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This was an interesting allegory. I read it a couple times and made notes to help me make sense of it. It begins with a very heavy rainfall, where streets are flooded. Water can be interpreted in different ways, and the uncontrollable water, as was depicted in the beginning of this story, could symbolize the […] read full post >>

Caudillos were seen as saviours, it seems, to the poor, as they seemed to fight for reform and social change so that the gap between the healthy and poor would lessen. However, caudillos appealed to the masses because they needed support and numbers to... read full post >>

Caudillos were seen as saviours, it seems, to the poor, as they seemed to fight for reform and social change so that the gap between the healthy and poor would lessen. However, caudillos appealed to the masses because they needed support and numbers to... read full post >>

I thought that The Slaughterhouse was a very powerful piece, depicting the major divide within colonial Buenos Aires and the greater Latin America as a whole. The major contrast that Echeverría explores is that of "civilization" versus "barbarianism." He also criticizes the violent rule of de la Rosas through grotesque scenes of meat and murder. 
I found the most interesting concept that he explored to be about people under the pressure of survival when trying to stay "moral." He states, "...the Church holds the key to all stomachs!" and continues in saying that on the "civilized" side, it is about reducing a man to the exact moral code or structure of the Church and the government. I agree that this can make people "machine" like when they look to the law or their religion for each and every decision. 
I think that the wild bull symbolizes the "Unitarian savages," fighting back to be wild and free even when roped up. Many people fear the wild bull, and would rather it be contained and slaughtered. 
Another topic thoroughly explored is racism. The races are distinct, and the young man who is murdered is done so on unjust terms with them saying, "Cut his throat, Matasiete; he was going for his pistols. Slit his throat like you did the bull's." 
In the conversation that follows between the Federalist and the Unitarian, the Federalist compares the man to an animal because of his strength, poking fun and dehumanizing him. The man responds in saying that he'd rather be torn to pieces by a tiger than plucked apart one by one like a crow. I thought that this was a very powerful image. How slaughter is a well thought out, cruel way to kill with ropes and devices. 
When he finally dies, a Federalist says immediately, "A report must be filed. Untie him, and let's go." Showing how unsympathetic and rule-bound they have become. In the end he calls the Federalists the barbarians, the butchers, and the thieves. He then refers to the "savages" as friends of enlightenment and freedom, showing how subjective "barbarianism" is.  read full post >>

I thought that The Slaughterhouse was a very powerful piece, depicting the major divide within colonial Buenos Aires and the greater Latin America as a whole. The major contrast that Echeverría explores is that of "civilization" versus "barbarianism." He also criticizes the violent rule of de la Rosas through grotesque scenes of meat and murder. 
I found the most interesting concept that he explored to be about people under the pressure of survival when trying to stay "moral." He states, "...the Church holds the key to all stomachs!" and continues in saying that on the "civilized" side, it is about reducing a man to the exact moral code or structure of the Church and the government. I agree that this can make people "machine" like when they look to the law or their religion for each and every decision. 
I think that the wild bull symbolizes the "Unitarian savages," fighting back to be wild and free even when roped up. Many people fear the wild bull, and would rather it be contained and slaughtered. 
Another topic thoroughly explored is racism. The races are distinct, and the young man who is murdered is done so on unjust terms with them saying, "Cut his throat, Matasiete; he was going for his pistols. Slit his throat like you did the bull's." 
In the conversation that follows between the Federalist and the Unitarian, the Federalist compares the man to an animal because of his strength, poking fun and dehumanizing him. The man responds in saying that he'd rather be torn to pieces by a tiger than plucked apart one by one like a crow. I thought that this was a very powerful image. How slaughter is a well thought out, cruel way to kill with ropes and devices. 
When he finally dies, a Federalist says immediately, "A report must be filed. Untie him, and let's go." Showing how unsympathetic and rule-bound they have become. In the end he calls the Federalists the barbarians, the butchers, and the thieves. He then refers to the "savages" as friends of enlightenment and freedom, showing how subjective "barbarianism" is.  read full post >>

Echeverria’s Slaughterhouse is a text that’s very hard to read through and not feel anything. It’s a text that’s made to evoke emotion in the reader, mostly due to all the grotesque images that we’re given but also all the hate and intolerance that you can feel flowing through the church’s depiction as well as […] read full post >>

Echeverria’s Slaughterhouse is a text that’s very hard to read through and not feel anything. It’s a text that’s made to evoke emotion in the reader, mostly due to all the grotesque images that we’re given but also all the hate and intolerance that you can feel flowing through the church’s depiction as well as […] read full post >>

Nowadays, everyone is used to the huge territory of United Sates, but in the 19th century, everyone blamed the 11 times president Antonio López de Santa Ana; he did many mistakes while his mandate, he lost not only his real leg, but a war, and almost more than half of the Mexican territory back then. […] read full post >>

Nowadays, everyone is used to the huge territory of United Sates, but in the 19th century, everyone blamed the 11 times president Antonio López de Santa Ana; he did many mistakes while his mandate, he lost not only his real leg, but a war, and almost more than half of the Mexican territory back then. […] read full post >>

Esteban Echeverria was an Argentine poet, writer and political activist and also one of Latin America’s most important literature figures, as he said to have written the first romantic ‘Castilian’ (castellano) novels. A man with strong political ideals and social opinion, and an Unitarian leader, Echeverría wrote “El Matadero”, a short story, considered throughout not […] read full post >>