Myth and symbolism in Alsino by Pedro Prado

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Authors Osta, Winifred Ray Hubbard, 1932-

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MYTH'AMD SYMBOLISMh ;

ALSINO BT EE3DRO. PRADO

byWinifred Hubbard Osta

' A Thesis Submitted to the- Faculty of theDEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES. : -

In Partial' Fulfillment of the Requirements ■For the Degree of

:: .. MASTER OF ARTSIn the Graduate College ' : :TEE UNIVERSITY'OF 'toIi20kA'.v"/; -i;:vv

1 9 6 5

SEMJEMEM BY AUTHOR

This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the library*

Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special: permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made * Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major-department or.the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the Interests of scholarship... In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from.the author*

SIGHED;

APEROVAL BY THESIS'DIREOTOR .This thesis has been approved on the date -shown belows

• REHATO I. ROSALDO Professor of Spanish

Dme

ACKNOfoiMMEHffTS

' The author wished to.express appreciation and gratitude to Professor Jorge Elliott for having introduced her to Alsino and for his encouragement ■and enthusiasm when the idea for this thesis was first conceived0

Thanks are also due to Professor Henato Rosaldo for his calm and patient guidance of the writing of this thesis, ; ' /

ill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

' pageAlDS*ti37 cLO"t/ e e # d e o e * e * » » • 6 e <* 6 # e * e o o o o e e o o *UChapter I, Introduction » . «, „ » , , • y:.< »' . »' ■. . . . , » . » 1Chapter II „ Biography of Pedro Prado « <» . . . . . . . . « 3■ Chapter III. Definition, of Myth, Symbol, and Allegory. . « =' . > . , 12Chapter IV. The Myth of Alsino. ' . ,' . . . . . . . . . . ' :. .- . • 17Chapter V. Alsino as the Aruist . . . . . . . . ... . . . @ . ... 2^Chapter VI. • Alsino as a Spiritual Autobiography . . . . . . . . 37Chapter VII. 1 Other Synbols . .» . . * . . . . . . . . . . .... . AA

: Chapter VIII. Literary Merits of the. Novel. 1. . . 55Chapter IX. Conclusion . ... . ... . . . . . * . ® .. ^' . * * - e3List of References . . . . . . . » . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OS

. ABSTRACT - . . ,

Alslno is a re-telling of the ancient Greek myth of Icarus ina. modern setting, relating it to both eternal and contemporary problems of creative mam The story of the boy who- grows wings and flies is an allegory of the Artist torn between the. desire to cultivate his genius and the need to satisfy his human longings0 Alsino’s wings symbolise the qualities of the artist that alienate him from other human beings0 Prado has used some of the traditional elements of the folklore of the hero such as the Old Man, the journey, the rejection of the hero, and the helpful- animals0 ■ He has also used elements of nature such as the, sea, the sun, the storm, and the night as symbols in their traditional significance in folklore to support the .role.of Alsino as a mythical hero0

Alsino is also a spiritual autobiography of Prado himself, in which he expresses the. anguish that he feels regarding the limitations imposed upon his artistic nature by time, his environment, and his own humanityo . . . , . . ; . i

The major defect of the novel is the exaggerated realism of.some" of the episodes describing Chilean Country life which detracts from the • lyric beauty of the narrative „ The chief virtue is Prado,’s lyrical.des- , criptions of nature which also serve, as instruments of expression for v Alsino’s inner state and for Prado's personal philosophy of life*.

'Chapter X

INTRODUCTION

It is not rare for modern authors to turn to classical mytho­logy for inspiration, witness James Joyce’s Ulysses and Efikos Kazant- zakes’s The Odyssey; a Modern Sequel, as well as numerous theatrical works by European playwrights such as Giraudoux in France and Buero Vallejo in Spain„ By utilizing an ancient plot as the basis for a contemporary work, these authors are able to emphasize the timeless and universal qualities of the problems' that they are presenting0

The most outstanding novel of this kind issuing from Latin America is Alsino by Pedro Prado, based on the myth of Icarus 0 The continuing admiration for this novel, first published in 1920, has resulted in eight reprintings, and has provoked constant mention by critics in histories and anthologies of Latin American literature*

Aside from the literary merits of the hovel, which are consid­erable, what is interesting is Prado’s use of myth and symbol as a :: Vehicle for expressing the ancient anxiety that results when man tries to exceed the limitations of his own naturee The purpose of this paper is to study his.use of myth and symbol in relation to the psycho-, logical and social problems that they represent, ^' The interpretation of symbols is largely ■ hased on the studies

of Carl Go Jung, but authors of other psychological orientations have also been consulted. Because this is not a study of the interpreta­tions of the various schools of psychology, no attempt has been made .

' ' • ' ■ 2to distinguish between them in the body of the text except where quo-, ‘ . • ■ 'tat ions have bean used* ■ '' • . ' . .

Chapter II

BIOGRAPHY OF PEDRO PRADO

Pedro Prado Calvo was born in Santiago, Chile, on October 8, 1886 and died in Vina del liar, January 31, 19520 He was the only son of Dr. Absalon Prado Marin, director of the Hospital de San Vicente de Paul, and laura Calvo MacKennag The death of his mother when he was only two (December 21, 1888), had a profound effect on Prado's life* In the absence of a real mother, he had to invent one to take her place 0 In his acceptance speech when he was awarded the Premio'Hacional de Literatura (19A9), he remarked:

Tenia, dos anos apenas cuando mi madre muriOo ^Cdmo podria en verdad recordarla? dY como podria olvidarla? 0»«Seria. yo, el hijOo o oguien deberia crear a su madre, madre toda hecha de carencias constantes, y la terminaria de modelar con mis goces

. sin eco, mis dolores sin apoyo, y mis caricias imposibles0 : »g-0Y fue asi' como, sin yo "saberlo, pasdmi madre a ser como mi

hija y, a mi vez, llegue a ser como el hijd de mi propia y primigenia creacidhel .

In place of the mother , "la presencia energica y aca.so dema- siado inmediata del padretook precedence in the boy's life0 Don ■

: Absalon concentrated all his affection and attention upon his only son. Every night after the doctor came in from his rounds, he and ' the boy, who shared his bedroom, would talk together - in the darks

1. Hernan Diaz Arrieta. Los cuatro grandesrde la literatura , V . chilena durante el siglo XX„ (Santiagog. Zig-Zag. 1963), p. 58, . :

4No eran conyersaciones entre el padre y el hijo. Eran voces

alucinanteSj nacidas de la sombra y que a la. sombra. volvian, •siempre como desencamadas <» Asx aprendi desde mi primera in-' fanoia a conocer y emplear ega voa desconocida y olvidada que brota en nosotros cuando la oscuridad nos penetra y libera, Y asi lo hicimos por largos anos, Y era gratisimo realiaarlo; era como alcanzar una. mayor desnudez que proseguiamos despues de habernos despojado de nuestros vestidos y actitudes, Y as if ad- quiri el uso de esas partes ignoradas de la conciencia que solo se iluminan si actuamos en la atmdsfera que las sombras ali-mentan,^

Because of the close relationship maintained between them until thefather's death in 1905» young Pedro was greatly influenced by his .father in his behavior and his manner of thinking<, Julia Garcia Gamesdescribes this relationship in these words;

/Medico de altas condiciones, reconcentrado y personal, no se apartaba de su hijo, sugiriendole ideas, encauzando sus sentimientos, aclarando a veces con rudeza el misterio que en- vuelve la vida, Para Prado no hubo problems sexual, su padre prepare su ideologia, enriquecid su espiritu con preocupaciones mas alias y le dio tambieh la necesaria educacidh sexual«Guando lo perdid, su caracter estaba hecho, se le habia pren-

. 'dido el deseo de marchar serenamente bajb el sol; teniayeinte ahos&4 - V ' . p - v x . .

As noble and-well-founded as this may sound, it was not without its damaging effects on the psyche of the young poet, as the,following comment by Diaz Arrieta testifies;

En realidad, ocurriale a Prado por aquel tiempo de su juven- tud un .accidents raro en cualquier y, en un joven poeta, casi increibles no habia tenido lo que se llama penas de amor,

Y mas adentro aun, algo mas raro todavias la extraordinaria sujecidn a que lo tuvo sometido su padre,,,logrd del mozo una abstinencia sexual que no cpnsiguen ordinariamente los preceptos religiosos mas ewtrictosaaa Su mujer fuepara el poeta, en el sentido mas amplio y literal, su unica mujer, Y esta pureza del

3, Ibid,6 P, 60,A, Julia Garcia Games, Como los he visto vo,(Santiago; Nasci-

mento, 1930), p, 123, .

aentimiento conyugal} si le did la serenidad que brilla en su obra, pnvala. en oambio de cuanto las pasiones amorosas encie- rran de mas propitiio.a la estilizadidn drama&ioa'.s? al efecto■ humane,5. : : ; . ■, : .

Understandably, the death of his father was a great shock to the young man who was then only twenty years old. Nevertheless, or perhaps because of this, that same year he married Adriana Jaramillo Bruce, a young woman of great beauty, by whom he had nine children, Prado was a great family man and spent most of his time in their spacious casa-quinta on the outskirts of the city of Santiago, There he did his writing, played with his children, and entertained his many friends. He had inherited property from his father, and although it was heavily burdened with debts, he handled it wisely and made it more:valuable, This streak of practicality was a surprising element in his character, inherited from his father perhaps, but unusual in an artist, ^ A y;:' ' - '

Prado studied humanities at. the Instituto Nacional and archi­tecture at the Escuela de Ingenier^aa He had planned to become an architect; and although he did not finish his studies because of his ■; marriage, he was able■to practice'this profes s ion with his son's firm ' due to a legal loophole in the law governing licensing, " He had con-, siderable talent as a painter and enjoyed being in the company of artists. The illustrations for Alsino were drawn by him,j1 :, Although a painter and a practicing architect, it was as a

Writer and poet that Prado Was known and' loved. He began his liter­ary career under the pseudonym of Alvaro J, de Credo in'November

5, Dias Arrleta. op,cit , p, 64-,

1905 with the story Guadro de estio. o El lpvalldo<, published in El Independiente. a small periodical in Santiago.& While he was study­ing in the Escuela, de Ingenierxa, he became editor of the student periodical La. Universidado In 1908, his first volume of verses Flores de oardo was printed at his own expense.? Prado was editor-owner of the Revista Contemporanea (1910)» a short lived literary journal in which he tried to present the foreign authors that formed part of his habitual reading in the manner of an anthology0

Prado was co-founder and leading light of the literary-artistic group that called themselves Los Dies. This was a loosely organized

: body of authors and artists who' published a journal (1916) , organized art exhibitions.,- published books, and even proposed building a tower by the sea where they could escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. This project was never realized, Arturo Torres-Rioseco says of Los Diezs

■ Prado pertenece a un grupo de escritores postmodernistas, cuyo ideal era el oultivo de sus propios temperamentos.

La sociedad de "Los Piez",«,celebrd una velada Solemne,. enigmatica, hizo una. exposicidn de pintura con cuadros de Prado,, \ Magallanes, y Alberto Reid| fundo una. revista, lanzo buenas edi-

ciones de libros nacionales, cultivando al mistap tiempo, con animo alegre, cierta mistificacioh irdnicamente trascendental,

, Los "Diez" tenfan su rito de iniciacidn y consiguieron crear una atmdsfera mistica en torno suyo, ' Habldse de que habitarxan una torre junto al mar, y como entre los hermanos habxa arquxtectos, pintores y musicos, se levantaron pianos fantasticosy se dibu- jaron decoraciones y se canto al son de.campanas que todavxa no.

' existxan, I ;:-'- -v.El prinoipio inquebrantable de estos artistas era la. pureza

6, Raul Silva Castro. "Pedro•Prado; vida y obra:.n Revista Hi.apanica Moderna, XXVlj notl-^ Cenqro/abriiV I960) sip* Ae .

7, Pedro Prado. Flores de cardo.(Santiago8Imprenta Universi- taria, 1908), . . . . .

7en el arte y su clausula principal la humildad heroica,

■ Fuerza, entusiaamo y juventud y? per enciiaa de todo, el mila- gro del real. Pero la cofrad^a...despues de discutir muchos

- prdyectos# de escribir belles versos# bella prbaa y bella muai- ca.o oduro solo de mil novecientos quince a. mil novecientos dies y seis> y se disperse>" cada artista qrientado por propios cami- noSj, llevados todos por su vigorosa personalidad0 &

Fernando Alegrjfa describes Los Di@%9 as 8 ■... (unj organismo vago, un tanto inconsistente, en el cual

se habla con entusiasmo de las teorias de Tolstoy, se suena conliberar a la humanidad por el camino de la belleza y del arte,y se proyectan obras de un hondo sentido human!tario. En ver- dad, el radio de accidn de Los Dies es curiosamente local, pero, aun dentro de sus timidas realizaciones, contribuye poderosa- mente a dar estructure a la. literature moderna.de Chile. Juz- gados a la. distancia, Los Diez const!tuyen el aporte chileno

. al movimiento postmodernista0LO .

