Dialectic-of-hope_H-de-Ladrón

7/27/2019 Dialectic-of-hope_H-de-Ladrn

1/10

The Dialectic of Hope: The Unifying theme in Hijo de Ladrn

Author(s): Robert ScottSource: Hispania, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Dec., 1979), pp. 626-634Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and PortugueseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/340145 .

Accessed: 08/10/2013 17:40

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve

and extend access toHispania.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 200.75.19.130 on Tue, 8 Oct 2013 17:40:33 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aatsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/340145?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/340145?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aatsp


2/10

THEDIALECTICOF HOPE:THEUNIFYINGTHEMEIN HIJO DELADRONROBERT SCOTTMiami University

DESPITE the widespreaddespair ofthe twentieth century, or perhaps tosome extent because of it, there has devel-oped since the Second World War anincreasing interest in the phenomenon ofhope. In philosophy, Gabriel Marcel, theFrench Christian Existentialist, and ErnstBloch, the German Marxist, have writtensignificantly on the theme.' More recent-ly, theologians from Europe and theUnited States have explored it in an effortto develop an eschatological theology ofrevolution while psychologists and socialanalysts have used it as a basis for thestudy and treatment of the mentally ill oras a platform from which to launch socialchange.2 Literature, too, especially prosefiction, reflects this inclination towardaffirmation. R. W. B. Lewis, in his intro-duction to ThePicaresque Saint, contendsthat the novelists of an older generation(Joyce, Proust, Mann), although men ofincomparable literary genius "failed toattend to the visible life of men, to theshape of their actions, the motives of theirhope."3 On the other hand, he continues,the novelists of the succeeding generation(Moravia, Silone, Camus, Faulkner,Greene and Malraux), while by no meansfacile optimists, have "centered not uponthe ubiquity of sickness and death but onthe act of living.... The sense of nothing-ness has been transcended, in the secondgeneration, by an agonizing dedication tolife."4 Such observations can be extendedto include Spanish America. ErnestoSaibato, for example, calls Sobre heroes ytumbas "una absurda metafisica de laexperanza,"' and Augusto Roa Bastos'Hijo de hombre portrays characters whoare consecrated to rebellion in the face ofinjustice and absurdity much in themanner of Camus or Malraux. A thirdexample is Chile's Manuel Rojas, espe-cially in Hijo de ladr6n, the subject of thisstudy.More particularly pertinent to Hijo de

ladrdn are two further observations madeby Lewis regarding his second generationof novelists. First, he sees as a commontheme recurring in their fiction the por-trayal of human, secular saints who areable in the course of their difficult exist-ence to achieve companionship withothers. This kind of relationship he termsa "tragic fellowship," and it becomes forthe characters the basis for a renewedfaith in life. Secondly, the vehicle fordeveloping this theme is the traditionalform of the picaresque novel based on theidea of the journey. Lewis believes thatthis form lends itself particularly well tothe unfolding of the theme of tragicfellowship "by a series of encounters-encounters between the hero and thebeings and customs it is his purpose tooutwit; and between the hero and thoserare beings with whom communion maybe fleetingly possible."6

Similarities between Manuel Rojas andthose writers studied by Lewis haveprompted this analysis of Hijo de ladr6n,a novel which seems composed of randomincidents, loosely structured, and withoutunity. Upon closer scrutiny, however, andwith attention to the role of hope, it ispossible to see the novel as a surprisinglyorganic and unified whole.Compared to other more recent fictionfrom Latin America, Hijo de ladr6n is notparticularlyperplexing in its structure andtechnique. Nevertheless, in its flashbacks,digressions, fragmentation, and inter-polated narratives it does present diffi-culties with regard to unity. The merepresence throughout of a picaro-like char-acter and the use of the first-person pointof view are not in themselves sufficientunifying factors. For satirical or didacticworks in which the human experiencepor-trayed was incidental or illustrative ofethics, morality, or social ills, such looseunity perhaps sufficed. The representa-tion of the quidditas of experience, how-

