Literature Review

The first book I attempted to read was, “El Llano en llamas” by Juan Rulfo. I then decided that I would get the English version because it was taking too long to read in Spanish. They didn’t have any at either library in Provo so I ended up purchasing a cheap copy off of Amazon so I could read the English version, “The Burning Plain.” When it finally arrived I started reading and realized it was somehow not the same version I was hoping to get. This book was a compilation of Juan Rulfo’s short stories instead of the complete story of “El Llano en Llamas.” I was able to read a few of these short stories and then see some underlying themes.

I was really surprised while reading. The literature is just different then what I am used to. I had a harder time following the plot and understanding the main ideas. The first thing I noticed was that all of the main characters were male. Every single one of the main character was a male and many of the stories had a connection to some male relationship. For example, a few brought in the dynamics of father and son. One even mentioned the grandfather, father, and son. This was common theme in all the short stories.

I think this comes up so frequently in this literature because in this culture the males are considered higher than the women. I could see how males would be considered more important. There was little reference to women. When the reference was there the focus was still from the angle of the male character. It was very interesting to me to see this. I know that in these cultures you talk to men differently and they are in a sense higher than the women, but I could really see how that is because of the way things were written in Juan Rulfo’s stories.

There was also a lot of reference between good versus evil. A lot of the characters were doing bad things, but were almost looked at as the good guys. There was frequently a fight between the common man and the government. With the men that were fighting against the government as the good guys. This makes sense because multiple times in this society the people were going against the government. The government was usually considered bad. You could really see that coming through the literature.

I also noticed simple things like the focus there was a destruction and distress. I found a lot of the reading very gory. There was a lot of fighting, and the descriptions were a bit more descriptive than your literature from say, America or England. I do think a lot of people from this culture have lived more difficult lives. They had things that were more difficult to deal with because of economical situations and their geographical location.

It was very interesting to notice all of these things. I wouldn’t have thought about these differences if I hadn’t read with the specific intent to see the culture come through the literature. It was a good experience to read and notice this stuff.