Prado is now known more for M s novels Alsino (1920)11 and ■ Un iuez rural (1924.) However, most of his work is in poetry, be­ginning with Flores de cardo (1908)13 and ending with Vie.ios noemas ineditps (194.9) Early in his career> one of his friends and a

8. Arturo Torres-Hioseco. Grandes novelista.s de la America Hispana, (Berkeley; University of California Press, 1949), p. 174-5o

9o The members of Los Diez according to Raul Silva Castro were: Juan Francisco Gonzalez, painter; Manuel MagallaneS Moure, poet, paint­er; Julio Bertrand Vidal, architect, painter; Pedro Prado; Alberto Reid, poet, sculptor; Armando Donoso, literary critic;' A'cario Cotapos, musician;: Alberto Garcia Guerrero, musician; Alfonso Leng, musician; • -Ernesto A0 Guzman,; poet; Eduardo Barrios, novelist, dramatist; August© d'Halmar, novelist. Raul Silva Castro, oo.cit.. p? 26. : <•

,10„ Fernando Alegria, Breve historia. de la novela hisnano- . - americanas(Mexico8: Ediclones de Andrea, 1949)7 P<>- 138. :. v lie Pedro Prado. Alsino.(Santiago: Hasclmento, 1920)0 ■

12. Pedro Prado. Un .1 uez rural. (Santiago:Hascimento. 1924.),: . 13. See note 7. .

I4., Pedro Prado, Vie .i os poemas inedit os, (Santiago 8 Escuela Nacional de.Artes Graficaa, 1949/ . " —————

' : ' : '■ - 8 member of Los Diez, Ernesto A, Guzman, was carrying on a correspondence with Miguel de Unamuno, the eminent Spanish author-philosoph'ere Unamuno criticized Guzman's poetry rather seveeeiy and suggested that he try free verse as being more suited to his manner of writing» Prado was also intrigued by this idea and tried it himself„ It proved so satis­factory to him that from that time on he wrote exclusively in free verse, and even carried the idea, to the point of writing poetry in prosee He was more successful in the latter genre than in pure poetry= Most critics judge his poetry to be too intellectual and detached,

■ Fernando Alegrjfa gives Prado credit for introducing free verse to Chile . and for instituting a reaction against the rhetoric of the followers of Dario,15 Other' critics accuse his verse of tending toward "la expresion desnuda, fria. y excesivamente intelectual,"!^ and Gruz Adler comments?"Eh algo mas de la mi tad de sus poemas, no es sinb. logica rimada, meta- . fisica sonora, sintecds retorcida.y recargo de penumbres,"17 Federico de Onis speaks of Prado's "poesia intelectual, que huye del sentimiento y rechaza los adornos para buscar la clara frialdad, patetica por lo mismo, de las ideas, y la escUeta justeza de expresion,"!^

15. Fernando Alegna, op,cit,, n, 138, V .16, Ibiiliano Dfez-Echarri and Jose Maria Roca Franquesa,

' Historia de la literature esnanola e hisnanoamericana,(Madrid; Aguilar,.. : : . ■,

17, Bernardo Oruz Adler, Yeinte poetas chilenos (glosas criticas) (Santiago? Editorial San Felipe, 1948), Tomo I, p, 7 b > ■

18. Federico de On^a» Antologia de la poesia espahola e hisnano­americana (1882-1932)0 (Madrid* Centro de Estudios Mstdricos, 1934i, ; : ■

. p* 649. . V : •

Most critics agree that Prado was essentially a modernist with postmodernist tendencies. There are those who feel that he and the members of Los Dies were the initiators of a trend away from the nreciosismo of the true modernists

Como la fuerza mayor del modernismo radicaba en su estilb, los primeros escritores rebeldes— modernistas tambien a su manera— desdehan el uso de las palabras poeticas y buscan en el sentido oculto de las cosas y en sxmbolos pequenos lo que

• ho les pudo dar el modernismo en su decoraoion a.ristocratica019•.' A-ado1 s novela.s poematlca.s. of which there are only three, are

less.novelistic than poematic. One could really call them extended poetic parables since they consist mainly of long lyric passages held together by a brief and rather simple plot. La reina de Rapa Nui^O is an exotic novel set on Easter Island» It is a series of incidents and stories told by a Journalist visiting the islands— a kind of psycho­logical essay and aesthetic interpretation of the life of the people.Un dues rural is an autobiographical novel based on a short term served by Prado as a rural judge. It is a rather bitter commentary on the impossibility of dispensing real justice within the actual legal frame­work. The other novel, Alsino, will be discussed later.

Prado also wrote Karez-I-Roshan in collaboration with Antonio • Castro Leal,21 Impressed by the popularity of the vogue for oriental poetry such as that of Tagore, they determined to prove to the public

19, Torres-Paoseco, oo.cit., o, 167.■ 20. Pedro Prado, La reina de Rana Hui.(Santiago? Imprenta

Universitaria, 191/+). ■ v-,; L 5 ;21. Pedro Prado and Antonio Gastro Leal, ICarez-I-Roshan. ~

(Santiago$ Imprenta de Silva, 1922).

that they1 could produce similar literary goods equally as desirable and acceptablea So Prado and Castro Leal wrote the poetry of Karez- I-Roshan and then published it as .‘the recently discovered works of an ancient Persian poet. The ruse worked beautifully, and deceived many illustrious literati. including the Hispanic Society of America. 2

Prado.received the.Premio Academia de Roma ih 1935? and the Premio Hacional de Literature in 1919. He was a Commander; of the Orden de Bovaca of Colombia, and a. member of the P.S.N. Club, and an honorary member of the Sociedad de AraUitectos.

Prado loved to travel. In 1910 he was a delegate from theschool of architecture to the Congress of Students in Buenos Aires. In 1912 he went to the next meeting of the same group as a kind of diplo- mat-conciliator between Chile and Peru. ,He was quite successful. In 1921 he was named director of the Museo de Bellas. Artes and, his archi­tectural sense outraged by the condition Of the building, promptly.had it structurally reinforced. In 1925, he went'to the celebration of the centenary of the proclamation of the Republic of Bolivia. In 1927 he was named head, of the Chilean'legation in Bogota, Colombia. He took books and paintings as gifts and proceeded to make contact with the men of arts and letters in Colombia. This was all done With the thorough­ness and charm of a seasoned diplomat. Some years later, as the result of being "sorprendido entonces pof el hechizo de un amor,.para el muy

, extemporaneo,"23 he became ill and went to Europe in September of 1935

22 .Armando Bonoso, "Karez-al-Roshan8 Una supercheria liter aria.,11 La otra America „.(Madrid: Galpe. 1925), P. 133-152. .. -

23. Silva Castro., op.cit;. p. _l2y . . ■

' . . .. 1 11 to convalesce and to forget. He returned in January 1936s warning of an approaching war and very pessimistic. .-

Although a handsome and robust man, Prado suffered attacks of a cerebral nature throughout his life and died as the result of one of them. He was a man of temperament, unpredictable,"pronto a la exaspe-

• racion," and a perfectionist.^4 He loved to talk but did not like to be' interrupted. The group Los Dies reflected.his personality more, than any other, with his ironic sense of humor, his wide interest and ability in the arts, and his love of conversation. He was a "classic11 in his need for order and.clarity, a romantic in his internal struggle against the restrictions imposed, upon his: artistic nature by the social neces-

' . sities of the world around him and the duality of his own personality—

both artist and dngineerj lyric and practical^ ^ w :

24.. Sergio Huneeus. “Pedro Prado en la diplomaoia", Atenea,0X17, no. 345> \marzo 1954), p. 268. ; - . .

Chapter III

DEFINITIONS. OF MYTH, SYMBOL, AND ALLEGORY

Before launching into our discussion of Rrado1s use of myth and symbol in'Alsino, it might be useful to define these terms. In The Forgotten Language, Erich Fromm explains how symbolic language functions and why myth and symbol have such vitality and depth of meaning even though conceived perhaps in ages pasts .

Symbolic language is a language.in which inner experiences,, feelings and thoughts are expressed as if they were sensory '

; experiences, events in the outer world. It is a language which has a different logic' in which not time and space are the rul­ing categories but intensity.and association. It is the one universal language the human race has ever-developed, the same for all cultures and throughout, history. It is a language with its own grammar and syntax, as it were, a:language one must understand if one is to understand the meaning of myths, fairy tales, and dreams,^ p : - ' V

To begin our definitions, the American College Dictionarydefines myth ass ■ : . . p , p ■; p..

L-. ' A traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some ;■ superhuman being or some alleged person or event, whether with­out or with a determinable basis of fact or a natural explana- y tion; especially a traditional or.legendary, story usually • concerning deities or demigods and the creation of the world

yl''''/. and its inhabitants,^ y 7 - /. y- h r-,.y; t ;Symbol is defined as “something used or regarded as standing for orrepresenting something, else; a material object representing something

1, Erich Fromm> The Forgotten Language,(Hew Yorks Rinehart, 1951) P. 7. v . .'7 . r, Z : : . ' .... ■

2, Clarence L, Barnhart, ed,", The American. College Dictionary, (New Yorks Random 'House, 1947), P*.801,

12

13immaterial«"3 These are simple and hasiti definitions which5 however, do not give any explanation of the deeper, psychological meanings of myth and symbol0 Bernice Slote, in her foreword to Myth and Symbol.

■ defines these terms more precisely;Myth, both traditional and created, is the narrative form

of those particularly archetypal symbols which together make a . coherent revelation of what man knows and what he believes„„,Myth refers sometimes to classical story,.sometimes to Created

: .' ' - forms of belief5 or it may function as creative or symbolicmetaphoro Myth embodies archetype,4- it also borders on allegory05

./ The origin of myths has been the. subject of various theories, .each of which has a certain amount of' validity6. Morris Sweetkind :summarizes these theories in this ways ' '

Whether myths originate from our "personal unconscious," that is, from suppressed memory images of infantile impressions, inner conflicts, frustrations, and satisfactions| or, as Jung suggests, from the "collective unconscious"| that is, archetypal '• images inherited from humanity1s past, and common to all peo-

:", pies and periods; or from terrorized or questioning man.facing the immensity of the universe and giving supernatural or imag-

/ inative explanations of natural phenomena of history, • and of his own mysterious existence--the influence of myths in human societies is indubitable. Since, they are an expression of the ■' deepest feelings of. the unconscious of a people— a symbolic projection or dramatization of its aspirations, fears, and needs— prophets and poets have played an important:part in ' developing, embellishing, and utilizing them^^

The "embellished" form of the myth usually utilized by the poet is : • the allegory which is defined,by Coleridge ass. •

1 - ' 3- Ibid.. p. 1227 • .. "■ 4. Miss Slote defines archetype as "the expression.of various -

universal instinctive motifs or patterns of:human behavior and belief , I that come charged with primary emotional force»" See Note 5«

5. Bernice Slote, ed., Myth and Symbols Critical Apuroaches and Applications.(Lincolns University of Nebraska Press, 1963), p.Ve

6. Morris Sweetkind. Teaching Poetry in.High School,(New Yorkt Macmillan, 1964), P» 123» v : : ';i" •

The employment .of one set of agents and images with actions and accompaniments correspondent, so as to convey, while in dis­guise, either moral qualities or conceptions of the mind that are not in themselves objects of the senses, or other images, agents, actions, fortunes, and circumstances so that the differ­ence is everywhere presented to the eye or imagination, while the likeness is suggested to the mind; and this connectedly, so that the parts combine to form a whole,7

An allegory uses the archetypal symbols, embodied in a myth, as the foundation and structure for a new literary venture in order to ; give more depth and meaning to the story» In this sense, allegory is a sort of literary shorthand in which by means of symbols that have connotations and ramifications of intense significance and complexity, ' the author avoids having to give long explanations of what the char­acters or the actions symbolize and can concentrate on the literary expression of the myth. In this manner, the author can convey uncon­scious, irrational materials of the imagination without running into contradictions and paradoxes of logic that would confuse.the reader if presented in other forms 0; Vi ; l'- ■ ; -

Allegories, of whatever period, dramatize similar ideals and problems concerning the nature of.man, :They employ myths and archetypes symbolically in a portrayal of human wishes and defeats,8

To achieve this portrayal, abstract ideas are personified to give asort .of life to intellectual conceptions, V The allegorical hero is apersonification of man's desires; to be what he is not, to have what he -does not possess. The anti-hero is the Devil, or the dark.side of man'snature,.who leads him into temptation and thwarts his attempts to do'

7, Samuel Taylor Coleridge „: The PortableColeridge, ed. I,A, Richards (New York; Viking Press, 1950), p* 399,

g, Edwin Honig. Dark Conceit; The Making of Allegory.(Evanston; Northwestern University Press, 1959) ,■; p= 51* ' .

