The President written by Asturias who was the Guatemalan diplomat writes the story of a dictator and his scheme to dispose of a political adversary. Doing research, I found out that this was the first real dictator novel. The message portrayed in this book was really powerful because he writes about a fictitious country that sounds like Guatemala. I like the realness of the book because he explains the truth about dictators. It is seen how evils spreads downward from the dictator to the citizens. Everyone is confine to the dictators tyranny which relates to dictators we have read about. Most dictators’ brain wash the citizens of their country to follow their laws and be faithful to their dictator. We read as each character in the novel such as Angle Face is affected by this dictatorship and must struggle to survive. Everyone was stuck living under the tyranny of a dictator president which was never identified and I started what it would be like living in a country where the rules came from one single man. Where those who didn’t follow had no other choice but wake and hope to survive till the next day. If this is what a country under dictatorship is like then I rather be stranded on an island with only water and no rules.
Being that this book is revolved around Magic Realism, it is difficult for me to understand the logic and actually story plot that is going on. What I did understand was that Angel Face had to prove himself to the elite and help the other ones gain the confidence to face the truth. He was sort of like the representation of the citizens under the so called “President.” He himself was terrified of facing the President and defending himself before they would have possibly exiled him. Those that surrounded him warned him that he should repent himself in front of the President and beg for forgiveness because at the end of it all only the President decided the fate of the people. For a lot of this book, I kept getting the sense that the President was being treated like a God, which compares a lot back to all the dictators that we have been learning about in class. The last parts of the book sort of reminded me of Judgment Day in which people say that you have to repent for all your sins in front of God and fully devote yourself to him. This was the exact case with the President and it baffles my mind the type of terror that is instilled in this people. Although I wouldn’t read this book ever again because I don’t like figuring out realism meanings, it was a good depiction of the power that the crème of the crème have when it comes to dictatorship.
after reading the the beggining of the the president by miguel angel aunturias i found that it could poosibly be talking about the enviorment that main character could have been growing up in and the struggles that were faced at this time in latin america. also as i was reading the novel about the dictator i also saw that there really wasnt a name for the president and then with reading a quick summary of the book is says that he is unamed. i also like the book because it gives an sapect of waht a dictatorship ruled country can become if it is taken into the worng hands
This book was different from the rest and it provided us with different perspectives of what a dictatorship is all about. While I was reading the context was somewhat overwhelming but at the same time the detail was important for the text. I would like to agree with Jennifer and say that he was the representative of the people who were not able to stand up for themselves. The book itself from what I understood is not really about this "President" this unclear dictator that was abusing his power and making sure that everyone did as he said. The use of power is presented as a theme within the book because this figure does not use his power how a president should.
This book was interesting that it had many different perspectives on the dictator from either generals points of view to the regular peoples points of view. I enjoyed the fact ZAny was the town idiot and killed a person while the government did not believe it was ZANY That killed him but General Canale. They did not believe an idiot was cable of killing and people got tortured for that cause they stuck to Zany killing the person. The dictators regime was obviously repressive and like the ideal dictators . I was upset how they took Migel Angel face from his love Camilia, this really shows that someone who was a close friends of the president was just a step in the dictators way and would do anything to get his way, no matter how immoral it is.
The analysis presented in the The President gives readers a hands on experience to the dictatorship being describes. Noting the instances in which people have given in to the Presidents power reflects how immersed the people were in the Presidents grasp. The excerpt describing Doctor Barreno's experience is probably a common occurrence in countries with such a power dynamic but we rarely hear of these instances because they are concealed in order to protect the reputation of the country. The scenario presented really opened my eyes to the loop wholes that the government uses. It was pretty bad that they were using cheap, poor quality sodium from the soda company to give to soldiers as purge. He was arrested for possibly trying to bring attention to this unethical method of the government, in order to conceal the truth he was imprisoned. A lot of people go through things like this for being opposed to the person in power. Not even after he served his time did people believe his side, the secretary demonstrated her loyalty to the President in power.
The president written by Asturias takes place in a setting governed by a person named the President of the Republic. Under the presidents rule people were not free to do anything that would have went against the goverments rule. In this book the basic faccets of a dictatorpship are displayed such as strategies of terror, surveilance,secret police, rumors and murders just to name a few. Many of these tactics of a dictatorship are experienced through many fictious people in the book such as Zany in chapter 3. The fear of this dictatorship held many of these people into a sense of imprisonment being that they were afraid of the unknown. Terror and torture were many strategies used to keep many of these characters at bay and under the rule of a dictatorship and free from any widescale protests and revolts.
This book was very interesting because I got to see most of the author’s perspectives that he makes in this book about dictator from the general to the different people’s points. What I found interesting also was the fact that the author actually wrote this book while he was an exile in France. This piece of literature is like an ideal book to read and keep because we see how Miguel angel was towards the general and the general was a bad person like a dictator for taking away his daughter from Miguel angel. This shows how a person will do anything in order to get what ever he wants in order to rule the world.
This book to me has been very difficult for me to read and understand I had to re-read certain parts. However, it is interesting that this is the first book that speaks about the dictators ways. Its remarkable how in this novel god and the President have the same respect which is hard for me to understand. There is no reason why the president should be treated as a god however, its seem that all dictators are really treated this way some think they are higher than god himself. This book is correct in many ways because all we see from dictators the way they take rule and control everything is simply inflicting fear in their citizens lives which causes them to think twice to overrun their president.
When I was doing research about the book before I read it a source stated that this book was the first book to write about a dictator. The source stated that this was the first novel to come to the open about the powers of dictators.
