Analysis of the novel Cumandá or Drama among savages
Juan León Mera Martínez (1832-1894) was a novelist, essayist, critic, painter and Ecuadorian politician, known for having been one of the writers proposed by the foundation of a national literature for Ecuadorians. As a writer, it has been of great importance for Ecuador’s literary history;As a politician, he was an advisor and supporter of the dictatorial government of Gabriel García Moreno. He was known for being a great conservative, and Catholicism influenced both his literary and pictorial work and his thoughts on the civil society of the nineteenth century. Juan León Mera Martínez was born in the town of Ambato on June 28, 1832. He was the son of Josefa Martínez Vascones and Pedro Mera Gómez, a merchant who would leave his family even before his son was born. He would live a very poor childhood with his mother, helping her as much as possible in "Los Molinos", a farm where he would be raised. He learned to read before the age of six, an uncle taught him about geography, grammar and arithmetic, and his grandfather would make him approach the literary mandatory and versification through the readings of the official correspondence. His first poems would be published in 1854, thanks to his uncle’s disposition by showing them a poet who liked. By then, León Mera was considered a young man of intellectual level, although physically enclosed, high and pale. Quechua knew how to speak. In 1858 he would be published his first poetry book, which would include different poetic genres. He died at age 62, 1894, in his villa in Ambato.
His most outstanding works begin to bloom in 1865, as secretary of the Senate Chamber, he was asked to write the lyrics for a anthem. This, musicalized by the teacher Antonio Neumane, would result in the National Anthem of the Republic of Ecuador. In 1879 he would publish his most famous novel, Cumandá. This was a clear example of the Ecuadorian costumbrista approach and the search for a national literary identity that combined the aboriginal elements with the Spanish influences that the conquest brought. Then they will come, the domestic school, Quito, 1880, the last moments of Bolívar, 1883. Between two aunts and an uncle, Ecuadorian Magazine, 1889. Because I am a Christian, Ecuadorian Magazine, 1890. An inconvenient marriage, Ecuadorian Magazine, 1893. Ecuadorian Anthology: Cantares of the Ecuadorian people, Quito, 1892.Tijereta y Plumadas, Madrid, 1903. García Moreno, 1904. Ecuadorian Novelitas, Madrid, 1909. The dictatorship and restoration in the Republic of Ecuador, Quito, 1932. Short novels, Ambato, 1952.
Without a doubt "Cumandá" would be the most representative work of this author, and it is in this review we will realize that Juan León Mera outlines the drama of the Domingo Orozco family, whose properties have been razed by the Indians of the region inan uprising caused by excess taxes. After the loss of his farm and family, Orozco follows the pattern that established the bartolomé de las houses, and in the encomendero is friar. It will be from then on Domingo, "the Chief of Christians". Mera conservatism justifies the control of white and Creole settlers, while criticizing the perpetrated abuses. The author does not miss the opportunity that the novel offers to condemthe Catholic religion. It details the life of the Jíbaras and Záparas of the jungle, making their customs, beliefs live, making their territory known without borders and dysting them with Ecuadorian color, and the love between Carlos and Cumandá, which does not come toThe death of the protagonist, which shows in some way that mere being a conservative, would not allow the incest to take place among lovers. It uses certain features that will later be considered characteristic of the indigenist novel. We can highlight: the inhuman rigor of work, the abuses in the collection of taxes, the bribery of justice in favor of the cruel pattern, the punishment by the foremen, the sharply violent reaction to any indication of uprising, and even the appearanceof an indigenous nurse whose intervention will be key in the development of the plot.
Theme
Cumandá or drama between savages, is a work located in the twentieth century, begins by remembering the abuses suffered by the natives by the conquerors, who rebelled many times against such abuse, already tired of seeing their family suffer from their familyTubón decides to take revenge and burn the Orozco family hacienda, with them inside. Carlos studied in another city, his father, José Domingo de Orozco, is going to visit him, and for that reason they are saved from dying, before the misfortune father and son come together in an evangelizing game, which will lead them to Cumandá. This story has as its main environment the Amazon jungle that describes it fantastically, the wonderful lands of the Ecuadorian East where we moves us to the tour of the palara and imagine the sublime of nature.
Characters
- Cumandá: Cumandá means white patillo. She is the protagonist of the novel, towards the end it is discovered that her origin comes from the Orozco family since she is Julia. It has a big and pure love towards the white of Andas.
- Carlos Orozco: he is the white in love with Cumandá.
- Domingo Orozco: Father of Carlos and Julia (Cumandá).
- Tongana: Father of Cumandá.
- Pona: Mother of Cumandá.
- Mayariaga: Morona curaca angry with Yahuarmaqui.
- Cumandá brothers, there are two.
- Indigenous: the indigenous people who appear in the novel are the záparras and the ‘jíbaros’ that are actually the current Shuar and Achuar.
- Carmen n.: Wife of Don José Domingo de Orozco.
- Yahuarmaqui: Curaca known as old from the bloody hands.
Knot or climax
Pure love between the two young people, hatred of races, persecutions and death sentences, Tongana’s three attempts to end Carlos, the young man is thrown into the lake by the son of Tongana, escapes from being poisoned and is saved from being crossed byan arrow. On all those occasions Cumandá performs the function of heroin that saves the beloved.
Outcome:
The outcome is tragic in the last chapters, because the final anagnórisis (revelation intrigue, recognition of the true identity of Cumandá and Tongana thanks to the squirrel skin bag) makes the love relationship between two brothers impossible. In addition, the sentimental novel demands the tragic end, something that is prepared throughout the text and is resolved from chapter XVIII, "last interview on Earth", when Cumandá gives himself and asks to speak with him before he died, andOne of the most tearful scenes of the novel takes place, seasoned with the pain of farewell.
Interpretation and criteria:
This novel is considered romantic and indigenista, because it tells us about love between two young people who, due to racial differences, cannot be together. It is very important to read this text because it allows us to know our territory embellished by Mera’s letters throughout the novel, we can travel in time and travel the Amazon green with each word embodied in it, which takes place in the Ecuadorian EastDuring the early nineteenth century, with their words the characters lived again. The scenarios spoke of the mestizo and white men colonizations that spread the Catholicism to the jíbaros and Záparos. This work is the most representative of the romantic novel in Ecuador, for this reason, it is pride for us, and therefore the majestic landscape, the mistreatment that the natives suffered at the hands of the Spaniards, and the deep -rooted customs of the tribes, leave us asocial awareness, to value, love and care for our territory, especially the Amazon jungle and everything that lives there.
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