,; . ^good. The heroine, true to the ambivalence of man’s attitude toward ; woman, can be the symbol of all that is pure and good (spirituality), ■ or of all that is petty and gross (earthliness). She can be an inspi­ration or a temptation to the hero. The obstacle to be overcome is usually given a concrete - form— of ten an. animal symbolizing, the baser / qualities of man (a. dragon, a bear, a monster), or in the more subtle and dangerous form of a human being, often a beautiful or endearing person*

The hero of an allegory is usually possessed by a daemon, or some supernatural force that impels him to do its will. In modern terms the daemon becomes an obsession which compells him into a cer­tain mode of behavior.

While the compulsive behavior (of an obsessed person) is often a form of physical human action...it is even.more pro­foundly a form of "symbolic action,"...The hero of an,alle­gorical epic will be presented to us doing things the way a compulsive person does things, regularly, meticulously, blindly.9

The two fundamental patterns of behavior in allegory are those ' of progress and battle. The hero either goes on a quest to find relief from his compulsive behavior or goes through a symbolic battle in order to free himself from his daemon. Anxiety and tension are fundamental ’ elements of allegory, either as a result of the obsession or the ambi­valence -or dualism of the hero’s situation which forces him. to swing from one extreme to the other, or holds him fast between two poles of attraction. Irony, "the perception and oblique, statement of the

9. Angus Fletcher, Allegory? The Theory of a Symbolic Mode. (Ithaca, N.I.s Cornell University Press, 1964), p. 302. .

discrepancy:between appearance and reality, "10 is a constant element in allegory as the apt expression of this dualism or ambivalence»

In this paper, we shall see that Alsino is an allegorical ■novel based on the myth of Icarus, in which Alsino/lcarus is a sym­bol of the artist striving to accommodate himself to the exigencies of his dual nature as man and artist* .

Chapter IV

’ ‘ THE MYTH OF ALSINO

The genesis of the novel Alslno is typical of many tales— it began as a bed-time story for the author's children/ Arturo Torres-Efoseco recreates the scenet

/ • . '' 'Un dxa cualquiera los hijos de Prado ven, cerca de su casa,a un muchacho que lleva una enorme joroba cubierta con su manta* Los ninos > curiosos e inquiet os, preguntan al padre ? n<< qud tiene el chico?" El padre, para ahorrarse explicaciones dolo- rosas,- exclamai- 11 tiene alas11, Pero, ya encendida, la imagina- cion infantil no puede detenerse y esa misma noche empiezan las preguntass• ’’'como le saileron alas?", "tdonde vivxa?11, 11 ipuede volar como lbs pajaros?", !,ipuede cantar como ellos?", de que se alxmenta?11, etc,, etc, Y entonces el padre comienza a rela- tar esas aventuras del jorobadito, en forma sencilla, con mucho movimxento, con muchas peripecias, a razon de un relato por noche„ Una vez terminado el deber paternal, siguepreocupando.

' al escritor la figura un tanto original, de su jorobadito, y en las noches. dnsomnes, el vuelo de Alsino adquiere en su cerebro ocultos significados, y hasta simbblicas intencidnes, Y empie- ... za a trabajar,! .. : ' -v ....

In a man as well-educated as Pedro Prado, it is not surprising that the little story about the hunchback would become a restatement of the ancient myth of Icarus, It is probable that he followed the structure of the plot of the myth more deliberately while writing the novel, making.it.his own in the process, p-■p: ' The' story of the little hunchback who learns how to fly beginswith Alsino1s ill-fated attempt to fly which, results in his deformity.

1. Torres-Rxoseco, op^cit,, p, 182, The. bed-time story origin of Alsino is mentioned by Julio Arriagada Augier and Hugo Goldsack in their article "Pedro Prado, tin clasico de America," Atenea, CVI, no,322 (mayo, 1952) p, 323j and also by Raul Silva Castro, op,cit,, p. 4-6,

17

After his recovery, he hears strange murmurings in his head, and vague desires set him to wandering* On his travels, he meets No Nazario, anold man who catches birds to sell and cripples them so they cannot flyaway* He gives Alsino wise and cynical advice about life on the road.

As his wings develop, Alsino tends to flee from people because they want to touch his hump- for good luck* Eventually, in order to escape the rude treatment of some muleteers, Alsino tries out his wings and finds he can fly* From this time on, he spends most of his time in the mountains, coming down to civilization only when hunger forces him to steal food. He glories in the sensation of. flight, and sings ec­static odes to the sun, the moon, the night, and the sea. One night,however, he is caught stealing eggs and imprisoned by the owner of an hacienda who plans to exhibit Alsino as a freak. Alsino falls in love with the daughter■of the hacendado and is desolate when she dies quite suddenly of a fever. He escapes into the mountains and finds refuge with a wild.animal tamer and his children. One of the daughters falls in love with Alsino, and, becoming impatient with his lack of interest, goes to a local healing-woman for a love-potion. The curandera. how­ever, is jealous of Alsino because, of his powers.of healing, and gives . the girl an acid-which blinds.Alsino.

. . . Blindness seems to deepen Alsino^s sensitivity to life and nature, but it also prevents him from flying. .When the desire to fly overcomes him, he persuades a young boy, Gotoipa,; to allow himself fo be carried along as a guide. Once, in the air, the.boy panics and wraps himself around Alsino, forcing him to descend abruptly into a tree. Gotoipa runs off, unharmed but totally insane; Alsino is gravely.

19wounded and as he lies in a. delirium has the sensation of being drowned by the waters of a nearby brook. To escape this feeling he attempts one last flight and ascends straight up into the thin air of the atmos­phere , Lack of.oxygen brings on a feeling of suffocation and to escape this nightmare he clutches his wings to him and plummets earthward.The friction of the air ignites his wings and burns him to death. Only his ashes remain floating forever above the earth.

The theme of man attempting to fly is that of the ancient myth of Daedalus and Icarus, who escaped from the Cretan, labyrinth, Michael

. Grant gives, us this rendering of Ovid's versionsDaedalus was a great craftsman and inventor who, exiled from

, Athens, had gone to Crete in order to construct the labyrinth for King Minos,-. t-lhen his task was finished, Daedalus petitioned

- the Icing to be allowed to go home; and this being refused, he planned to make the journey all the same— by way of. the sky,®Minos possesses the earth and .the sea,s| but he does not control

.1 the air, that is the way' we shall go if Jupiter pardons the enterprise,11 So Daedalus carried out this strange," ill-omened project, putting feathers, linen fastenings, and wax together to fulfill his purpose,

His son, Icarus, as he watched and touched the machine with ■ joy, was told he was to try it out himself, flying behind his father at a moderate height. They set out| and Icarus, in his

: exhilaration, became more and more daring. They had passedSamos, and Delos sacred to Apollo, and Naxos and Paros, when

■ the boy began to go too high. The wax, too close to the sun, melted. From the heights of heaven Icarus gazed down in terror ■ into the sea,and down into its depths he plunged, his screams cut short as the waters engulfed him. His father, cried out to■ him, but only saw the feathers floating.on the. surface, Where his son fell, is called the Icarian sea,2■' : Whether Unconsciously: or not,. Frado has used the basic event

of the myth of Icarus for his novel— the boy who wants to fly and does, but who flies too high and is destroyed.: It may have been

2. Michael Grant, Myths of the Greeks and Romans. (ClevelandsWorld Publishing Go., 1962;, p. 385, 1<

' ... - . , . 20 that he developed his bed-time story first and then realized the sym­bolic potential of the story later0 •

Both Alsino and Icarus were escaping from something— Icarus from imprisonment in the labyrinth, Alsino from the nightmare of his life on earthe They both began life as ordinary human beings, and both learned how to fly, one by artificial means and the other through an accident that caused wings to grow on his shoulders0 Alsino however, had no father to warn him of the dangers of flying too high; in a sense his disobedience was directed at the forces of nature which made such flight.impossible for a man. And Alsinovs death is a suicide rather than an accident— he intended to die, to escape from the rigors of the , life- he had. known. ' Icarus8 action was foolhardy, the rash act of an ignorant boy; Alsino1s death was a deliberate, attempt to escape an ex­perience, a situation which had become intolerable for him. Prado has altered the ending of the story too; instead of plunging into the sea as Icarus did, Alsino is burned to. death and his ashes remain drifting in the wind, . he .never:' returns to earth or sea* . . : .

It should be noted that Prado has intensified and complicated the emotions revolving around the basic plot, and in doing so has. given the story deeper meanings and broader ramifications than the myth of Icarus has as it stands alone „

The most common interpretation, placed upon the. story of the fall of -Icarus'-is'; that of the disobedient-spn« - In the -versibns by .'

Apollodorus^ and Ovid,-4 Icarus is warned by his father, Daedalus, not to fly too high because the heat of the sun will melt the wax; but the boy becomes intoxicated with the sensation of flight and soars higher.and higher until the catastrophe occurs, and he falls into the sea*

Another interpretation is that this act symbolizes the presump­tion of man in challenging creation by committing an act for which he is not equipped by nature, i.e. flying even though.he is not feathered and is not a bird.5 He is the man who presumes to be more than man*This concept can be related to the legend of Prometheus and to all innovators who are persecuted and.punished for daring to be different, to challenge the'self-imposed limits set by man throughout his history* In using the Icarus legend, Prado seems to be saying that man is pre­sumptuous in wanting to fly, to come closer to heaven; and that it is man's own physical and intellectual limitations that prevent him from attaining his goal* Necessarily, he will be punished— by the gods for aspiring to enter their territory, by the forces of nature because he tries to go against their laws* :

'.In developing the ,myth of Alsino, Prado made some use of tra- • ■ditional dlements in myths 3 the' demigod, the myth of the . birth of■the -hero, and the quest* He depicts Alsitio as having god-like beauty, like .

3,'.Edith Hamilton, Mythology .(New York: New American Library,194.0), p* 139o 'htt

4-0 Grant, loc.cit*•5. Ibid.; see also Maurice Shroder, Icarus: the Image of the

Artist in French Romanticism* (Cambridge? Harvard University Press, 1961), p* 217, ; ' yVt -'

; ' . ' : . ■ ' . . • , 22 a Greek statue with the wings of an angel and somewhat bird-like fea-' turess

TJn j oven desnudo y esbelto5 de piel rubia como la miel, • de flotante cabellera y de enomes alas grises y entreabiertas} que levantaban un pequeno ruido al rasmillar, temblorosas, la.sparedes.6

Bn su rostro alargado y enjuto, brlllaban los grandes ojos negros, duloes y penetrantes* La. nariz era recia., aguda y fina, de aletas temblorosas. La boca grande, do labios extraordina- riamente delgados, que se cerraban firraes, hacxa pensar en una • enorme cioa.triz

Prado reinforces the angelic aspect of the image, of Alsino by havingAlsino visit his.grandmother as she lies dying— she believes that hehas died.and has come back to her as an angel». '^Entonces, ya estoymuerta? 0»»tMe has venido a buscare« 2 ya eres todo un angel...Wo lo hubiese ereido de Also, in his wanderings, Alsino meetsa hermit who believes that he is an angel come to absolve him of his

• -■ - . . . sins; !IY cuando crexa que ni cien vidas de remordimiento fuesen ca-paces. de lavarme, tu foh, Dios misericordioso I me envias, en senalde tregua,,a uno de tus angeles0,!