The President written by Asturias who was the Guatemalan diplomat writes the story of a dictator and his scheme to dispose of a political adversary. Doing research, I found out that this was the first real dictator novel. The message portrayed in this book was really powerful because he writes about a fictitious country that sounds like Guatemala. I like the realness of the book because he explains the truth about dictators. It is seen how evils spreads downward from the dictator to the citizens. Everyone is confine to the dictators tyranny which relates to dictators we have read about. Most dictators’ brain wash the citizens of their country to follow their laws and be faithful to their dictator. We read as each character in the novel such as Angle Face is affected by this dictatorship and must struggle to survive. Everyone was stuck living under the tyranny of a dictator president which was never identified and I started what it would be like living in a country where the rules came from one single man. Where those who didn’t follow had no other choice but wake and hope to survive till the next day. If this is what a country under dictatorship is like then I rather be stranded on an island with only water and no rules.
ReplyDeleteBeing that this book is revolved around Magic Realism, it is difficult for me to understand the logic and actually story plot that is going on. What I did understand was that Angel Face had to prove himself to the elite and help the other ones gain the confidence to face the truth. He was sort of like the representation of the citizens under the so called “President.” He himself was terrified of facing the President and defending himself before they would have possibly exiled him. Those that surrounded him warned him that he should repent himself in front of the President and beg for forgiveness because at the end of it all only the President decided the fate of the people. For a lot of this book, I kept getting the sense that the President was being treated like a God, which compares a lot back to all the dictators that we have been learning about in class. The last parts of the book sort of reminded me of Judgment Day in which people say that you have to repent for all your sins in front of God and fully devote yourself to him. This was the exact case with the President and it baffles my mind the type of terror that is instilled in this people. Although I wouldn’t read this book ever again because I don’t like figuring out realism meanings, it was a good depiction of the power that the crème of the crème have when it comes to dictatorship.
ReplyDeleteafter reading the the beggining of the the president by miguel angel aunturias i found that it could poosibly be talking about the enviorment that main character could have been growing up in and the struggles that were faced at this time in latin america. also as i was reading the novel about the dictator i also saw that there really wasnt a name for the president and then with reading a quick summary of the book is says that he is unamed. i also like the book because it gives an sapect of waht a dictatorship ruled country can become if it is taken into the worng hands
ReplyDeleteThis book was different from the rest and it provided us with different perspectives of what a dictatorship is all about. While I was reading the context was somewhat overwhelming but at the same time the detail was important for the text. I would like to agree with Jennifer and say that he was the representative of the people who were not able to stand up for themselves. The book itself from what I understood is not really about this "President" this unclear dictator that was abusing his power and making sure that everyone did as he said. The use of power is presented as a theme within the book because this figure does not use his power how a president should.
ReplyDeleteThis book was interesting that it had many different perspectives on the dictator from either generals points of view to the regular peoples points of view. I enjoyed the fact ZAny was the town idiot and killed a person while the government did not believe it was ZANY That killed him but General Canale. They did not believe an idiot was cable of killing and people got tortured for that cause they stuck to Zany killing the person. The dictators regime was obviously repressive and like the ideal dictators . I was upset how they took Migel Angel face from his love Camilia, this really shows that someone who was a close friends of the president was just a step in the dictators way and would do anything to get his way, no matter how immoral it is.
ReplyDeleteThe analysis presented in the The President gives readers a hands on experience to the dictatorship being describes. Noting the instances in which people have given in to the Presidents power reflects how immersed the people were in the Presidents grasp. The excerpt describing Doctor Barreno's experience is probably a common occurrence in countries with such a power dynamic but we rarely hear of these instances because they are concealed in order to protect the reputation of the country. The scenario presented really opened my eyes to the loop wholes that the government uses. It was pretty bad that they were using cheap, poor quality sodium from the soda company to give to soldiers as purge. He was arrested for possibly trying to bring attention to this unethical method of the government, in order to conceal the truth he was imprisoned. A lot of people go through things like this for being opposed to the person in power. Not even after he served his time did people believe his side, the secretary demonstrated her loyalty to the President in power.
ReplyDeleteThe president written by Asturias takes place in a setting governed by a person named the President of the Republic. Under the presidents rule people were not free to do anything that would have went against the goverments rule. In this book the basic faccets of a dictatorpship are displayed such as strategies of terror, surveilance,secret police, rumors and murders just to name a few. Many of these tactics of a dictatorship are experienced through many fictious people in the book such as Zany in chapter 3. The fear of this dictatorship held many of these people into a sense of imprisonment being that they were afraid of the unknown. Terror and torture were many strategies used to keep many of these characters at bay and under the rule of a dictatorship and free from any widescale protests and revolts.
ReplyDeleteThis book was very interesting because I got to see most of the author’s perspectives that he makes in this book about dictator from the general to the different people’s points. What I found interesting also was the fact that the author actually wrote this book while he was an exile in France. This piece of literature is like an ideal book to read and keep because we see how Miguel angel was towards the general and the general was a bad person like a dictator for taking away his daughter from Miguel angel. This shows how a person will do anything in order to get what ever he wants in order to rule the world.
ReplyDeleteThis book to me has been very difficult for me to read and understand I had to re-read certain parts. However, it is interesting that this is the first book that speaks about the dictators ways. Its remarkable how in this novel god and the President have the same respect which is hard for me to understand. There is no reason why the president should be treated as a god however, its seem that all dictators are really treated this way some think they are higher than god himself. This book is correct in many ways because all we see from dictators the way they take rule and control everything is simply inflicting fear in their citizens lives which causes them to think twice to overrun their president.
ReplyDeleteMachel: How about "Facundo"? The President is indeed a more direct novel in the dictator genre, but to me, certainly not the first. Or is it?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was doing research about the book before I read it a source stated that this book was the first book to write about a dictator. The source stated that this was the first novel to come to the open about the powers of dictators.
ReplyDelete