626

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/10

Hope in Hijode ladrdn 627ever, must necessarily demand a deeperconcern with the problem of organicunity.The most likely source of unity in Hijode ladr6n is the principal character,Aniceto Hevia. Since his mere presence isan insufficient unifying force, it is neces-sary to look for some kind of innergrowth. How, for instance, are the variedexperiences and encounters of the novelassimilated by Aniceto and to what conse-quences? An analysis will show that thereare in Aniceto's attitudes toward hisexperiences discernible variations whichbring about a significant reorientation inhis outlook. This study attempts to deline-ate that reorientation by examining thecentral role of hope.The principal action in Hijo de ladr6ncovers but a few critical months inAniceto's adolescent life. Following thebreakup of his family, he leaves BuenosAires as a migrant farm worker, harvestsgrapes in Mendoza, ultimately finding ajob as a construction laborer on theTrans-Andean Railroad. The work there,however, is curtailed because of heavysnow, and Aniceto decides to go on toChile. In Valparaiso he is refused passageon a northbound ship. Forced to remain,he spends a few nights alone in cheapflophouses. As he walks the streets oneevening, he is swept up in a street riot,arrested and jailed. When he is finallyreleased, still convalescent from pneu-monia, he is totally helpless. Eventually,however, he is befriended by two vaga-bonds, shares a humble meal with them ina restaurant, and accepts their invitationto live with them in their tenament room.Subsequent encounters take place withinthe next few weeks, during which Ani-ceto's lung heals sufficiently for him toaccompany his friends to a balneariowhere they will work as house painters.The phenomenon which gives the novelits pattern of meaning might best bedescribed as the dialectic of hope. On theone hand, negative experiences in Ani-ceto's life tend to pull him in the directionof hopelessness and distrust, toward a

philosophical outlook on human existenceas incomprehensible, futile, and absurd.At the same time, positive experiences,human encounters in which he learnstrust, pull him in the opposite direction,toward hope. The thrust of the first three-quarters of the novel is downward andinward toward an increasingly more con-stricting confinement, reaching its nadirin Aniceto's near-fatal illness in prison.The final quarter of the novel thenreverses the process in a gradual looseningof the constriction as it traces Aniceto'sopening out toward others in mutualfellowship, ultimately reorienting himtoward the future. In effect, the noveltraces a pattern of metaphorical deathand rebirth.

Rojas opens his novel at that point intime when Aniceto is at his lowest ebb, hisrelease from jail. From this vantage pointin time, the novel flashes back andthrough Aniceto's recollections, recount-ing the experiences and events whichculminate in his imprisonment and illness.During the recounting of these events, thenarrator (Aniceto), periodically returnsto that temporal vantage point at whichthe novel began until, finally, the flash-backs are terminated and the narrationproceeds to account for Aniceto's rebirth.The release from prison, then, is the keypoint from which, on the one hand, thepast is recalled (movement toward death)and, on the other, the reorientationtoward existence is begun (movementtoward life).In his essay "A Metaphysic of Hope",the French philosopher Gabriel Marceloutlines the essential characteristics ofhope's opposite: the loss of a certain can-dor or innocence resulting from havingbeen hardened by life; the undergoing oflife as exile and separation; the perceptionof both space and time as closed entities;and finally, the subject's perception thatexperience is a fatum against which hemust continually capitulate. ExaminingAniceto's past as he himself recalls it,each of the concepts mentioned by Marcelplays a significant role.



4/10

628 Robert Scott Hispania62 (December 1979)First to be considered is the idea of theloss of innocence. While it is true that theconcatenation of negative experiences

