Bow Down to the King

I think it is completely valid to say that Gabriel Garcia Marquez can be considered Colombia's king. Why? Not only did everyone love him for his amazing works in literature, but he was also a nice human being. He gave voice to our country and stood up for all of us. He won the Nobel Prize in 1982, and in his acceptance speech, he managed to amaze more than one in the audience. When I read it I felt proud and nostalgic, for it seems unreal that such a smart Colombian, who I admire a lot, is not in this Earth anymore. His speech touched topics that many Latin American countries identify with. That's what's so amazing about him, he managed to unify the Latin American people in order to speak out and talk about the truth in our history. 

Garcia Marquez was most definitely eloquent when he delivered his speech. Simply by looking at the title of his speech, we already see his great use in rhetoric. The speech's title, The Solitude of Latin America, could be interpreted as an allusion to his work. It connects to the title of his Nobel Prize winning novel, A Hundred Years of Solitude. Throughout the whole text, he plays with the title of his novel and fuses it with the solitude that Latin American countries have experienced in the past. He proved his power to speak out in representation of Latin America, and how our past has been misjudged by external countries. 

It is later on in his speech that he introduces another rhetorical skill. He was able to make a comparison between the countries of Latin America and the countries in Europe. The following words left me honestly amazed: "It is only natural that they insist on measuring us with the yardstick that they use for themselves, forgetting that the ravages of life are not the same for all, and that the quest of our own identity is just as arduous and bloody for us as it was for them. The interpretation of our reality through patterns not our own, serves only to make us ever more unknown, ever less free, ever more solitary" (Marquez, 1982). This is a very effective tool because he is basically telling the audience (and the whole world) to not judge Latin America "the easy way." First, all the other countries need to understand our history by looking at theirs first, and knowing that although each country was formed differently, we still have a thing in common: it wasn't easy. They have to understand that we have had horrible tragedies, just as they did too. It is just that many European countries seem to forget their own dark past (since they are very old lands) and judge us by our own, which has had dark occurrences more recently due to our younger age as a continent. What a great way to call for respect!

Another rhetorical implementation in Garcia Marquez's speech has to do with the ending. He managed to close off with a quote. This has a great effect in his speech, since he is not repeating what he already said in his previous words, but it gives a little insight of something that he heard from his "master" and reflected upon. 

Below, I am attaching a picture of the rhetorical triangle for this particular speech.

Colombia Could Be Caliban

After reading this article from Barnard College, I realized that Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest, connects to the colonization era in Colombia. Basically, in the play, Caliban gets taken his freedom away and is enslaved by Prospero. Throughout history, Caliban has been compared to an aborigine and a savage. The character's name originated from the word "cannibal" and Shakespeare's intentions with that choice are very clear. SInce he was a native from the land, he is seen as an anthropophagus and a savagely wild creature. That's why Prospero decides to enslave him and dominate him towards his own benefit. 

Many Latin American writers feel identified with this character in the sense of their countries' history, for many of the Latin American countries were filled with native people who were later enslaved just like Caliban. When Europeans got to America and interacted with the natives, they felt that these new beings were very hostile and they also decided to enslave them. They positioned themselves at a dominant place, just like Prospero. 

In Colombia's case, the original indian population that inhabited our country could be placed in the same position as Caliban. Our indigenous people were tortured and were taken their freedom away. As the article mentions it, their own culture was eliminated, and the mestizo culture was now created (mixture of native Colombians and Spaniards). There was nothing that either Caliban or Colombia could do in order to defend themselves from the "attacker". However, many famous Latin American figures have expressed their emotions towards this occurrence, such as Che Guevara and Ruben Dario. In Caliban's case, he simply wished the "red plague" upon Prospero and also that he could unlearn everything Prospero forced him to learn (ex: language).  After all, Colombia can really be considered a country of Calibans.