1. Death of Artemio Cruz, written by Carlos Fuentes
2.
When the lieutenant colonel and the priest said goodbye at the portals of the church, Paez folded his hands over his stomach and watched his visitor walk away. The clear blue morning sharpened and seemed to draw closer the lines of the two volcanoes: the couple consisting of the sleeping woman and her solitary guardian. He squinted: he couldnt stand that bright light. He gave thanks as he observed the black clouds that would soon moisten the valley and extinguish the sun, as they did every afternoon with a punctual gray storm. He turned his back on the valley and returned to the shade of the convent. 3. This is the beginning of the internal tension of Don Artemio Cruz, and his eventual clash with Spanish loyalists in early 19th century Nueva Espana. This is the part where Artemio decides to follow the Acapulco ships into the distant shores of '
Filipinas Orientales .
I love how the book portrays the innocence of the Filipino, and accurate interpretation of Spanish officials, religious men and soldiers. You see the bad, the good, the neutral. One can immediately recognizes Don Artemio's sympathic view for the Filipino nativo, who is a Spanish Creole of present day Mexico, as he links the sufferings of the Filipino indios with the indios of Neuva Espana.
But he points out that there is a clear distinction between the two Indios. The Filipino is fierce, and does not submit so easily. That and the fact that Don Artemio falls for a native Filipina for a brief time.
There is this romantic tension between Artemio and the Filipina, almost a symbolic connection of Spain and Philippines. Artemio, wants the Filipina, just as Spain wants the Philippines. But in the end, the Filipina breaks away from the passions of Don Artemio.
The book, somehow, foreshadows historical discourse.
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