throughout the novel contribute to Ani-ceto's progressive loss of innocence, thereis, nevertheless, a particular flashbackearly in the book which epitomizes thisloss for the reader. The scene dramatizesthe sequence of events culminating in Ani-ceto's discovery that his father is a thief.Significantly, the events unfold from theviewpoint of the innocent eye as Aniceto,projecting himself into the past as thoughreliving it, assumes the point of view of atwelve-year-old. Particular details serve tounderscore Aniceto's innocence. Thedomestic scene interrupted by the police,for example, in which he is seen alonewith his mother eating sugar bread anddrinking milk, stresses filial dependenceand maternal protection. It is preciselythis protection which he loses momentslater in the police station where he is sepa-rated from his mother and forced tospend the night in a jail cell amongstrangers. In the cell Aniceto's youth andnaivete are in sharp contrast to the otherprisoners who jokingly call attention tohis short pants. The climactic moment,when Aniceto sees his father led awaybetween two policemen, is made poignantby the fact that neither the father nor theson is able to speak to the other; indeed,their shame is so great they cannot lookeach other in the eye. Finally, when Ani-ceto is fingerprinted at the end of thesequence, it is as if he had been stigma-tized for life. Clearly the reader is leftwith the cognizance that innocence hasbeen irrevocably lost.The second of Marcel's observations ondespair-the experiencing of life as exile,i.e., homelessness-is also evident in Hijode ladr6n. As with the loss-of-innocencemotif, Rojas again epitomizes the idea ina single memorable flashback. The scenedetails with high pathos the abrupt dis-integration of Aniceto's home. When hismother, always healthy and a model ofstrength, dies within a few hours ofbecoming ill, the domestic atmosphere

changes radically from one of warmthand security to one of "soledad y silen-cio."7 Later when El Gallego is takenprisoner for life, the police officer'swords to Aniceto and his brothers havethe distressing effect of casting the boysout as orphans into an alien world:"VAyanse, muchachos, y vean modo dearreglarselas solos y como puedan"(p. 79). Aniceto becomes acutely aware ofhis situation as one of exile:Un dia amaneci solo en la casa: en esa casa habiavivido, hasta unos pocos dias atrds, una familia, unafamilia de ladr6n, es cierto, pero una familia al fin;ahora no habia alli nada, no habia hogar, padres, nohabia hermanos. Enorme era Buenos Aires para unnifto que estd en esa situaci6n. (pp. 80-81)Later his feeling of exile is even moreintense: "Nadie me conocia y yo noconocia a nadie; en mi ciudad natal era unextratfo, casi un extranjero" (p. 86).From this moment on, separation andsolitude, the concomitants of a life inexile, are Aniceto's only constant com-panions. Other flashbacks, depicting ElGallego's previous long periods ofabsence from home and his failures atcommunicating his feelings to his sons,prefigure the anguish of separation andsolitude that Aniceto will later experience.The latter's own acute awareness of hisloneliness while working in the Andes isalso a foreboding of what is to come.Among the collosal rocks and surroundedby the first heavy snow, his profoundsense of isolation and insignificance fillhim with a terrible fear of the absoluteseparation which is death. Later in aValparaiso flophouse, Aniceto experi-ences the agony of the human separationwhen he mentions "el borracho queagoniz6 toda una larga noche, con elvientre abierto, y a quien haciamos callarcuando se quejaba, sin saber que semoria" (p. 91).The Valparaiso street riot reflects adifferent aspect of human separation,that of dehumanization in a moment ofsocial rupture. Engulfed in the confusion,Aniceto is not aware of individual police-men but sees ratheran undulating mass of



