Summary
Ernesto and Alberto leaves Temuco, there motorcycles gear box smashes and they fly off the motorcycle and have to walk to the next town. They stay at a mechanics house were they go out to a party and both men get drunk. Che asks the Mechanics wife to dance and she accidentally falls on the ground causing the town men to run after them. The arrive in Cullipulli and give La Poderosa and give the new owner a letter attached to it. Then they get to Los Angeles were they volunteer as fire fighters and experience the benefits in society, Alberto gets the opportunity to save a cat. They continue to explore Chile through improvising places to stay and asleep and then arrive at Valparaiso. They attempt to find ways to go to Easter Island but flights there are so rare and only occur every six months. They always complement Chile's hospitality because everywhere they go they find where to stay and people are very sympathetic. Alberto meets with doctors in Valparaiso and Ernesto meets with sick women and finds that the sick become a disadvantage in many people's life. He feels he cant do anything for her and gives up his own asthmatic pills. In Valparaiso, elders are not trusted by the community on bad events that occur. They find they are at a disadvantage because of there hobo appearance. A doctor promises to them to a trip to Easter Island one day when they come back. They decide to sneak on a boat called the "San Antonio," were they are made to work cleaning the toilet and peeling potato's after they get caught. They realize they are destined to travel and learn about different cultures even though in many places they were unwelcome. They go to a copper mine named Chugimata and meet a couple, the husband got arrested for being a communist. They spend a night with the couple trying to stay warm in the desert. The couple search for a job with horrible threatening conditions for low food pay. The catch is that these jobs are so horrible the boss doesn't ask for a political status. Thousands die by the traps set by nature to protects its jewels in mines. But little does nature know that the poor workers are doing this just to get there daily bread. Chile produces 20% of the worlds copper. They walked two hours to a town and join a soccer team in return for food, shelter, and transportation and they travel to different mines. They get to Iquique take a boat Arica, which is the border between Peru and Chile. They sleep in a town hospital treated by a mean doctor because they look like hobos. Dual narrator of Ernesto of following year speaks, he analyzes Chile and explains that Chile has low medical and living standards. The political scene is cruel because 40,000 people can't vote because there communist. They find shelter and talk about Argentina's non-discrimination and way of life. They get to Estaque and explore ancient Incan civilization, the people speak Aymaron, this town shows culture that are unaffected by Spanish colonization. A bust takes them to a high snowy mountain and it takes the peruvians no effort to run in the snow, while it takes Che and Alberto a while. They meet with a teacher who tells them about the education system and conflict between the unaccepted Indigenous people by the ladinos in Peru. Fishers use the same technique for 500years and maintain traditions. They stop at Avavirg where a funnier is carried out as a procession in the streets. Che explains the legend of Cuzco, it was founded on female and male equality as the center of the Incan empire. He says that Cuzco can be viewed in two ways. One way is recognizing the Spanish influence and that makes one desire to fight for the Incan Culture. The other is to be superficial and not notice the damage that has been done on Incan culture. He makes inferences on from the time Cuzco was built and other opposing forces before the Spanish attacked. The relation between events that occurred and the architecture is shown. They climb a mountain to find the Spanish Fortress and swords. Machu Piccu shows a pure civilization and a true mystery.
Quote
" What does it matter if we stay there a year; who cares about studying, work, family, etc. In a shop window a giant crayfish winks at us, and from his bed of lettuce his whole body tells us, "I'm from Easter Island, where the weather is perfect, the women are perfect..." (Guevara 69)
Reaction
My reaction to this was to realize Ernestos personality. Besides his diary recording everything he does, he is quite sarcastic and humorous. He uses personification in this qouatation by giving a fish the human ability to talk. The overall qoutation connects to the larger story because after all, there trip is to stop carring about studying, work, and family and discover something beyond that. Easter Island seems to symbolize the end of there trip or there reward in a figurative way. He uses a lot of figurative language referring to a fish as a male and saying that his bed is made out of lettuce. It makes the reader want to go to Easter Island, so they can have a bed made out of lettuce.
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