Evidence of his supernatural-powers as a demigod is Alsino * sability to understand and communicate with animals and other things ofnature. In Chapter X, when'he takes' refuge in a cave, for tbb night,the dry ■leaves of his bed flutter around, him and. talk to him. . The ,

ut wind, the fire, the rocks all talk to himj.but when Alsino speaks tothem, they become silent in fear. To calm them, Alsino recites anendless, repetitive poem.-1-0 Alsino feels especially close to the birds

6, Alsino. p» 130, 71 Ibid., n, IbO. 8, Ibid,, p, 120.9. Ibid., Oo 83, 10. Ibido,: p= 60-63„

. 23and vheh he encounters- a flock of migrating wallows, he wants very much to follow themd ,

Una agitacion angustiosa sintio Alsino. Su sangre arddfa, sus ojos contemplaban el sitio impreoiso del aire por el cual desapareoieron, invisibles, las innumerables golondrinas«

Sin darse cuenta de sus actos, se encontro con sus grandes alas desnudas, abiertas .y temblorosas. Las plumas agitadas hacian un rumor semejante al de los pajonalese Dio un grito ahogado y terrible; lo estrangulo a mediae la angustia que le oprimia la garganta, y sus alas enardeeidas con un furor de extasis o muerte, enganoharon en el aire. Elevando el cuerpo, mientras los ojos se bntrecerraron y la oabeza, en desmayo, echada atras, recibia el roce de blandos vientos, ellas pro- siguieron rrtiiicas, serenas y poderosasa3-l

Some, but not all of the basic elements of the myth of the birth of the hero aire here? Alsino was born near the sea; he was re­jected by his parents (who were not of noble birth, however); he leaves - home to go wandering and on his travels meets an Old Man who gives him advice about life; he is misunderstood by the people that he meets; and he receives help from animals; but he does not return home with honor as many heroes of the epics do; in this Alsino' is. more of -a romantic hero— the tragic, misunderstood misfit.

The "quest” that Alsino sets out on is to find a place in the universe for himself and to find self-fulfillment as a creative person.

■ The challenge of his very existence as a man with wings and his adjust- . ment to this situation is a task worthy of a hero.

The story of Alsino shows the development of his peculiar sensi­bilities that made , him more than a mere man. As a young boy, he dreamed of flying with such passion: that he was determined'to'fly while awake,.

11, Alsino, p, 71,

24— Anoche, otra Poll, vole",

, — Volaste sonando.' :— Pero vole 0 Vole sobre la casa y el lago, Y era tan facil,.

que yo me decia? manana, ouando despierte, no me olvidare de todo lo que debo hacer para, volar.

With all the faith and strength of children, he and Poli make the attempt, and Alsino falls to the ground and is hurt. As he recovers from the accident, he becomes aware of a humming in his ears and strange desires that seem to be urging him to do something.

Poli golpeaba su tarro vacio como un tambor? mas todo el ' ruido posible no apa.ga este otro que crece en mi y me recorre %

como un calofrfo. . Mega a mi cabeza y pienso y deseo cosas■ que nunca imaginara; llega a mi lengua y no puedo impedir que. hable, hable, y hable. Todas las palabras que antes escuchara,

o leyera en la escuela, acuden y piden que las pronuncie. To­das piden.lo mismo. Y si el calofrxo llega a mis piernas, mis piernas se agitan impaciente s. 13 .■ ;" -

The humps of his back:grow larger and burn with a strange.fire thatdoes not hurt. . .

When he leaves home, Alsino leaves his old life"as an ordinary boy behind himVj. The development of.his wings grpws apace. with his . sensitivity to the beauty of nature.and his ability to communicate with nature. ■ . . , >';'d' - -

La noche llega sobre.estas soledadess los ratones salen de sus cuevas y no me huyen. Os reconosco uno a uno arboles, mato--

■ rrales y hierbas, que mi abuela me enseno a distinguir para pediros ayuda en nuestras enfermedades. Hada, temais de mf.^

He stands awed by the spectacle of the racing clouds at night:Embelesado contempla Alsino. la grandiosa y callada'bat alia.

iQuien ore era despues en. sus r e l a t e s # .<>1 quien es aquel que. • .: ; viviendo entre;.montanas.se ha dado cuenta, una. vez siquiera que,

Y en noches de nubes enloquecidas, las montanas solemnes y calla-; das, majestuosas, vuelantfS , : 1

12.Alsino. p.13. ;. 13.Ibid., p.31^ 14. IMd,.., p.34,15. Ibid.,,P. 61*

The perfect sensuality 'of his nature comes to the fore and is demon­strated when he is caught flying in the rain:

— Avido de tf, desnudo y danzando en Ids altos vientos, me encuentras /'oh amplio bautismoi /Unge ml cuerpo: mi cabeza., mi

■ espalda, mi pecho, mis alas, mis brazos, mis piernasIEn mis labios, vierte tus aguas , . Ni vaso,. ni cuenco de

mano se mezclan. Directa mi boca las beba» ; No es sed que se sacia, j'Diez got as asx yo reciba y sediento de todo perdure. „ „

As Alsino has various encounters with humans, he begins to real­ize both what it is to be a man and to be more than man. When he meets a girl by the river and has his first sexual experience, he realizes one of the joys of human existence, Later, in his hymn to the night, he demonstrates his growing sympathy and understanding of the plight of the poors • ''

V : ' ' ' ' - •••. ■ ■ - • . . ' .

. Noche.de abril,.olbrosa a vinas cuajadas de racimos, no solo - frutos abundantes madura en ti el otono; tiendense tambien a.

; dormir los hombres bajo:tu espesa sombra, cual semillas cubiertas de tierra os cur a y liviana. - ' ■

- ; Mas de uno que triste y cansado•eayb en tu sUrco, joh, nochel manana se despertara florido como una amapola,. Y estas horas negras, identicas a tahtas otras, se alzaran despues en tu re- cuerdo, como una montana que se interpuso y torcib el curso de sus aguas.3-7 . ' -•

Reminders of his non-humanity come when he meets the hermit who believeshe is an angel, and when his grandmother believes the same. - Later on,Alsino' is reminded rather rudely that his manhood is limited by hiswings. He is caught stealingj and his wings are clipped (reminding usof the Old Man who ■ crippled the birds * wings so they could: hot'.'fly),He.falls in love, but Abigail, in the unconsciously cruel way of young •women, makes ..fun' of the idea of marriage with:himS;. /' ' . I

16. Alsino. p.; 113. 17. Ibid.. p. 106^'

. 26— I Ah] si yo tuviese alas, que de a,venturas np correriamos

. . juntos— dijo alegremente la jpven— * .Hos casariamos everdad#Alsino? pregunto burlesca--,, Porque asi, yo sin alas y us ted

, con ellas, bonita. pareja,... Que le veniqn ganas de volar; • pu.esyo a quedarme pla.nta.da. Si volaba comigo a cuestas, no subiriaalto ni llegar"fa lejos. Si se resignaba a. permanecer siempre ami lado, entre la. gente no podria ir medio desnudo, y si se cubria. las alas, /qud" jorobal /Dios iujfoi Los ohiquillos nos seguirian, lanzandonos piedrasi- ^

Upon the death of Abigails Alsino finally realizes that his wings hadprevented the possibility of a normal love-relationship between them:

Pasn el amor rozandome y yo, turbado comb un mendigo que.- reoibe una moneda de oro, la vi escurrirse entre los dedos abiertoSo,. iMiserable de”mil Mo solo los demas me tuvieron por un ser extrano a ellos? yo, tambien# asi lo sential iSolo

• cuando. el amor llego, supe que era igual a todos.... ^Thus, Alsino*s belief that his strange appearance meant that he was aninadequate person prevented him from pursuing his relationship withAbigail„ ■' ....

In his distress, he flies to the mountains and, ironically, because of a woman who really loves him, is blinded * Thus, another chain is added to limit his life. He cannot see and, more important, he cannot fly. But blindness gives him greater supernatural powers—

the gift of prophecy. ‘ ", / I. - .1 Asi como al incubarse en el las 'alas un ruido nacio y al

volar el se fue 'aclarando, desde el dfa de su ceguera escuchaba otro gran murmullo y como relampagos que'perforasen la noche, por momentos le parecia ver .'mas alia,de la vida y del mundo.^O

As the blind healer and' preacher,. Alsino predicts; the end of thepresent.civilizations . ' --1' /

18. Alsino. p. 217, '. 19. Ibid., p, 223, 20. Ibid., p. 234

27Y vendrarl tiempos de confusions y los mismos pueblos domi-

nadores fermentaran oomo las cUbas donde hierve el mosto. Sn . ellos lo que esta amiba e star a abajd, y lo de abajo# arriba, ■

y lo quo debieim ©star sow® todo, wtvlrif, eclipsado, invisible por el velo que la. sa.ngre vertida. pone ante los ojos de los hombres. y

Pronto todo danzara en torno de la propia hoguera del mundo, . y oomo los lenos al consumirsefingen graoiosas aptitudes, habra

, panajeras aeeiones, bellas y grandes,. perq todas ef jmeras, tal el resplandor de las brasas que se hunden,

A aquel crepusculo sangriento seguira la, era de una larga ' noche, en la que los hombres seran presas de terribles aluoi- naciones, Y cuando llegue el' ddfa ansiado, nadie lo .reconocera, y seguira'la confusion y el desenoantoe2l.

He also speaks of a new day when all life becomes unified, and menand animals will understand each other8-

/ yY" llegara. el dia en quo todos lo entiendan, y al asombro seguira la tristeza de tantos siglos de sordera,„ El hombre , quedara vergonzos'o de sus viejas crueldades, y rodeado de los animales despreciados, aprendera de ellos todo un nuevo y • extraho saber.22

Eventually, Alsino realizes that his ability to fly is alwayslimited by the fact that he must return to earth. He can never be thefree spirit that he desires to-be* .

Guando volaba sobre el mar, nunca me abandono el'recuerdo de la tierra, y cuando me dirigi derecho hacia tus astros, siempre . . me supe ligado a ella. ../y,: ^

. . Jamas a nada pu.de entregarme' pbr completo; una de mis alasd llevabame a la derecha; la otra,. a la.izquierda; mi peso a.la' V :■

tierra, y.mis ojos hacia todos los ambitos/Siempre el vuelo f u e :para.mi un goce doloroso|23.

Although he understands this truth, Alsino cannot accept it and con­tinue to live such a crippled existence1 . The desire to fly again

. becomes stronger,and stronger until:he finally attempts his last' flight that ends so disastrously. This is the rebellion of the

21. Alsino, p. 24.2. 22. Ibid., p. 243. 23. Ibid., 0. 259.

. ' ■ .. ' ■ ■. 28 romantic hero against fate, a completion of his i fate,. and a return to fate— al pinp.24 v' ;; ' ■ .

2A. Shroder. on.oit., p..217.

Chapter V

ALSINO AS THE ARTIST

Este hello libro*.,repre8enta, sin que el autor lb diga, la vida de los artistas; en el se han fundido la poesxa. y la realidad, y es una historia, a la vez Ixrica e ironica, de las vidas intensas* -

•: Alsino is, like:the artist, alienated .from his fellow man be- ' cause of his extra-hman'traits. His abnormal, physical appearance and his ability to fly only produce fear and astonishment in the people around him, "Mi vuelo donde quiera llevaba desconcierto,"^ he com­plained, "Para todos fui asombro y curiosidad y miedo,"3 Like the alienated artist, he is caught up- in the law of conformity and is sub­ject to the effects of the superstitions 6f the uncultivated people with whom he comes in contact. In this sense also, he is like Prometheus, St, Francis, Christ, and all "innovators" who have dis­turbed the course of human existence throughout the centuries. He is both adored and detested as an abnormality. Eventually he would have been destroyed by men as have been many other "strangers."

• ' Alsino's desire to look down from the heavens, expressed in his last long hymn to life and knowledges "Hecho a vuestra semejanza, per- doname, SeSor, siyotambien sentx el ansia de estar en toda cosa,"^ is similar to the romantic artist'swish for an "ivory..tower,"

1. Antonio Castro "Leal, prologue to Pedro Prado, Poemas en prosa, (Mexicot Ediciones Gultura, 1923)> p, iv,

2. Alsino, p, 262, . 3, Ibid,, P. 263, ; A. Ibid., p. 259.

God looks down on the world. It is for .this reason perhaps - that when.the artist assumes the role of God, he visualises his place as one from which he can look down on his fellowmen, se­cure in his superiority and closer to the heavens than the earth. 5

Alsino is self-centered and. introverted like the typical artist...las nubes y todas las cosas se acercan o se alejan de mi,

vienen o van, mientras yo permanezco fijo e inmovil^ y vislumbro que todas ellas buscan referirse a mi ser, y' me estan ligadas y dependientes, como si yo fuese el centre del universe..

The isolation caused by his estrangement from human society , contributed to Alsino!s introversion. Naturally, not being able, to relate to others comfortably or frequently, he would tend to think only of himself and to relate to the world in a self-centered manner.'

Concomitant . to the outward conflict with society is the con­flict within Alsino himself as he.seeks to find a place for himself somewhere between earth and heaven. Flying is. the activity that means most to himj it is the only joy that he wants to communicate, and only when flying can he express himself. : .