5/10

Hope in Hijode ladr6n 629uniforms and flashing metal. What onanother occasion might have been humanbeings here are mere instruments, notmen but "mdquinas o herramientas,objetos para usar" (p. 111). Two menfighting are described as "el hombre-cuchillo" and "el hombre-herramienta"while those who comprise the mob aredehumanized in another way: "Lamuchedumbre fluctuaba como una ola,movi6ndose nerviosamente; rostros,cuerpos, piernas, brazos" (p. 108). Theresentments and repressed hostilities ofthe mob are vented on the nearest busi-nesses as stores are sacked, firearms arestolen, and innocent people hurt. Thetotal effect of the riot is that of a rupturedcommunity in which human persons arepolarized into ugly groups: poor againstrich; citizens against police; workersagainst thieves.The process of dehumanization is con-tinued in the jail scenes, where Rojasemphasizes anonymity and impersonali-zation. As Aniceto and others are takenmechanically from one department toanother, his attention is drawn to enor-mous stacks of old record books, frag-ments of conversations, the ringing ofinvisible telephones, and anonymousvoices. In the Secci6n de Detenidos, thejudge handles them routinely as part of aday's work; no witnesses are called, thereis no appeal, and sentence ispassed perfunctorily on groups ratherthan individuals with the same repetitiouswords. In the end, all of them are "proce-sados," stamped, as it were, indiscrimi-nately.Specific personal relationships of Ani-ceto's during his stay in jail also con-tribute to the atmosphere of alienation.He sympathizes with the hardened youngdelinquents in the next cell, aware of theformative effects of their slum environ-ment; nevertheless, he is unable toapproach them, fearful of their violenceand hostility. A conversation withanother cell mate, who attempts to justifyhaving raped a young girl, demonstratesthe difficulty of establishing any real

person-to-person contact. After listeningto the man's indulgence in self pity, Ani-ceto, although initially sympathetic, canfinally feel only contempt.Having considered life-as-exile and life-as-separation, we can now turn to GabrielMarcel's final category of despair, space-as-closed. This is the principal motifwhich pervades the novel beginning withAniceto's descent from the mountainsand ending with his release from prison.His freedom of movement is first cur-tailed in Valparaiso by the red tape ofbureaucracy;having no official documentwith which to prove his identity, he can-not embark with a friend. The riot, too,restricts his freedom as it buffets himabout, severely limiting the possibility ofhis exerting his own will. In the flop-house, he is enclosed in a small compart-ment and in jail he is always behind bars.Finally, with his pneumonia, he is con-fined to a bed, completely alone and with-out the consolation of a friend. Emphasisthroughout is on walls, compartments,cells, darkness, with a progression towardincreasinglysmaller areasof confinement.The idea of metaphorical death is under-scored when on one occasion Anicetocomments that he seemed to have beenburied alive (p. 139).Perhaps more important than closedspace is the idea of time-as-closed. Ratherthan a given fact, time-as-closed is a sub-jective perception of reality resulting fromAniceto's experiences; this in turnbecomes a way of looking at the worldphilosophically. Aniceto's thoughts ontime late in the novel representa culmina-tion of all that has happened to him in thepast, illustrating the extent to which hehas been drawn in the direction ofdespair:Todos viven de lo que el tiempo trae. Dia vendrd enque miraremos para atrds y veremos que todo lovivido es una masa sin orden, ni armonia, sin pro-fundidad y sin belleza; apenas si aqui o alld habrduna sonrisa, una luz, algunas palabras, el nombre dealguien, quizd una cancioncilla. No podemoscambiar nada de aquel tiempo ni nada de aquellavida; serdn, para siempre, un tiempo y una vidairremediables y lo son y lo serAnpara todos. (p. 276)



6/10

630 Robert Scott Hispania62(December1979)

This perception of time-as-closed mani-fests itself in Aniceto's impression thathuman life in general is a fatum to whichhe must always capitulate:Habia pasado malos ratos, es cierto, pero mepareci6 natural y 16gico pasarlos: eran quiza unacontribuci6n que cada cierto tiempo era necesariopagar a alguien, desconocido aunque exigente, y noera justo que uno solo, mi padre, pagara siemprepor todos. (p. 20)

