Carlos Fuentes Biography
The Death of Artemio Cruz is a book written by Carlos Fuentes in 1962 about the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath. Fuentes was a Mexican novelist and writer born in 1928 and died in 2012. Fuentes was considered one of the finest writers in Latin America, and his works left a significant mark in Latin American literature in the 1960s. Fuentes has written several influential works during his time as a writer. His works targeted leadership and exposed the social injustices that ordinary citizens experienced due to bad governance. Some of his other major works include “Where the Air is clear” in 1958, “The Good Conscience” in 1959, “Aura” in 1962, “A Change of Skin” in 1967, and the 1975 “Terra Nostra” which tells the story of Hispanic civilizations. Fuentes earned several awards and recognitions in his lifetime. For instance, he wore the Biblioteca Breve Award in 1967, the National Order of Merit of France in 1992, and the Prince of Asturias Award in 1994.
The Death of Artemio Cruz Summary
The story starts with Artemio Cru lying on his deathbed, his mind wandering between the past and present. Cruz is a former revolutionary soldier who is also a corrupt politician, journalist, and lover who participated in the Mexican Revolution and the formation of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. On his deathbed, Cruz is surrounded by his family, pressuring him to reveal where he had hidden his will. There is also a priest at Cruz’s deathbed who performs a sacrament anointing because he is dying to allow him to confess his atrocities and reconcile with the church before he dies. Among those present is his private secretary, who has audio records of several corrupt adventures.
As a young man, Cruz had idealistic values and dreams of how he wanted Mexican society to be. However, the quest for riches turned Cruz into a corrupt who lives his entitled life chasing wealth. Cruz joined the revolution after the death of his uncle, to whom Cruz was much devoted to. At the time of joining the revolution, his ambitions were to ensure that the vast land grabbed by the rich minority is given back to the peasants to enable them to feed their families. During the revolution, Cruz is imprisoned with another young soldier, Bernal, from a wealthy family and has a sister. A firing squad later executes Bernal while Cruz uses tricks to save his life. Cruz uses treachery means to marry Bernal’s sister Catalina. Since women are not allowed to own property, Cruz inherits the family wealth after Catalina’s father dies, and Catalina is the only heir to her family’s wealth. He uses his position to continue acquiring wealth and grabbing lands. Even on his deathbed, he lies to his wife about the location of the will. He leaves most of his wealth to Padilla, his trusted assistant.
Analysis
Carlos Fuentes wrote the book “The Death of Artemio Cruz” to express the betrayal and disappointment of the Mexican Revolution’s impact on the ordinary citizen. The events in the book demonstrate how the revolution did not change any aspect of the life of ordinary citizens but instead led to even more suffering. Most of the revolutionaries were driven by an appetite for wealth and power, which made them oppress the poor and alienate them from their land and property. The story tells of how Cruz used his power and wealth to buy the newspapers to depict himself as the true revolutionist by proclaiming false glories of the revolution while grabbing people’s lands and property simultaneously.
The author of this book targets both the political elite and ordinary citizens. He criticizes the political elite for using their position to exploit the poor and enrich themselves. He criticizes their corrupt dealings that have often been done at the expense of the life and resources of ordinary citizens. Fuentes targets ordinary citizens to expose how the political class uses the poor for their gain. He aims to expose the politicians’ betrayal to ordinary citizens after they entrust them, hoping that they will be liberated from their problems. The intellectual level of the audience targeted by the author of the book is essential intelligence with the ability to connect the events unfolding in the text to the reality of life.
The kind of people who will be reading this text are people who have identified the social injustices of society and are determined to understand how those in positions of power tend to exploit ordinary citizens for their gain. People with revolutionary ideas are the ones who are likely to be reading this text to understand how revolution can be a chance for opportunists to ascend to power and fulfill their malicious goals. The intellectual level of such people is high because they are often idealists who want to learn from historical events to perfect their objectives and realign their goals to the reality of a revolution.
The author presents the Mexican revolution and the post-revolution society realistically because the events portrayed in the story are the actual events during the revolution and the post-revolution period. During the Mexican Revolution, the conflict led to a civil war that led to at least the death of 240000 in the war and other 750000 deaths due to diseases, mines, and factories. It also demonstrates the betrayal within the army and the political class. However, the post-revolution period is not presented realistically because of several reforms by liberals and conservatives. The hacienda system was abolished, and the land was shared between the peasants and the Indian communities. The form of governance was also transformed, where dictatorship was replaced with a constitutional system of governance. The book does not portray these reforms, but instead, it presents the post-revolution period as a period that did not impact the lives of the citizens. According to Fuente, the revolution did not serve the purpose of liberating the people because even on his deathbed, Cruz still lies about the location of the will so that the beneficiary of his wealth is not his family but is a close aide.
The author is accurately representing the class and social system of Mexico. The events in the story indicate how the upper class uses its influence and power to oppress the poor and grab their lands. The upper class is the minority group defined by income and high education levels, while the poor are the majority who mainly live in the slums and rural areas. The class disparity has continued to increase the gap between the poor and the rich in Mexico. The rich tend to explore their financial gain by exploiting the poor. In the text, Fuente portrays Cruz as a rich man whose appetite for wealth pushes him to take the little the poor have. Cruz’s mother is also taken advantage of by the wealthy man who rapes her and chases her away.
The book has affected the understanding of the history of Mexico by making the audience aware of the events that led to significant reforms in the country. It explains the events of the revolution and how they impacted society. The book provides an understanding of ordinary citizens’ experiences while fighting for a better society. It also exposes the atrocities that the political class committed against the people. Being aware of these events enables the audience to understand the present and predict the future.