Prado nos esta sugiriendo como el poeta necesita encontrarse desasido de la pesantea que le ata a la tierra para atreverse a dar expresion al cantar poetico, pi cual sera tanto mas alegre, puro y exaltado, cuanto mas el cuerpo haya subido.' .

' ;$hus,' Alsino must separate himself from earth in order to be able to ■ sing, and once in the air must sing. He expresses this "sense of. obli­gation to sing in these wordss

". ' 5. Maurice Beebe. Ivory Towers and Sacred Founts; the Artist ".as Hero in Fiction from Goethe to Joyce. (New forks- Mew York University Press, 196^), p. "14. ;-v; ■; i; : i. /. v ;.

6. Alsino, p< 73. • -7. Raul Silva Castro» Panorama llterario de. Chile. (Santiagos

Editorial Uniyersitario, I961), p. 260.

31— iObi .embriaguezj volar .siempre en silencio no es posible.

Si'las.alas eon solo volar ya hacen su canto, tambien obligan a poner todo el ser al mismo diapason* • Inc ansable, mi yoz acude y ae niezola al |ran mtamullo.de mi vuelo* Aouden las inoontables palabras, los multiples sentimientos, y mil y mil otros espejis- mos pugnan por enoarnarse y acompanarme.S

This need to put one1s ■whole, being into the act of singing, of creation, as expressed by Alsino above, is a tendency of the romantic or totality-type artist according to Otto Ranks

...The artist-type, with his tendency to totality of exper- . ience, has an instinct.to flee from life into creation, since there to a certain extent he can be sure of matters remaining under his own control; but this totality tendency itself, which is characteristic of the really productive type, in the end takes hold of his creation also, and this totality of creation then threatens to master the creative artist as effectually as the totality of experience,9

In. Alsino, the ecstasy that he experiences during flight takes preced­ence over all other forms of experience. The strength of his desire to fly becomes an obsession which, cuts him off from enjoying as much of normal human life as circumstances would permit. He turns his back on the human experience. . '

Every creative person :1s’a duality of a synthesis of contra­dictory attitudes. On the ohe side he is. a human being with a personal life, while on the other side he is an impersonal, crea- .tive process.19 • ' . ' •

; . s. A l r i t o ^ y :9. Otto Rank, The Myth of .the Birth Of the Hero and Other

Writings, (Hew York: Vintage Books, 1959), p. 203.10. Carl G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, trans. W. S. •

Dell and-Gary F. Barnes, (Londons Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Go., 194-5), PP. 194-5. : 1 y y y y :> ; : : v. :

' • ' ' 32Creative man is a divided being, man and artist.. The man

is a human being of normal appetite and desire, for whom lifeis essentially the process of dying. The artist.is a free,detached spirit which looks down on the man from a, distance and is concerned not so much with the consumption of life as with the transcendence of life through creative effort.

Thus, the natural condition of artist-man is one of inner conflictwhere the .Artist is always struggling to free himself from the Man.This conflict is symbolized in Alsino by the strong attraction exertedon him by the open sky which is counteracted by the earth's gravity.

Cuando volaba sobre el mar, nunca me abandono el recuerdo de la. tierra, y cuando me dirigx derecho hacia tus astros,siempre me supe ligado a ella.12

Mis alas fatigadas me llevan, nuevamente, hacia la tierra.No necesitarxa de ellas para conocer el.camino que a la tierra conduce. Entre mas alto subo, mas poderoso y dificil de se- guir desplegando siento el fuerte resorte que parece unirme a

■ e11a.13In the hovel, Alsino is quite passive--things happen to him?

rarely: does he initiate a major occurrence. This passivity could per­haps be interpreted as being the result of the "divine inspiration of. the artist which fuses through him as an agent, " . leaving him helpless to act independently. . f

Throughout the novel, Alsino constantly expresses the urge to fly and to sing as something that draws him in spite of himself towards his destiny, an unknown fate? ■ • f

11. Beebe. Co.cit.f p. 6.■ ' 12. Alsino. n. 259.' ' : ■ :

13. Ibid.. n. 72. ; 3' 14. Beebe, on.cit.. p. 27. , . . ■. , ' '

33Un dia, ligado a mis piernas# las vi-moverse y.llevarrae a

cumplir con un secrete destine« Bsa vez, ardiendo de curiosi- • dad, feliz de sentirme libre, libre de toda posible libertad, . '

■ ■ no alcance a experimentar al mismo tiempo este terror de verme unido a algo que a,bora me arrastra mas alia de los 1 unites de accidn fijados. a mi vida»

Como un dia mis .piernas, ahora mis alas las siento como que son y no son m£as» A ellas va mi sangre, y ellas, a. su vez, todo entero, me lievan. Guando nos sentimos arrastrados por el cauce maravillosamente oculto de nuestro destine, todo es ex­pect aci da confusa y se llega a. ignorar si algo, en verdad, nos -pertenece.15

Alsino's feeling of being pulled along by a force stronger than himself is like that of being under the control of a daemon, a concept . similar to Jung’s definition of art:

Art is a. kind of innate drive- that seizes a human being and . makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person endowed with a free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purposes through him.3-6

Just as. the artist often calls upon a muse to inspire him, orappeals to some higher being to aid him and complete him, so Alsinospeaks to the sun as if the sun were a god, and Alsino but a humbleinstrument of expression for the sun:. — jAusente dueno1 tus pasos.presiento venirj los escuchocon oidos tremulos de siervo que quiere complacer y que no sa.be

. cual sera el mandate. Mi tribulacion me. Mere y Mere, duda de si sere capaz de complacerte.

Y'cuando arrebatado por t{. me impregne de tu luz y en ella ■ brille, surgiran los cantos que saludan el resplandor de tu eterna aurora, . ,. .Mi voz sera la tuya, buscaras mi aliento, y . confundido en el la multitud quq enoierras, haras que en vasto y amplio coro se torne la sola y d6bil voz de un hombre.

...y en medio del asombro de menudas.'avecillas, desatinado, ..: ebrio de locura, sabiendome elegido, no podre mirarte cara a

car a. Pero el destine arrastrandome al delirio, me hara creerme para el instants digno, y arrebatado por fin en mi deliquio, ajeno a; mi existencia que-conquista, sere entre tus brazos, en

' olvido, no mas que tu.placer, en el qUe acrecentandome me abismo.3-7

15,Alsino. p.. 71, 16. Jung, on.cit., n. 195. 17. Alsino, p.87. ■ .1 7 : ' .. .iV: :, y y - ■■ ■

What. Arturo Fallico callsf"the sense of radical incompletenessof his (the artist' s) ■ existence11-*- is thus resolved in Alsino by unionwith nature and the. magic forces that he attributes to nature. Suchunion is similar to the mystical union of the soul with God that SanJuan de la Giruz praises in his poetry,

- , " Tras de un amoroso lance,: • - Y no de esperanza falto,

, . Vole tan alto, tan alto,. . . Qua le di a la. caza alcance, ■ ' ■

e o » e « * . * e 1 e * o e o <)>'

■ ' V . ' Guanto mas alto llegaba ... ;: t - De esteglance tan subido, : i.;,.. . - -

V fanto mas bajo y rendido ; r :' - ll. . Y abatido me hallaba, . ' .;.y ‘■ ■ y ■- . : ' Y abatrme tahto, tanto, ■ r-'-'V-i'?.'- ■ . • '

' Que fui tan alto, tan alto,, •" Que: le dx a la caza alcance,1? .

The symbol of flight used by both San Juan and Pedro Prado. isclosely connected with the symbolism of l e v e l , ^0 in that it impliesraising oneself, not only in relation to moral, values but also to thenotion of superiority applied to other qualities, such as power orstrength. But such union- also demands the death of the individual, -in the .case of the mystic a voluntary putting aside of the individual:human will; in Alsino1s situation, a suicide effected in Order to attain■ eternal union with that ecstasy experienced while flying, - Yet, the• question arises whether Alsino1 s suicide is a last desperate effort to .

18, Arturo B, Fallico, Art and Existence, (Englewood Cliffs, New Jerseys Prentice~Ba.ll, 1962), "p, 109% ~~~tk ' ' 19, Poems of St, John of the Gross« the Spanish text, RoyGampbell, trans,,.. (New,Yorks Pantheon Books, 1951 J>’ p, 3#, :

20, J,B. Oirlot, A' Dictionary of Symbols, trans, Jack Sag©, (London? Routledge and.Regan Paul, 1962), p, 104o.

'■ 35.achieve perfection or merely a failure of the will to keep up the.•struggle to adjust to his difficult position as a winged man* HarryLevin comments about this situations

In times? which seem to be out of joint, when man is alienated from his environment, the heroic seems less immediately attain­able and love itself may dim to a Platonic vision, A failure ofnerve is accompanied by a retreat from reality,

Arturo Pallico addss "For these are times when the- nihilism of suicide,contemplated as aesthetic possibility, seems to be the only meaningthat life can have,.6I,22 Raul Silva Castro maintains that Alsinosuffers martyrdom at the hands of his fellow-men? :

, „ ,que las alas le sirvan para volar y que, en fin, martiri-1 2ado por ellas, befado, perseguido, lo acribille el ambiente con desgracias que le sugieren, como solucibn, una forma especial y sui generis de suicidio, la que corresponds a un ser alado.,, ^

Alsino is like the typical artist-hero of the romantic period in his fatal impotence, his inability to overcome the obstacles set in the way of his being a well-integrated, completely functioning human being, "We fnust recognize that the myth of Icarus includes the hero1s fall as well as his flight, that it is ultimately a myth of ambition and■failure," A The tragedy of Alsino:is that he never accepted his life on earth as '.reality. He believed that reality was what he exper- , ienced while flying, so that he could not or would not use.his creative imagination to figure out what his role in earthly life couldbe,

' ' 21, Harry Levin, Symbolism and Fiction, (Charlottesvilles Univ­ersity of Virginia, Press, 1956), p, 26,

22, Fallico, op,cit., o, 115* - •23, Raul Silva Castro, "Pedro P r a d o , p , 45*24, Shroder. op»clt,, p,. 217, ; : . .

; . 36limited as it would be by his angelic appearance. If he had been able to accept the challenge that the limitations of his humanity imposed on his genius, he would have been able to exist, to create, to communicate—

tragically, to be sure, but at least existing courageously0 As it was, he allowed his genius or artistic sensitivity, which Fallico defines as "a profound dissatisfaction with all theoretical and practical resolu­tions of the problem of existential being, and with a submerged memory of what it is like to be the absolute freedom.which stands behind being ; itself,"25 to rule his life entirely*/ Ernesto Montenegro claims that this is the moral of Alsinos

' ■ . z ■El valor original de Alsino es0.„ni mas ni menos que estos el hombre no llega. a superar sus limitaciones fisicas ni alcanza la plena posesi6n de su espiritu mientras no se libere del temor al sufrimiento, del miedo a la vida, Vivir, esto es, la expe- riencia directa o intuit!va del mundo, es tan indispensable a la obra creadora como el.liegar tarde o temprano a un avenimiento con la realidad. Una vez que nuestro corazdn. se ha fortalecido ' luchando cara a cara con el infortunio, cuando.se ha llegado a ese pacto de conformidad' con nuestro destine, entonces y sola- mente entonces podremos sobreponerhos a las.ligaduras de lomaterial.26 1 ... ' . ' '

Even at the end of; his life, although he finally came to understand that "saber no es poder. prdbar' a otros, ni aun a so. mismo. Saber es convi-' vir,"^ Alsino could, never really accept this idea> and his daemon com-' polled him to try to escape forever.into heaven.' "Hoy quiero.llegar hasta la cumbre Ultima del cielo."28

v 25. Fallico, on.cit., p. 109.. ' r ; ' V.:: : " 126. Ernesto Montenegro, "la sonrisa, de Pedro Prado", Revista

Iberpamerlcana. XVIII, no. 35, (feb*/dic., 1952), p. 100.' . 27. Alsino. P.. 259. ' -

28.,Ibid.. n. 265. ''z ' / '

Chapter VI

ALSINO AS A SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

“El poet a jamas ha escrito aino para traducirse a si mismo»ll-

Because of the opaque nature of the unconscious, it is impos­sible to treat the symbols used by an author.as, items separate from his personality. The universal meaning of a myth or symbol functions only minimally in a work of art, especially in a. literary one, In spite of his best intentions, an author uses myths and symbols in an entirely unique and personal way, often without realizing why he chooses par­ticular images or concepts and without realizing the broader ramifica­tions of the meaning of the symbol» '. . ' '

It would be difficult for any poet to use the myth of Icarus in a work Of art without being seduced by the Symbolism as it relates to the lives of men of ■ genius. The poet will always present his own inter­pretation of the myth, and into that interpretation will go something of his own life’s experiences. In Alsinp, Pedro Prado poured out all his frustrations as an artist who is a perfectionist and who can never achieve that purity of art and life that is his goal,