His musings on "la herida" in ChapterTwo of the Second Part, addressed to thereader familiarly in the ttl form, consti-tute the most eloquent statement in thenovel of life as afatum. The discourse is aphilosophical extension of his own experi-ence with the lesion in his lung. Thewound, he says, meaning a physical afflic-tion, is something more powerful than amere human being; one must, therefore,serve it, albeit unheroically, by limitinghis activities commensurately. It can, ofcourse, be fatal, killing either directly orby causing a deeper psychological woundwhich undermines the will to go on. Thissecondary wound may frustrate everyattempt to live, placing one beyond salva-tion, growing like a cancer, and leadingperhaps to suicide. Moreover, those whosuffer from the deepest wounds often-times survive longer than those who aremore superficially afflicted; such a factleads Aniceto to conclude that humanexistence is absurd. We can see here thephilosophical depths to which Aniceto hasbeen drawn.Thus far we have seen how Rojas haspatterned his novel along the lines of agradual progression toward a metaphor-ical death. There has been a kind of fallfrom grace (family community, i.e.,home) into a hostile world of separationand isolation (homelessness and exile). Itis time now to turn to the opposite pole ofthe dialectic, that of hope and rebirth. Itshould be pointed out first, however, thatat no time is Aniceto's despair an abso-lute. Within the context of each of theexperiences thus far described, there arehuman encounters which have for him theeffect of a light flickering in the darkness.

Such encounters serve to anticipate theconsummation of the more lasting fellow-ship in the novel's final pages.We might begin to illustrate this withthe story heard by Aniceto during hisfirst night in jail as a boy. An interpolatednarrative, it is nonetheless related the-matically to the novel as a whole and con-tributes to the general pattern. Told by athief, it concerns a police detective whotreats pickpockets with cold indifferenceuntil he witnesses the agony of one whoselegs have been severed by the wheels of atrain. He comes to the realization thatthieves, too, are suffering human beings,and he thereafter befriends them and per-mits them to steal with impunity. A the-matic miniature of Hijo de ladr6n, thenarrative shows the rebirthof humanity inthe detective and the establishment ofwhat R. W. B. Lewis called a tragicfellowship. The story is important to Ani-ceto in that it impresseson him the impor-tance of human solidarity in a brokenworld of suffering. Finally, its theme isone of healing. Since it occurs during theflashback describing Aniceto's initial lossof innocence, it holds out by implicationthe possibility of his own healing in thefuture.Numerous examples of transitoryhuman encounters can be found in thefirst three quarters of the novel, all ofthem contributing to Aniceto's develop-ment of faith and trust in others. Camara-derie and worker solidarity clearly vivifythe job in the Andes. On two occasions,Aniceto is saved from possible death bythe helping hand of a stranger. And a jailcampanion in Valparaiso, released beforehim, has a warm meal sent back to the lessfortunate Aniceto.The experiences pulling Aniceto towarddespair are illumined only intermittentlyby the evanescent light of humanity. Ani-ceto's childhood, however, by contrastand despite his flawed father, was essenti-ally one of solid community and love,emanating from the strength and fidelityof his mother. Two singular qualities ofDofia Rosalia's, which may have planted



7/10

Hope in Hijode ladr6n 631in her son the seeds of his capacity forrenewal, can be seen in two consecutiveflashbacks late in the novel. The firstshows her ability to communicate herinnate trust to her sons by example; thesecond shows her in the role of healer.Both concepts are inextricably bound upwith the idea of hope. Structurally, theflashbacks immediately precede theaccount of Aniceto's own gradual rebirthand healing and foreshadow the finaldirection the novel will take.The first flashback narrates the mys-terious arrival of El Gallego's friend,Pedro el Mulato, whose black complexionarouses fear in Aniceto and his brothers.While Dofia Rosalia is deeply hurt that afriend's physical appearance should havesuch an effect, ratherthan react angrily atthe boys, she allays their fear by kindlyexplaining who the man is. Aniceto's fearis thereby checked before it has a chanceto take root, and he and his brothers cometo love the black man as one of thefamily. The second flashback concernsanother of El Gallego's friends, a mangravely ill with tuberculosis, who isbrought into the home to be cared for byDofia Rosalia. Aniceto and his brothersobserve the man as he deteriorates day byday, growing more and more emaciatedwith his disease. Under the constant careof their mother, however, he begins toturn about, eventually regaining hisnormal size as he makes a completerecovery. The episode parallels Aniceto'sown later recovery from pneumoniaunder the care and friendship of El Fil6-sofo. Once again, as an image of deathand rebirth, it foreshadows the outcomeof the novel.

