The symbolism marked by religion
Introduction
The symbolism of San Manuel Bueno, martyr as part of the generation of 98, Miguel de Unamuno was always worried about philosophical issues, and like most of the ‘modernist writers,’ he was not religious, but his books suggested a deep concern about theDestiny after death. In addition, Unamuno wrote about his concerns about the religion and existence of God and these concerns are very clear in his ‘Nivola’ of 1930 called “San Manuel Bueno, martyr."In this book, the protagonist, Don Manuel, who is a priest, carries the" martyrdom "of help.
Developing
In "San Manuel Bueno, martyr," Unamuno demonstrates nostalgia for the faith of the simple people of the people of the small villages, an issue that is shared by all the modernists. The story is about characters with different perspectives about religion, and the characters are symbols in which Unamuno use to underly different themes that reflect their own anguish about life, faith, and death. In Don Manuel, we see Unamuno features;He does not have religious faith, but he has faith in the value of the spirit and in the goodness of the people. The author, how many of the 98 generation grew in an atmosphere of deep religiosity.
I dreamed of being holy, and was a member of the Congregation of San Luis Gonzaga. However, after the death of his son, he began to obsess on the “agonizing,” religion in which the issue of existence storms his mind. Unamuno’s ideas are characterized by our protagonist, but it is true that Don Manuel represents Jesus Christ. Like Jesus Christ, who was also a martyr, Don Manuel works and makes sacrifices to help people. We see other examples of symbolism in the book: Lazarus represents Lázaro of Bethany, and the contrast between the lake of the people and the mountains reflect the cross between faith and the doubt that Don Manuel’s mind storms, but also makes a martyr.
All these elements can add the complex feeling of Miguel de Unamuno about religion. There are different characters in which Don Manuel can represent. For example, it could be interpreted as the figure of Moses;Both figures lead their people to the promised land, but they can’t enter it. In numbers 20:12, the Lord refuses to allow Moses and Aaron to enter the land of milk and honey;And he explains “because you did not believe in me.”Don Manuel Guide El Pueblo to the Promised Land: to eternal life, making them believe in God, but Don Manuel does not believe in God, and therefore, he does not reach the promised land. However, the most obvious parallel is that of Jesus Christ.
Manuel means "God with us" in Hebrew, and thus, the relationship between Don Manuel and the village is the same as the relationship of Christ with men: both are figures of God, but they are still men. At a wedding, Don Manuel says “Oh, if I could change the water all of our lake in wine, in a vinillo that, however much it would always be rejoicing without ever getting drunk or at least with a cheerful drunkenness!"In the Bible, Jesus Christ comes to Cana’s wedding, and after they exhausted wine, he turns water to wine. We see many similarities between Christ and Don Manuel between life, but we also see them when their death approaches.
When Lázaro and Angela (his main disciples) carry the dying Don Manuel to the center of the town for what he dies, they prevent Blasillo for the fool to approach, but Manuel allows him to approach. Blasillo, "The fool," "A poor idiot by birth," is the character most similar to a child in the novel. He doesn’t know what he does, mimics others, he always shouts “my God, why have you abandoned me?"Simply because Manuel has said it;He doesn’t know what it means. When Blasillo wants to approach Manuel and kiss his hand, and when Lázaro and Angela tried to prevent him, Manuel said: “Let him approach me. Come, blalas, give me your hand."
In the Bible, when children want to approach Christ, and when the disciples tried to prevent them, Christ says “Let the children, and do not prevent them from coming to me."Also, as Manuel did, Christ takes hands and blesses them. We see the phrase ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?, repeated throughout the novel. This phrase refers to the cry of Jesus when it is being crucified. When they let him die on the cross, he felt helpless by the father. It is this feeling of abandonment that perfectly explains the crisis of religious thought in Miguel de Unamuno and, as extension, Don Manuel. Unamuno also felt abandoned by God, and for this reason.
Becomes obsessed with the agony of Christianity. It is at this time, when Christ fights death, as he is nailed to the wooden crucifix, that we see that doubts about the faith of Christ begin to appear. As a saint who helped the people of his people, as Jesus did, but who never believed in God, this phrase sounds like this with Don Manuel. During a sermon of Good Friday, when Don Manuel recites that passage, we learn that the voice "was as if they heard our Lord Jesus Christ himself, as if the voice sprout from that old crucifix …" and "hear the voice of Don Manuel, perhaps perhapsthat of our Lord Jesus Christ."
As indicated by the title of the book, Don Manuel is a martyr, like the greatest martyr known by man: Jesus Christ. Christ is the archetypal martyr;He remained firm for what he believed, against persecution, against death. However, while Christ sacrificed himself for everyone’s sins in the universe, Don Manuel sacrificed himself for the happiness and faith of all in Valverde de Lucena. Although he does not believe in God, and although this lack of faith has tormented his mind throughout his life, Don Manuel continues to work to preserve the faith of the community. He confesses his fight to Lázaro, saying: “My life, Lazarus, is a kind of continuous suicide, a fight against suicide, which is the same;But that they live, to live ours!"
We can also see the similarities between them in the miracles: while Christ healed a listed man in Bethesda’s pool, and healed a blind man in Siloé’s pool, Don Manuel also does these same miracles, although he denies that they are miracles. On the night of San Juan, he tried to relieve "all the poor women, and not a few little mans, who believe they are possessed, demonized" in the "probatic pool."With" the action of his presence, of his eyes, and such above all the sweet authority of his words and above all of his voice, "Don Manuel succeeded in undertaking these miracles. However, there was no major miracle, and there was no greater similarity between Don Manuel and Jesus Christ.
That the salvation of Don Manuel de Lázaro. In addition to healing a blind man, changing water in wine and heal. Four days after being buried, Lázaro was risen by Christ, and was saved because Lázaro’s sister, Marta, believed that Christ was the Son of God. Don Manuel does not resurrect the death of death, but resurrects his faith. At the beginning of the novel, while Lázaro does not trust the Church, and wants Angela, after graduating, he will live in the city, because the village “is impoverished by one.”Lázaro did not like religion or the cleric at the beginning of the novel.
But his perspective began to change when he meets Don Manuel. After knowing and hearing him, he says that “it’s not like others… he is a saint!"Don Manuel transforms his" beloved disciple "and resurrects his faith, and his love for the daily life of the people. Symbolism is evident here: Don Manuel is an allusion to Christ, while Lázaro is an allusion to Lázaro. In addition, Unamuno gives us an example of meta-symbolism during a conversation between Lázaro and Don Manuel, while they see snow fall on the lake. “Have you seen, Lázaro, mystery greater than that of the snow falling in the lake and dying in it as it covers with his touches the mountain?
conclusion
While the snow drinks that fall on the mountain are joined to form something enduring, those that fall in the lake die without a footprint. We see Unamuno’s concerns with immortality and death, ‘agonizing religion’, which, by extension, are also concerns of Don Manuel. But in addition, we see the distinction between Don Manuel, who has no faith, and the rest of the city, which has faith. With faith, snow can build a mountain in its community, but without faith, men die without a footprint of having been. We see elements of symbolism throughout the book: while Lázaro represents Lázaro in the Bible, and while Manuel means ‘God with us’, or Jesus Christ, Angela, the narrator of the book, who describes the actions of Don Manuel, isManuel’s messenger, like the angel Gabriel was the messenger of God.
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