Prado was very conscious of the limitations of human existence, of life, of knowledge, and of time„ For him, Alsihb1s flying signified the attempt of the artist.to escape the bonds of his humanity. The

14, Raul Silva Castro, Retratos literarios, (Santiago8 EdioionesErcilla, 1932) / pi 135/? • ; ; . ■ . . ,v. :

■' V ■ , ■ . 33Alaino who feels himself tied to the earth is the artist tied by the bonds of human life— the physical limitations, social necessities and obligations, the unsympathetic environment,

El problems, del litnite,«, ,fue una de sus obsesiones permanen- tes. Ser y no ser, estar aqui y estar alia simultaneamente, partir de viaje y al mismo tiempo quedarse, amar a una mujer y considerarla sin pasion, no tener que elegir, aceptar y rechazar*^

This theme of man’s limitations is expressed by Alsino1s plaints "Jamasa nada. pude entregarme por completes una de mis alas llevabame a laderechaj la otra, a la izquierda0 *»"3 He is frustrated by the inabilityto satisfy his desires in opposition to each other =, He must straddletwo worlds— for Alsino., the earth and the sky; for Prado, art and life,

Lo que atribuyo a Alsino cuando lo hizo volar cantando, no fue, pues, otra cosa que el fruto de sus propias meditaciones, ligeramente transformadas para adaptarlas a la idiosincrasia del chico que vuelacA ,

Prado1s ansia de ublcuidad is expressed in his own life by his love of traveling, by his almost encyclopedic knowledge, and his inter­est in even the trivial and mundane gossip of the periodicals* This interest in what is going on inthe world is in contrast to his rather solitary, cloistered llfe^f - \ p \

p - Yo veo a Prado entregado a una divagacion melahcolica sobre . p : su destino y el mundo, en un apartamiento casi religioso.,,pero • si tratamos de entablar conversacion con ,el, yeremos que el soli-*

tario no duerme, Ha lefdo todo y esta al cabo de todos fos %

•\ 2„ Diaz Arrieta, on,dtp, p,: 91. p / "p:C' 3. Alsino, po 259« ' ' . i'p Vi V-' • v;,;.p;.- '

A. Silva. Castro, Panorama,.., p, 26l, ■;

problemas» La distancia lo hace ver claramente los defectos de loss hombres y pone ante sus 03os, con mncho relieve, el carls exacto de todos los problemas*5

The wish to be everywhere at once is expressed in Alsino's apologetic little prayer, “Hecho a vuestra seme3ansa., perdoname, Senor, si yo tambien senti el ansia de estar en toda cosa"«& and in Alsino’s song to the night, the poet in flight hears all the sounds of earth and is even wounded by the prayers and doubts of men as they ascend to heavens :. v :

Madre de toda cosa impenetrable, tu oscuridad se presenta al igual de un viento imprevisto^ avivando las innumerables interro- gaciones que el hombre perennemente se hace*,, En.sus ansias de

v llegar a la altura, flechas ciegas disparadas al cielo, las que en su camino me encuentran, suti3.es y terribles me atraviesan*For las heridas que me hacen las incontables oraciones de los hombres canta mi ser*.*?

The ansia de ubicuidad (to be everywhere) leads to the wish to be immortal (to be for ever)» "Hay en Prado una constants emocion de tiempo en fuga y sed de eternisarse*"^ In Alsino he says:

Hn segundo se confunde con todos y cada uno de los segundos que siguen, y cada noche viene a ser, asi, la.negra noche de

v siempre* jDios miol joh, tragica angustia, la.de saber en este vuelo nocturno, que no hay siho,presenteI: El esta ante mt tan

: inmutable y eternamente identico> que se diraa tu rostro* El% -tiempo'no es sino la medida de los breves pasos de un hombrey ■

■ recorriendo m cam.ino que reposa, por siempre ,■ a s£ mismo, igual *9 v

' ^ : ' 5* Silva Castro* Retratos. *«, * p* 127* . " ^.Aistoo, p..259,; v:

. % v a i a , , p . 1 0 7 . . . ■

'8, Cruz Adler. on* cit * * n*.17» b / . ' ; ‘9« Alsino* p» 107* ■

In his Bnsa,yos sobre la. a.rauitectura y la poeaia., Rrado alsolaments the limitations of living in the present tense; "Todo el uni-

,verso cahe dentro de los 1mites de su vuelo fugaz? es el espacio infinite visto a la luz de un relampago,"10 Otto Rank sees this thirst for eternity as the self-preserving instinct of the artist to immortal- ize himself . ; '

One of the salient characteristics of Prado’s" life was the fact that he lived in relative isola.tion from the world of business and v Societyj and seemed to need this remoteness« He describes a typical morning in his life; - •'. .d-d'

En las mananas, cuando despierto con ansias de escribir, mer. vengo aqui, sin leer siquiera los diarios, Subo en puntillas,.; absorto, anhelante, tremulo, con la sensacidn de que mis manos ; sostienen un cantaro lleno de agua y temo que alguna gota se .

desborde.., En esos momentos estoy, casi paraddjicamente, mas lejos y mas cerca de todo; mds lejos del mundo en torno, mas cerca de mi propio mundo, del que yo he ereado en mis suenos, durante la noche, y que ahora, ya en pleno dia. llevo conmigo# e

This isolation is’hot only a rejection of the world for the salce of art,but also indicates a yearning for a purification of life in which onlybeauty exists and the ugly, practical aspects of life cannot intrude.

Serio, con una seriedad reflexiva, Prado se hace dueno de un mundo propio, donde todo es recogimiento y meditacion emo-

v cionada* Su vida es una continua purificacion, un esfuerzo repetido hasta alcanzar esa transparencia espiritual que es ' .

v su mejor titulo,13 ■ ,

10, Pedro Prado, Ensavos sobre la arouitectura:v la noes^a. ; " (Santiago; Emprenta Universitaria, 1916), p, 79* , - ': ,' 11, Rank, oPocit,, p, 139, 1

12, Manuel Vega^ "Pedro Prado en su tiempo^y en su ambiente," El Diario Ilustrado, 17. mayo de 194-9, quoted ■ by Raul Silva Castro, "Pedro Prado; vida,,,", p, 49, :I 11

13, Garcia Gamesj op,cit,, p, 123,

A solitary person, isolated from society, cannot help but besomewhat self-centered„ Regarding Pedro Prado, Raul Silva Castro says;" La tendencia centripeta que domina en todos los solitaries

ha producido naturalmente algunos frtttos'en el». Es evidente que Prado se conoce mucho a sx mismo y que cuando se le hacen confesar sus ensuenos y sus ideas, no cesa de exhibir su propio espxritu en su contacto con las cosas*-^

Just as Alsino feels that the elements of nature find their center in him (p4 73o), Prado feels that life centers around him, as is reflected in his tendency to become annoyed when interrupted in his usually one­sided conversation; "Sus amigos habxan aprendido a no interrumpirle, porque siempre tenxa algo Interssante que decir, aun cuando no fuesen .sino variaciones sohre el, tema eterno del hombre en busca de sx :mismo,»15:;/;:

Throughput his life, Prado was subject to attacks of the ill­ness that finally killed him,. During these periods, whether as a re­sult of the illness itself,or of the drugs that were given him,Prado underwent some mystical experiences that astounded and perplexed him, ^■. Sus amigos le oxan referir a menudo las extranas experiencias

que habxa tenido durante sus enfermedades, sometido a la accidn de narcoticos o en mementos de espontanea iluminacion que no solo sorprendian a los demas, sino qUe a dl mismo 16 dejaban atonito,-^

; These experiences: are'reflected in .:the prophetid; passages spo-ken by the blind Alsino in which he- predictsa horrible cataclysm after

■ 14i. Silva Castro, Retratos,,,, n, 128,15, Ernesto Montenegro, oD,cit,, p, 96, ,

: 16,' Arriagada.’,Augxer and Goldsack, "Pedro Prados Un clasico,,«,"

lY, Dxaz irrieta, Cuatro grandes.i,i p, 97,

. 42which man will finally, slowly, recognise the truth, the unity and sinw plicity of lifeo

Poeo a poco la presente civlllsacl^n se ira despojando de sus vistosas vestiduras6 iCuantos, por desconocerla, comensaran a

. . llorarla por perdida] ,]Y ella, invisible y desnuda, permanecera entre los hombresi iGuando nuevamente sea fecundada, su pre- . sencia se hara resplandeciente, y todos comprenderan, por fin, la mayor y suprema belleza que desnuda, fuerte y prodiga, ofrece . a la ultima sedI18

Prado spent his life trying to achieve the unity of purpose in his life that he saw in hid visions— by reconciling the opposing ele- ments of his character» , It was a perfectionist's goal that he was never able to reach» He continued to find himself dram into diversified activitiess art and architecture, writing, farming, business, diplomacy,

■ 1 trafel<A9 :v - • _ / \ \ ' - .y" . v rMas dialectico que metafisico, como todos los grandes poetas

V chilenos, Prado rechasara la concepcion de un mundo integrado a • Y base de elementos contrarios, eternamente aislados y enemigos,

• sonando con la posibilidad de atraerlos, y fundirlos en el ter- . mino de una gloriosa sintesis.^O .

As a.non-philosopher, Prado had a most personal approach to .: the problem of simplicity add unity in his life8 ' ■ dv;' De manera que la armonia no es una ley, o un con junto de

leyeso. Es algo que no es aparte do nosotros; es la actitud resultants de nuestro ser actual ante determinados asuntos,

•; Es, en buena cuenta, una de las manifestaciottes de nuestra ;• actual reaccion personal . . , , . ;

-r a young man, he had a realistic approach to these problems,' and ah acute awareness of the difficulties involved, in their solutions.

18. Alsino,.p6 243»

19»:APriagadaAugier, op.cit., p. 12.20»■ Ibid.* p. 481»• • ) v: ;;H % 1,':':21. Pedro Prado., Ensayqsi. <, p. 110.

Si vuestro pensamiento es como una, rama de zarza a todas las otras ramas engarzado, vuestra sencillez, la vuestra, esta en mostraros corno sols, Seria una. complicaoion mayor que el quedaros al natural, el trabajo ga.stado en desposeeros de la complicaoion que ya teneis. a..Mi senoillez acaso reside, en no tener la senoillez

Chapter VII

. . : : OTHER SYMBOLS -

\ ’’Ho image has one meaning alone, "1

Alsino contains an abundance of livelyp sensual images that flow across the screen of our inner eye with great emotional appeal during the reading of the novel's The elements involved in these images have meaning On a strictly physical plane and have their proper place in the development of the novel» ' Some of these images, however, appear to be more important,'more alive, and titore meaningful•than the others6 These 1 images are living symbols. "The/living symbol expresses an unconscious factor,, The more widely this factor operates, the more generally valid is the symbol, for in every soul it evokes a resonance0"

Of all the characters of the novel other than Alsino., No Nazario is the most archetypal* His is; the aricient figure of the "Wise Old Man" whom the hero meets on M s travelsi He symbolizes the spiritual factor 0 3 He appears when Alsino needs counsel about the ways of the road* He gives advice, often in a cynical and critical manner typical of the archetypes

;• 1» Rov Baslert. Sex8 Symbolism, and Psychology in Literature a(New Brunswicks Rutgers University Press,194B)j ps 17.