Having seen the extent to which Ani-ceto's renewal has been prepared, it ispossible now to trace that process. Hishope has its beginning while he is still injail as a desire to be released from con-finement and to have freedom of move-ment. Such a wish manifests itself in hisrecollection of the life's story of anacquaintance told to him earlier in thenovel as they approached Valparaiso

together. The story concerns the youngman's quest for freedom. Like the earlierstory of the detective, it is an interpolatednarrative, but one which bears themati-cally on Aniceto's own hopes of themoment. Confined to a rigid life by anoppressive father, the youth soughtgreater freedom and wider horizons in avagabond life, only to confront a series ofnew but equally confining circumstances:a job in a hospital guarding an insaneItalian; abandonment in Montevideo;hardship in the spacious Pampas; baresubsistence in the city as a confidenceman; and finally, jail. The narrativeoffers an ironic commentary on Aniceto'shopes and desires for freedom as it paral-lels in its theme his own life thus far.Lacking in the youth's experience hasbeen a tragic fellowship without which,Rojas seems to imply, there can be nogenuine freedom. The fact that both theyouth and Aniceto are seen to be at a deadend opens the possibility at this point forthe novel to take a new direction. Hope isborn in the depths of despair.After his release from jail, Anicetobegins a short trek to the seashore, to LaCaleta del Membrillo. His hope isexpressed in a single dramatic sentence"De pronto termin6 el muro y apareci6 elmar" (p. 93). The sea represents onlypossibility at this point, however, since heis by no means yet free. He has no money;he is too ill to work; and he is totallydependent and absolutely alone. Still, it isclear that he does not consider himselfdefeated. While he has no plan, no con-crete content to his hope, he neverthelesswaits with the expectation that there willbe a way out. To be sure, this is all he cando at this point, but it should be empha-sized that his attitude is not wholelypassive; he is positive, oriented toward thefuture, relaxed, and patient, attitudeswhich Gabriel Marcel has shown to becharacteristic of the waiting stages ofhope.Many of Aniceto's impressions under-score his anticipation. First, time as heperceives it has come to a near standstill:



8/10

632 Robert Scott Hispania62(December1979)"Alli me qued6, afirmado sobre elmurete, como si el dia tuviese ciento cin-quenta horas y como si yo dispusiera,para vivir, de un plazo de dos o tres milaflos" (p. 101). Also, Rojas slows downconsiderably the pace of the novel inorder to describe the first silent and tenta-tive stages of the encounter with El Fil6-sofo and Cristidn. The mood captured isone of temporal stasis as Aniceto's atten-tion is drawn to the tranquil sea, thehovering birds, and the stone statue ofSaint Peter. By curtailing the movementof time, Rojas captures the eternity of themoment, a moment pregnant with thenew life about to be born in Aniceto.

In addition to a change in his percep-tion of time, Aniceto attributes a sym-bolic value to the sea. Earlier, before theriot, he had watched the dirty waters ofthe Aconcagua River empty into thePacific. At that time he saw in the riversomething of the inexorability of his ownlife: "ya no puedes devolverte, desviarte,o negarte" (p. 70). Simultaneously, thedirection of the river, with its ultimatedestiny (homecoming) in the sea, express-ed something of the hope that he also felt:"Por lo demas, saldras ganando al echartus turbias aguas, nacidas, no obstante,tan claras, en esas otras, tan azules, quete esperan" (p. 70). The blueness of thesea and its purifying effect on the watersof the river take on a symbolic value asso-ciated as they are with the friendship thatbegins there. Aniceto's waiting consists,therefore, of his placing himself in a posi-tion to receive the possible gift of friend-ship, a friendship which will heal him,physically and psychologically, as thePacific purifies the waters of the Acon-cagua.One further observation regardingtimeis important. Up until the encounter withEl Fil6sofo and Cristian on the beach,Rojas had placed emphasis on the past(use of flashbacks) to reinforce, perhaps,Aniceto's perception of time-as-closed.From the moment of the encounter untilthe end of the novel, however, the flash-backs are terminated and time is perceived

