The short story El Matadero (The Slaughterhouse) by Esteban Echeverria
is a reflection of the caudillo period in the 19th century. El
Matadero uses sarcasm and vivid imagery to convey his view points on the
political systems of Buenos Aires during the dominance of Juan Manuel de Rosas.
The story portrays the injustices, as a liberal view, imposed on the people of
Buenos Aires by the church – which I believe represents Rosas and his ‘Holy
Federation’. The story set in a time of Lent, a season of scarcity that the
church imposed on the people of Rio de La Plata, restricting them of meat
intake. The slaughterhouse is where the meat was produced and distributed
through the caudillo. When the flood subsides there are 50 cattle that returned
to the slaughter house which people of the town, in barbaric imagery, fought
over the meat that returned to the town. Corruption is shown by the point that
Echeverria makes that the gringos and the ‘Restorer’ had the first servings of
meat and the rest was left for the proletariat. The bull, which is the last
left of the returning cattle, is a compared to the Unitarian at the end of the
story and represents the resistance of the Unitarian liberals. The author
describes the rage of the bull and then immediately after describes the rage
inside the Unitarian that they captured. This to me is an obvious linkage
between the two and symbolizes the feelings of the Unitarians during the time
of Juan Manual de Rosas. Something I found interesting in the story was the way
in which the peole of the town were represented. There are two times were women
were compared to “mythical harpies” and “ugly as the vigaros of legend” in the
second description they were along side boys and in the first description they
are compared with birds. This is interesting to me because I am not sure what
the point of describing them in this way has to do with the main theme of the
story? Perhaps I am missing something.
Regarding your question about the "mythical harpies" and "ugly as vigaros of legend"- I think it is possible to read this as a general Romantic (I regard the period) notion of the femme fatale- the fatal woman. It this case it is a mockery of the notion, a grotesque. Instead of having a woman bringing freedom and love (French revolution ideal), you have this ugly anesthetized view.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the way he describes the women as ugly, and as mythical harpies could have to do with how he wants to paint a picture in the reader's mind about this barbaric and primitive society. A lot of the language he uses is intended to portray the scene as a sight of repulsion and disgust; all the blood, flesh, grime, and other grotesque imagery. I think describing these women not as people, but as creatures, reinforces this idea.
ReplyDeleteI found that through the entire story the author is trying to describe the scene in as blunt and as crude terms as possible. Blood, offal, mud, dogs, harpies, words that invoke a feeling of disgusts and grotesqueness. He uses these words in my opinion to evoke a response from you the reader that makes you sympathetic to his politics and point of view. The Federalists are crude and barbaric and will do anything to their "enemy" the Unitarian regardless of "decency". At the end of the story the author states that Argentina during this period was in essence The Slaughterhouse itself.
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