoys having his ego rubbed.
And I don't know about you, but I never found the Devil to be that handsome. More like this http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/18578.jpg
I definitely agree about this book compared to Facundo. It's definitely more fluid and much much easier to follow. I definitely feel that dichotomy with Angel Face. I'm a bit of a scheptic so I don't know what to expect from him. Who's side is he really on?
I agree about the angel face thing: we dont really know yet what angel face will turn out as. I didnt actually find the characters to be believable, although they certainly were more believable than in Facundo i suppose... although with Facundo he wrote at times as if he didnt need characters, just 1 dimensional place holders that battles could take place around... Something about when Rodas (i believe...) ended up clinging to his wifes legs while she, annoyed, nursed the baby... didn't seem too realistic. I get where your coming from though.
i agree with you and everyone else...angel face is sweet! and i think his name tells us something important about him, because its true, he could seem like an angel and be a devil so as to show irony, or in fact be the real and revolutionary angel that we hope he is.
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