more in Bergsonian terms of duree.Emphasis is placed on the fluidity of thepresent as it appears to flow more cre-atively into the future. No longer is timeirremediable. Aniceto's own words elo-quently express this change in perception:La calle es nuestra y parece que la ciudad tambien lofuera y tambien lo fuera el mar. En ocasiones, sintener nada, le parece a uno tenerlo todo: el espacio,el aire, el cielo, el agua, la luz, y es que se tiene eltiempo: el tiempo que se tiene es el que da la sensa-ci6n de tenerlo todo; el que no tiene tiempo no tienenada. (p. 273)Aniceto's new perception of timeoccurs after his friendship has had achance to develop and after his wound hashealed. Let us see, then, how this relation-ship has led him to his new vision.The most critical moment of the noveloccurs on the beach. As Aniceto

approaches the two figures, his thoughtsare on his own helplessness, his lack ofdestiny and choice, and the very realpossibility of his death. He knows implic-itly, however, that his hope for help isbound up with the two strangers. El Fil6-sofo seems to encourage him with a warmpersonal smile while Cristidn pierces himwith a sharp, suspicious glance. Theambiguity makes Aniceto hesitant toapproach them; he even considers leaving,yet he cannot bring himself to do it. He ishurt when El Fil6sofo, after the firstsmile, appears to ignore him. Soon, how-ever, Aniceto discovers the tiny bits ofmetal they are looking for on the sand. Hepicks one up and tentatively stretches outhis hand to show El Fil6sofo, who reactswith an ironic smile. But his irony soonchanges to quiet friendliness, as heexplains to Aniceto that the metal is worthmoney. As Aniceto continues to searchalong side them, El Fil6sofo smiles inter-mittently at him as if to encourage him,and Aniceto comes to feel more and morebound to them: "fui sintiendo la sensa-ci6n de que entraban en mi vida y de queyo entraba en las suyas" (p. 240). WithEl Fil6sofo's invitation to eat with them,the first fraternal bonds of friendshiphave been tied. More than just relief, Ani-ceto's reaction is one of having experi-



9/10

Hope in Hijode ladr6n 633enced a kind of salvation: "No se quehubiera hecho si no me hubiese dirigidoaquella invitaci6n" (p. 240).

Each of the subsequent scenes, repre-senting a few week's time, deepens thebonds of friendship, brings about agradual healing of Aniceto's lung and ingeneral, reinforces his hope for thefuture. He once again experiences theenjoyment of being in a home as he andhis friends accept an invitation to break-fast from the woman next door. Hisreaction is similar at a fisherman's house,where the latter's entire family is present.To reinforce the dual motifs of com-munity and hope, Rojas uses in each ofthe episodes some common but well-placed symbols. In each scene there is ameal which is shared, offered freely as agift. At the breakfast, the bread is singledout while at the other two meals bothbread and wine are given special atten-tion. The restaurant is unobtrusivelynamed El Porvenir and the woman in thetenement is called Esperanza. Further,

when Aniceto first set foot in El Fil6-sofo's room, he noticed that it waspainted green, a color he himself recog-nized to be the color of hope. Finally, andmost unobtrusively, the entire sequenceduring which Aniceto's lung is healingtakes place in the Spring, the season ofrebirth.By the novel's end, Aniceto's renewal iscomplete. He has by no means enteredParadise and the world remains a broken

one of suffering. Esperanza's husbanddrinks to excess, and El Fil6sofo, respect-ing the unity of her home, must keepsecret the fact that he genuinely loves her.El Lobo, the fisherman, loves the sea, andhis family is a solid unit; but he speaks ofthe toll of dead which the sea also takes.And Cristidn has been almost completelydestroyed as a human person by hiscountless jail terms; it is nearly impossibleeven for El Fil6sofo to communicate withhim.But despite the broken world, Anicetohas found a modicum of freedom, solidlygrounded in what must be termed a tragic

fellowship. Symbollically, he is betweenEl Fil6sofo and CristiaBn. he former rep-resents freedom, fraternity, openness,and relative success as a person; hisfriendship is of the non-coercive kindwhich respects the integrity and personalfreedom of the other. Cristian, on theother hand, represents bondage, hermeti-cism, and personal failure; were it not forEl Fil6sofo, he would surely die (as he infact does in Rojas' subsequent novel,Sombras contra el muro.Aniceto, by the novel's end, is free forthe future, headed in the direction of El

