Wednesday, May 25, 2011
13: The Terror
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11 comments:
This chapter becomes really interesting. It's so chaotic and none of the characters are really aware of how much danger they are in at first. This is also the chapter that made me regain some sympathy and even a little respect for Esteban again. On p.(376)Esteban says, "I sat waiting for my son in the armchair of my library, my eyes glued to the doorsill, calling to him with my mind, as I used to call for Clara." This one little section makes me realize that although he is cruel and callous, he does love his sons and he actually has a heart.
~Brittany Rowe
Throughout all the deaths that took place in this book, one that really upset me and to an extent even angered me was Jaime's. Although i didn't agree with each one of his ideals, he seemed to me one of the sincerest characters. He was devoted to a life of servicing others in need, and he really made me examine my own life in that aspect. During all the riots taking place he is described as having, "worked practically all night and by seven in the morning his body had had only two hours of sleep"(366). Because I thought Jaime to be of an extremely moral character I was quite a bit enraged of the way he had died and how nothing in his life ever really worked for his benefit. He spent so much time on others that when he was selifish for but a moment it seemed to only turn out badly for him. Pertaining to Jaime's death this line in the book really infuriatd me when it speaks of Senator Trueba opening, "a bottle of French champagne to celebrate the overthrow of the regime that he had fought against so ferociously, never suspecting that at that very moment his son Jaime's testicles were being burned with an imported cigarette"(371).
Mellisa Crisan
I was too shocked and enraged at Jaime's death. During the time of his youth I did not like him or his brother because of their rowdiness. But as time passed and I read further, Jaime's disposition and his love for his job grew on me, and he became one of my favorite characters.
But Jaime wasn't murdered for no reason. He was murdered for believing in what he thought was just. On page 370 he was given the option of release: to go onto television and say the president was dead. But he didn't do it, showing his devotion to his President and to his ideals. So when Senator Trueba opened that champagne to celebrate the President's death (and in a way unbeknownst to him, Jaime's death) like Mellisa has said, I found it ironic in a slap-to-the-face kind of way.
Also in this chapter, there was another death: the Poet. Throughout the story the Poet was mentioned as a genius in the arts, his writings known around the world. But during this time of darkness the Poet withered away like a dried out plant. It can be said that when the Poet died, freedom and art died along with him.
~Julianna Richey
Forgot to mention this: as sad as this chapter was, the crowning moment of awesome in Chapter 13 was when Senator Trueba opens the door to the room where Pedro Tercero Garcia was kept hidden, and the two mirror their earlier encounter (with the roles reversed) back in Chapter 12 when Pedro Tercero Garcia saved Senator Esteban. I just really liked that part, especially since the dialogue was exactly the same, just the two switching lines.
~Julianna Richey
I was really surprised when Jaime died. I didn't think that of everyone in the family, he would be the one to die. It was a big surprise how the whole thing went down also. I did not think that the army would take over and a General become a dictator. Having a curfew and beig beat for no reason is not a place I want to live at. The people said "there is someone to mourne for in every family, and the middle class can no longer say, as they used to, that if he was imprisoned, dead, or exiled, it was because he deserved it" (385). How cruel can the world be sometimes.
Tania
Jaime's death was a very moving part of the book. It enrages the reader and also shows the beginning signs of how the Trueba name means nothing to the coup and how anyone who opposed the regime of the military was shown no mercy, whether surrender or defeat. Jaime had nothing but the best intentions for the people and was killed merely trying to protect lives. He only meant to stand by the side of a man he believed in to the very end, only to be tormented and tortured to death by the merciless and overpowered militants that had all the power of the government now. The burial of The Poet had become a very monumental thing to everyone in the book, surprisingly enough even Esteban, who even said ''It's a shame he was a Communist! Such a fine poet, and such confused ideas! If he had died before the coup, I suppose he would have received a national tribute'' (388).
In this chapter i was scared when "a dozen plainclothesmen break into his house under cover of curfew, armed to the teeth, to drag him from his bed and push him into the sitting room, without even allowing him to put on his slippers or throw a shawl over his shoulders" The book takes an extreme turn when alba was drug out of her house ad kidnapped. I wish alba would have listened to Clara's advice that danger was upon her. Alba should have left so she would not have been taken. She was beaten and harmed. I was really upset when i found out that the mastermind was Esteban Garcia. "Alba understood that he had been waiting for her ever since the distant day when he had sat her on his knees, when she was just a child"(404)
Autumn Schlarp
Why were you upset Autumn? You didn't think Esteban Garcia capable of this?
I believe Jamie did the right thing by standing up for what he believes in. Jamie was really at a no win situation. When he is asked to say, "...the President was drunk and he committed suicide"(370), he noblely refuses. I think that even if he would have gone on television and said those lies, they still would have killed him somehow for knowing the truth. In my book it is better to die a hero than live/die as a coward. I also thought that Pedro's experience was very similar to Anne Frank's, how they both had to go into hiding. One sentence that really brought this comparison to me was, "He tried to work out a schedule to organize his day"(391). Just like Anne they both had to do everything in secret to not be detected.
Your Welcome,
Travis
"Make way, we're going to run the tank over these bastards!" (369). This just describes some of the terror that goes on in the city in this chapter. The army comes in and takes over and I don't think its right at all. I thought the president that was killed was a very courages person for dieing with his men and followers.
~SHELBY~
This is a very cruel chapter. The military attempts to perform a genocide of an entire political party, believing they are doing the right thing. A lieutenant said, "My neighbors look at me with fear. The same thing happens to the rest of my men. But you have to follow orders. The nation comes first, right" (375). The military takes over with no intention of returning power to Congress, killing, torturing, or imprisoning anyone still in hope of a Socialist country.
Thomas
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