§6'Viblet Staub de Laszlo, introduction to ClGa Jung, Psyche and Symbol« '(Garden Cjtyr Doubleday Anchor Books, 1950), Po xxit' ■ 3 dung, op.cit., p. 69.

y— Mira, Gurcunchito, antes de separarnog, dejame darte un•ultimo consejo. Guando encuentres en tu camino hombres desconooidos, ten cuidado si son solroitos y se ofrecen, ri~ suenos, a acompanarte0 iDesconfxa.J Pueden ser ladrones.4

"He (the bid man ) also sees through the gloomy situation of the hero who has got himself into trouble, or at least can give him such information as will help hfm on his 3 ourney0 To this end he makes ready use of animals, particularly birds»"5 The lesson that Ho Nazario has to teach Alsino is one that Alsino is, unfortunately, to learn by experience» "Que el viejo Nazario, como tantos otros educadores en el mundo, quiebra las alas a los tordos para que jamas alcen el vuelo y las gentes leg juzguen bien educados. Alsino aprende que para educar seres con alas,, hay que romper los delicados huesos que las soportan*"^

Alsino and No Nazario meet in a valley (Alsino. p0 38), and they ; part when they have reached the mountains (Alsino. 'p* 53) & The valley, V v - although not as strong a symbol of impfisonment as Fromm indicates it can be,^ is at least a place from which Alsino departs, never to return. "Del solitario valle, hondo asilb a silenciosa vida^ volando subo,.,"° Mountains are a symbol of,the "goal of pilgrimage and ascent, hence... the psychological meaning Of the self."9 They also stand for meditation and spiritual elevation.^ Thus, in his jburhey through the mountains,

Alsino, Po. 53o :^^Jung,'"op^^, 6. Ricardo Brenes Me sen. Gritica americana. (San Jose, Costa

•Ricar El Gonvivio,/1936) , pe^3l« 1 . ' . • ' 1 ':; , 7. Frcanm, op.pit.«. p0 20. 8. Alsino. p. 8S0

VC:;,--. ' V V V v . - v v ■ -.V 46Alsino is searching for his real self and for life on a. higher spiritual plane than the one he lived in the valley. Mountains were also a place of refuge for him. It was only in the wilds of the mountains that he felt free to expose his wings. f'Aqux, en el claro de este bosquecillo perdidoy donde nadie acude, quiero desentumecer mi espalda."^! And it was to the mountains that he fled from his tormentors: 11 Tambaleandose como un ebrio, volvio a donde quedara abandonada la. oarreta de los nines. Desenredando su poncho, con el otra ve% cubierta, no dudo en . escoger un atajo que le dirigxa a la montaha solitaria."- Upon the death of Abigail, Alsino went even higher into the mountains: "Allx ‘ donde el rxo Plomo recibe el agua de las quebradas de Las Siete Lagunas, en esa angosta abra. de eordilleraj eerca de las minas de Maltusado y . . del portillo del mismo nombre, paso solitario por el que solo crus an ■: los contrabandistas de ganadO;argentine..."^3 . . V v

It is evident that for Prado the landscape has great signifi^ cance. "En el paisaje encuentra., 0 trata de encontrar, la soluci^n . del alma de.Alsino, esdecir su propia alma, en esa.exaltacion Ixrica . que produce la bellesa del mundo, el misterid constants de las cosas."^ For Alsino Prado chose some of the most; powerful symbolic elements of nature— the sea/ the night, the sun,and the hurricane. He employed them to reveal Alsino ’S nature to .the reader, and also as a vehicle for his own philosophy Of life and the universe^/ •'

'•■'V Ho Alsino, p. 43. ' • .:' . 12, Ibid., p. 57. .I1' : ; : f ' / 'y ;V ;

. 13, Ibxd., p<, 228. ■ . y. , .V;':14» Torres-Rxosecoo Grandes novelistas.^ . p. 183.

47The image of the sea is a constant motif in the work of Pedro

Prado just as it is an ever present factor in the geography of Chile, However, Prado uses the sea as symbol in a very individual way. The usual meaning of the sea is that of "the unconscious, the mother of all that lives";-*"'’ "hot only the source of life but also,its goal,"16 Prado's use of the image indicates a reversal of the usages he addresses the sea as "father"s "\Oh,■padre I por dos debiles alas que yo poseo, en cada ola tu despliegas, curvadas por el ansia y el viento, alas gi- gantes de inmensas aves desconocidas que naufragan*"I?

Perhaps because he lost his mother when he was only two years old, and because he was so attached to his father— a strong figure— , Prado is unable to conceive of the sea as an entirely maternal or feminine entity,' When Alsino sings his ode; to the "father" sea, he is revealing a great deal of Prado's unconscious feelings. Combining the images of father and mother in the sea suits the realities of Prado's inner existence, It was absolutely necessary for him to find a satis­factory substitute for;the normal father/mother situation since that was denied him,' By making the father image of his unconscious mind the dominant figure to conform to the actual situation, he caused the mother image of the unconscious to become a secondary figure. She became a dream figure and did not function as an aotivd influence in his life.It' was the lack of a mother that had more Influence oh his manner of thinking and behaving, : . ■'

15o Jung, op,oit,, p, 143616, Cirlot, op<,cit,o p, 268.17, Alsino, p, 94,

Prado depicts a restless soa, giving up what has been deposi­ted in it; "Mas tu sieapre arrojas de nnevo a la tierra todo lo que flo-, ta0 Todo lo que teme tus hondos abismos» alii donde el tiempo trabaja y convierte a tus aguaa, que absorben y crecen, las mil variedades de forma y substanoia que pueblan el mundoo1'1 Prado aeema to be des­cribing the unconscious and its effect on the conscious mind, i,e„ always bringing up old memories and emotions to bear upon present, be­havior 0 In this sense, the sea is still an image of the unconscious and even perhaps, more obscurely ', the mother for Prado* But he con­tinues to insist on addressing the sea as."father", and gives it a strong, proud personality; "Si reflejas a! cielo, tu recuerdas a Dios*Tu perduras viviendo aquel dxa primerd del mundo cuando Dios te tinera de eterno al pasar sobre ti con su sombra y su acento, y en las cimasioh padre! que forman los montes mayorss, jte hundiera y atara porsiempre!"^ i V.vi'

Another symbol of the unconscious used by Prado is the night*"Night is related to the passive principle, the feminine, and the un­conscious*"^ Interestingly enough, in this instance Prado chose to ! retain the mother aspect of the image., perhaps because his mother was br: a shadowy, dark figure for him* "Madre de toda. cosa impenetrable, tu. ; oscuridad se presenta al igual de:un viento impreyisto, avivahdo las innumerables interrogacionee que el hbmbre perennemente se hace *In his portrait of the night^ Prado'presents the night as a symbol 9t recun«tyl ' . :

IS* Alsino, p* 94* . .19* Ibid*, p* 95* .20* Glrlot onncit* * n* 2lB* . 21* Alsino* p* 107; '.

49■ Noohe de abril, olorosa. a vinas cuajadas de racimoSj no

solo frutos aburidantes madura en tl el otono; tiendense tambien a dormxr los hombres bajo tu espesa, sombra, cual semillas cu- biertas de tlerra osotma/y livlana,22

He also links the night with the march of time towards death, a favor­ite theme of his:

Pero, 13,jl como rio subterraneo tambien por tus entranas sigue su marcha, y mas visible, el tiempo» El tiempo que aun en el dfa es ya tan transparente„ Y los dolores que para mu- chos dormidos se aproximan, por el vienen, como peregrinos y romeros miserables, que sus huespedes, aunque quieran expul- . sarlos, no tendran jamas el valor necesario„23

Prado devotes a chapter to the hurricane, also a symbol of fecundation and regeneration according to Cirlot<, 4 Alsino exper­iences the violent wind as a force which inspires strange, wild de­sires in men:

Facil como una carrera cuesta abajo, excitado por la velo- cidad mis y mas acelerada del huracin, Alsino siente la embria- guez de ir cayendo en inconsciencia. Solo qUeda en su corazon una felicidad fiera y desencadenada, abierta a los deseos maxi- mos que se le ofrecen sumisos y rendidos<>»«

iSalveI /oh viento divino! Tu excitas y obligas a cortar las amarras a todas las naves y a todos los hombres*. Tu llenas sus vidas de ardores terribles que nunca, por otro emisario reci.ben.o25 •

Prado compares the humid, oppressive period before the storm to anarchetypal, prehistoric fears • ;

Hediondo, de una. fetidez vaga y desconocida, ni residios • de los valles, campos lejanos apenas visibles5 ni lagunas de aguas putridas; ni fermentos ignorados de frutos ponzonosos que allx, en la/montana, pudiese haber, serian capaces de producir ese olor extra.no que despertaba en Alsino, en las - . aves y en los animales, el pavor expectants de un ancestral

' y remote recuerdo sobre el anuncio vecino de ineludibles cataolismoso

22* Alsino, p0- 106, 23* Ibid, ' 24» Girlot, on,cit,, p, 353<.25o Alsino, pa 112, 26, Ibid,., p, 109« .

50In the image of the sun, the rising sun at dawn, Prado has

found another powerful symbol<, "The sun represents the moment. „ .when the heroic principle shines at its brightest.An heroic and coura­geous force, creative and guiding..e"27 it is "a symbol of the source of life and of the ultimate wholeness of man.11 Alsino greets the rising sun as "iausente duenoi"^9 and in a. long hymn, expresses the idea that the sun is the source of energy for his singings "Y cuando arrebatado por M me impregne de tu luz y en ella, brille, surgiran los cantos que saludan el resplandor.de tu eterna a u r o r a ."30 Prado pays little attention to the setting sun in Alsino. He is clearly more impressed by the "sana alegria del amanecer"31 and underscores the idea of the eternal dawns "Aurora eterna, si; porque siempre estas surgiendo, para alguna comarca de la tierra, sobre el horizonte de su oriented"32

/As in many ancient religions, the sun for Alsino is the Supreme

Being whom he worships and from whom he receives his strength. He addresses the sun as neither "father" nor "mother" but as "owner," thus establishing the superiority of the sun in relation to himself.But there is a challenge implicit itt the relationship between superior and inferiors "The superior destroys— bums up— the inferior. But, for this very reason, the recipient of any such token of the supra-normal

. 27. Oirlot, opocit., P.- 3Q2a- 28. Ibid.. p. 30A./ 29. Alsino. p. 87. d / ^

31. Ibid.. p. 65. 32. Ibid.. p. 87.

51who is not destroyed by the gift But proves himself capable of retain­ing it, establishes thereby his own (comparable) superiority, "33 Alsino ; : himself foresees the difficulties arising from his pursuit of the sun:

Cuando arda el cielo y tus rayos sobre los montes eaigan,■ fay de mii- si en la negra sombra que sigue al deslumbramiento#

extravxo, en la vertiginosa ascension, tus huelias,Cuando a traves de mis parpados, que busquen tu vision y >

impedir,-brille mas roja, mezclandose a mi sangre, la lua :inextinguible de la hoguera., la expectacibn sera para mi

. cuerpo dolor desconocido y sobrehumano»34As his wings developed, Alsino became able to communicate with' ;

animals. At first, the communication was largely one-way--the animalsunderstood him, but they became frightened and ran off:

Con la algarabxa, otros perros, salidos de quien sabe de donde, acudieron con mayor ira, y como uno de ellos, mas atrevido,

- baboseara Ids harapos de Alsino, este se detuvo, y mirando la jaurta rabiosa, preguntd con una voz sencilla:

— iQue quereis de mx? •Dichas por otros, esas pocas palabras inofensivas, incom- - y

prensibles para los perros, hubiesen avivado el. atrevimiento y la rabia que ardxxen ellos; pero como Alsino ya se daba a ' y :’-entender a las cosas y a los animales, todos Ids perros, al oirlo, enmudecieron a la vez, y, sin responder, 0,0volvieron grupas y tomaron trotecillos de traves.,,"35

Later, when Alsino is in the custody of the hacendado,. thedogs come to him and listen attentively grouped in a circle around him:. ' . En derredor del joven, de pie, o sentados en sus cuartos y. traseros, no le quitaban los ojos, pacientes como jaurxa que

bloquea una cueva impracticable donde se acaba de ocultar un . zorro.36 ' ' :y ; ;:'y;' :

,..La joven y el nino, que se acercaban temerosos, oyeron con asombro la voz muy natural y tranquila del Joven dirigien-; ■y;fyyy;%';.'y

1 dose a los p e r r o s ,37

. 33, Cirlot, on.cit,, p, 305, • 3-4, Alsino, 0, 87.35, Ibid., p, 67. : . 36. Ibid., p. 148.37. Ibid., p, 149.\

52When Alsino lies near death, the animals come to care for.him

by bringing him things to eat, covering him with leaves to keep him warm, and singing to keep him from being .lonely or discouraged*

a,. Gerca de Alsino quedaba, de guardia una. vieja. tenca. casi desplumada, que tenia, para iargas distancias, el vuelo dificil y penoso.

Imitando a maravilla el canto de casi todos los pajaros ausentes, iba y ven^a de Alsino, quien, creyendose siempre acompa.na.do de sus pequenos amigos, recobraba por instantes, pero no sin esfuerzos, el poder de sonreir,38

The helpful animals are a common motif in fairy tales and folk litera­ture » They are the agents of Mother Nature who care for the abandoned "child” ? - .

The motifs of "insignificance", exposure, abandonment, b, danger, etc,, try to show how precarious is the psychic possi-

bility of wholeness, that is, the enormous difficulties to be . met with in attainifig the "highest good"0 They also signify the powerlessness and helplessness of the life-urge which sub­jects every growing thing to the law of maximum self-fulfillment,

• while at.the same time the environmental influences place all sorts of insuperable obstacles in the way of individuation,39

This is truly the 'predicament of Alsino, the "child" whose wings (hisenvironment) prevent him from finding his place in the sun.