Fil6sofo rather than CristiAn.The natureof his situation is expressed in the finalpages: "desde hace dias estoy sintiendo lanecesidad de pintar una muralla, no unamuralla cualquiera, una de adobe y concal, por ejemplo, sino una grande, bienenlucida y con pintura al 6leo" (pp. 302-3). It would seem from this that he haslearned something from his experienceabout human limitation, about what hecannot hope for, symbolized here by themuralla. At the same time, he knows thathe can truly hope, too, within the frame-work of his tragic fellowship, the sourceof his freedom. All this, including thedurability of his hope, can be read intothe fact that he wants to paint the wallblue and with 6leo rather than cal.Time is open in the end for Aniceto.Nevertheless, if freedom is to be real, thenthe possibility of failure must also bepresent. And so it is. The reader is acutelyaware of such a possibility by the merepresence of Cristian, who, after somehesitation, decides to accompany them tothe balneario. Even so, Aniceto has comethrough this crisis, and while he willsurely confront others in the future, oneis left with the feeling that he has an evenchance to survive those as well. The thrustof the dialectic is in the direction of acreative future.

N LIGHT OF THIS ANALYSIS, it can be seenthat Manuel Rojas's Hijo de ladrdn,a picaresque-type narrative, does in facthave a solid structural unity. Despite its



10/10

634 Robert Scott Hispania62 (December1979)

apparent chaos, it is an organic whole,built around the dialectic of hope with theaccompanying pattern of death andrebirth. It expresses a coherent vision ofthe world. It may be, too, that much of itsappeal through the years is due to thisvery real coherence of the vision itexpresses.NOTES

'See GabrielMarcel,Homo Viator(New York:HarperBrothers,1962);andErnstBloch,Das Prin-zip Hoffnung (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1959).

2SeeJuirgenMoltmann,Theologyof Hope (NewYork: Harper& Row, 1967);William F. Lynch,Images of Hope (Baltimore: Helicon, 1965); andErich Fromm, The Revolution of Hope (New York:Harper& Row, 1968).3R. W. B. Lewis, The Picaresque Saint (Phila-delphia& New York:J. B. LippincottCompany,1961),p. 19.4Ibid.,p. 27.

SErnesto SAbato, El escritor y sus fantasmas(BuenosAires:Aguilar,1963),p. 17.6Lewis,p. 34.7ManuelRojas, Hijo de ladr6n(Santiago:Zig-Zag, 1967), p. 72. All referencesn the text of thearticleare takenfromthisedition.

COLLEGE METHODS TEACHERSPlease send the names and addresses of your students in methods classes to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association so that a sample copy of Hispania and membership materials canbe sent. If you prefer, a number of bulk copies can be sent to you for distribution to students.Let's take full advantage of this free "advertising" and increasing the ranks of AATSP memberswith young people entering the profession.

LATEST CAREER BROCHURE NOW AVAILABLE TO AATSP MEMBERSThe Career Counseling and Guidance Handbook which was prepared for and distributed atour Sixty-first Annual Meeting in Toronto this past August is now available gratis to allmembers of AATSP. It contains questions commonly asked at interviews, suggested answers,guidance in writing a rbsum?and the covering letter to go with it, help in deciding what type ofjob to look for, and an annotated bibliography of practical books and pamphlets giving careerinformation. This material would be useful for teachers at all levels to guide their students inputting their language skills to use.To order, send a stamped, self-addressed No. 10(business size) envelope to:Ruth L. BennettCoordinator of ChapterActivities70-07 170thStreet

Flushing, NY 11365

Thi t t d l d d f 200 75 19 130 T 8 O t 2013 17 40 33 PM
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

Documents

Dialectic-of-hope_H-de-Ladrón