Out of this situation the "child" emerges as a symbolic ; content, manifestly separated or even isolated from its back-

- ground (the mother)',,»i;:' Nothing in all the world welcomes this new birth,!although it is the .most precious fruit of Mother I '

' Nature herself,That is why Nature, the world of the instinct, takes the "child" under its wings* it; is; nourished and protected by animals,40 , - . ' -

Alsino is the "child", abandoned-by his parents, Abigail,, and yObtpipa, He is alone-except for the animal si.- The loneliness

3 o ■ Alsino, Pa. 253,, ■ ;39, lung, op,.cit,, pi. 130; \ .AO. Ibid., p. 133. . •

according to Jung# is symbolic of "the conflict between the bearer or symbol of higher consciousness and his surroundings,*41

Beside the symbols in the novel itself, Prado used symbolism in the illustrations that he himself drew for Alsino, Above each chapter heading is a small sketch depicting the action or the setting for that chapter. At the end of most chapters, he has placed a. small design in a circle symbolizing the stage of development of Alsino's pilgrimage through life,.

There are no such designs until the third chapter, “La Qaida," when Alsino falls from the tree, and his wings start to grow. This is illustrated by a caterpillar within a circle. In Part II the ; design changes to that of a larva in a cocoon. For the'last chapter of this sectionj "El Vueloj'! the design becomes a caterpillar again, .'V; M symbolizing Alsino's metamorphosis into a ttew'stage of being. Part III . opens with a white butterfly within a.shaded circle, However, Chapters XIV throughxXVIII, which deal with his activities while flying -and- his meeting with the girl by the river, have no designs. Chapter. XIX has a dark butterfly within a light circle, and Chapter XXI,"Soledadj" . has the reverse image, Prado varied the light and dark images accord­ing to the somberness of seriousness of the theme of the chapter.

In Part TV,: Alsinb becomes a.prisoner and the design changes to that of a. butterfly transfixed by a large .pin, . This continues through the;chapters dealing.With a description, of Alsino's situation,

;41^Jung, ;SEaolt., p. 134. . ' .

54as a prisoner. The remaining chapters of this part deal mainly with a realistic description of country life in Chile and Alsino's love for Abigail, There are no designs for these chapters.

For the last section, Part 7, Prado uses only the dark butter­fly in the light circle when Alsino becomes blind. Chapter XXXVIj and at the very end of the novel, white flames in a dark circle.

Chapter VIII

LITERARY MERITS OF THE NOVEL

The major literary merit of Alsino is the beauty of Prado’s poetic prose. From the very first line one is impressed by the ele- ■ gant simplicity and the deep lyricism of the description of the Chilean coast at night which leads unobtrusively into the narrative?

La noche cubre los campos como un agua oscura y sutil.Despues de haber penetrado hasta en las ultimas concavidades de las dunas, eleva silenciosamente su nivel mil veces por encima. de las mas altas montanas. «..Hacia el oriente, en la ultima choza, duermen una anciana y dos ninos.i

Montes Brunet calls Prado’s style the "estilo perfecto, clasico deA l s i n o " ; ^ p^az Arrieta refers to "la prosa limpida, equilibrada ym e l b d i c a " | 3 Anderson Imbert terms it "un estilo precioso, apretado d evisiones poeticas;Originaies”iA and Manuel Bandeira states that Pradois "urn dos mais perfeitos estilistas da America "/.

Prado employs a'simple Vocabulary but avoids the trap of using hackneyed cliches and phrases. "Bus esttidios de arquitectura que trun­co por casarse tempranamente, ban influido.sin duda alguna en la

.■I'd Alsino. p. 9. v'r ■: %" ■2. Hugo Montes-Brunet and Julio Orlandi. Historla de la litera­

ture chilena, (Santiago? Editorial del Pacifico, 1955") > p. 166.: 3. Dfa.z Arrieta. Cuatrb srandes.... pQ. 66. .

I / ' A* Enrique Anderson Imbert, Historia de la literature hispa.no-americana, (Mexico? Pondo de Gulttira Icondmica, 1954),.P* 280.

5. Manuel Bandeira. Literatura Hisnano-americana, (Rio de Ja-* neiro? Editorial Fundo de Cultura . 1949)# P» 186.

56estruotura de su arte, Prado so liberta del accesorio inutil„11 His

. ' ' ' ' idescriptive passages are provocative because of the originality of his concepts %

Alsino va por la orilia del mar donde las olas Iansan sus zarpazos y aprisionan el aire y brota la esptima, Sube por

•• altas rocas grises, con posas de agua cristalina donde ouajan los grumos deslumbrantes de la sal,7

Prado possesses fully the precious gift of rhythm, "Sus cantosposeen todo el ritmo de v e r s o , H i s long description of the hurricanebegins with long paragraphs and slow, measured language ?

En el amanecer oscuro, el aire viciado por inmovilidad, caliente y turbio, denso hasta la. angustia, soportaba, rendido, el peso abrumador de una inmensa y aonsiruosa nube negra que llenaba, sin resquicio, el dilatedo cxrculo del cielo.,

As soon as the first thunderclap sounds, the rhythm accelerates and there is an exciting, contrast between sound and silence from one para­graph to another $ / ■

Distant© y; perdido, un trueno que venxa del norte, hizo volver tod os los ojos en esa. direcoion,

El silencio que siguib fue acrecentado por la inmovilidad en acecho, . •• . • ' ■ y /

Vxvido relampago cruzo en zig-zag de fuego contra las nubes ■ : oscuras, Fugazmente todo el valle, que desde la altura se divi- saba, se ilumino con su resplandor verdoso y; ©spectral.

Mas sombrxa, tras su.luz cegadora, quedb la manatta cenicienta,; En el silencio, un nuevo trueno rodo arrastradoj, desiacando,.

= soberbio, su aspero sonido retumbante, prolongado y hondo,Lejanos, otros relampagos dieron su: luz ripida, y truenos.

> menores siguieron en son de batalla, 1° , ’ !

6,- Garcia Games, oo,cit,, p»' 124:* , . /70. Alsino,'p, 93, ; - ' V .8, Brenea Mesen, on,cit,. p,. 33, • ' ■9, Alsino, p, 106* v

10 6 Ibid o o pi 112.4 , .r-"':':'---"

: 57The dominant element in the writing of Alsino is the landscape6

Prado's descriptions of nature are lyrical and poetic, and, at the same time, realistic6 Torres-Rioseco comments that Prado "observa ana- lit ica. y friamente su paisaje,"U. Gastro Leal describes the process that Prado followsr "Bn su estilo exeelente hay algo de la teenies del pintor m o escribe Id que las palabras le van dictando, parece copiar fielmente un minucioso modelo mental buscando en su paleta las expre- siones justas»"^2 Prado's brilliant description of a wheat field in summer is a good example of a product of his literary palette;

. Por una. sementera de trigo, que cubria ondulados ramajes,- una manana de enero clara y ardiente, Alsino crusaba en demanda : del agua de un arroyo que se veia brillar entre las sombria.3'

arboledas de un pequeno y cercano valle*: Aires tibios, densos y arremolinados,peinaban y despeinaban

la sementera. Tan pronto se la veia de color pardo mate, al mostrar las espigas madurasj luego, brillante, al refulgir el

y; sol en las pajas amarillas y barnizadaSo Bn el cambio de color- y en el murmullo que hacian al chocar las espigas sumisas, se

.. podian seguir las corrientes del aire vagabundo, Ya encendian, en el apagado color de una ladera, un chispazb creciente y ve- loz de oro.vivoj ya iban comd xm rio de luz, en grandes y

vl ' maprichosas reweltas»i3 ; ■ : ; ' ■ :- Although he gives detailed descriptions of the landscape, Prado

deals with his human characters iti a sketchy and perfunctory mannero. Hedispatches gay, young Abigail with a rather conventional descriptions_ ■ Avanzaba esbelta y graciosa; era blanca, de dorados cabellos y,: castanos, Cuando se llego a su padre, y besahdolo en la meiilla- diole los buenos d£as, su rdstro se coloreaba, y la agitacion de* la carrera segufa meciendo apresuradamente su pecho y entreabria. su boea de labios encendidos y kTmedos diehtecillos,^/

11,• Torres Rroseco, Grandes noVeliStas,» n, 189,12, Castro Leal, on.oit,* .■■ 13» Alsino. p,. 37= - ; • " ■ ' ' ' .. ■ •U » Ibid., p= 14.6= '

58The brief portrait of No Nazario is an example of tremendismo in itscarefully selected, harshly.realistic details:

De entre las espigas asomo un viejo, cubierta la cabeza con Y un panuelo azul de hierbas* Sus ojos turbios, sanguinolentos y . deshechos, se veian acuosos; grandes barbas desgrenadas, de un ceniza amarillento, rellenaban sus mejillas enjutas. For su camiseta entreabierta divisabanse en el nacimientb del pecho, de un ocre oscuro, las culebras de las venas y los gruesos ten- done s descarnados cubiertos de piel arrugada y seca0 3-4

Because of the short descriptions and lack of development, the charac­ters of the novel seem to be shadowy, two-dimensional figures moving about on a rich pastoral canvas« Even the hero of the novel, Alsino, does not develop in depth as a personality' it is only the dimensions .of his situation that are discovered and defined during the course of

' the novel« ’ - ■- V eV - Y ■" . • ■As can be seen from the description of No Nazario, Prado is

capable of a realism that appears in sharp contrast to the lyric quali­ty of the rest of the novel* Indeed, Prado * s realistic passages are sometimes as.-,rhythmic and lyrical as his poetic passages i

Desde los maizales y vinedos que rodean la Huerta del Mata- ■ .quito, por ambas feraces riberas del rxo, hasta Licanten; desdela miserable caleta de Lloca, a todo lo largo de esa costa escar— pada, batida por un mar siempre solitario, hasta las salinas y lagunas de Boyeruca y Bucalemu?; por las risuems aldeas de Alcan­tara y Paredones, y otras mas, de tierra adentroj en los caserios que se extienden a orillas del estero de Las.Garzas y de tantas otras aguas puras y tranquilasj desde el Alto de Perdiguero a la . Puntilia de Hidalgos,. y mas alia de la sombrxa quebrada de los " Galaces; desbordandose por todos los caminos que^cruzan la cuesta de La Layuela, y las peligrosas Sierras de Golhue, corre. la fama de la yieja medica de Las Conchas* 5 . ■ -

14-o Alsino, p*' 38* y ;15* Ibid.. n* 21/';;'i;

59Occasionally, this lyric realism carries him into surrealism as in his description of the fruit in storage which gives the impression of a painting by Dali:

/ /Contiguas a las ultimas mansanas agrupabanse. las peras loicas,pequenas y'pecosas, con su gran mancha. roja; las de guarda, verdesy tersas; la seccion de las enormes peras de agua, ya con clarosabiertos por el consumo diario, Y, por todas partes, abandonadasy dispersas, habia grandes cantidades de frutas lacias, deshechas

: y podridas. Gediendo a su propio peso, aplastandose contra lastablas, hacian pasar hacia abajo, por. grietas y junturas, lagri-mones de miel. tin terciopelo de hongos blanquecinos crecia silen-cioso sobre esas frutas que, sobrepasada la plena madurez,

- comienzan a derretirse como blanda cera0l6However, many of Hradd's realistic.chapters are written in a

rather common narrative style with more attention paid to local color than to poetic values* Such chapters, which do not deal directly with Alsino, are "La ayuda parroquial' V "Un aho triste," "Entrevistas?" and "La fiesta desconooida*" They depict the life and customs of Vega de Reinoso and do not contribute to the development of the novel* "Sin ellos, el libro no perdena nada, y habr^a ganado, en cambio, en agilidad*"!? ; : bv v.V" .::v ./q.;:' : y, -

Several critics have objected to what they feel is the too vio­lent contrast between the realistic and poetic sections of the novelsV : El protagonista mismo, a pesar .de su hmilde origen, es un

ser superior que pone'toda su.esperanza.en remontarse hacia el. cielo* A medida que la obra transcurre, la fisonomia del perso­na je central se vaafinando fisica y espiritualmente, llegando por

• momentos a una, depuracion cast angelical* El lector quisiera ver- ' lo siempre en el mismo ambiente de perfeccidn en que a menudo se . desenvuelve su vida* Por eso, siente una. cierta- contrariedad. al verlo descender a la dura.realidad de carreteros y comerciantes* Cuando se le ve. junto & dos empresarios yanquis, descritos harto

16, Alsino, p* 210*-:17, Arriagada Augier, oo,cit*, p* 329,

. ' , 6o: caricatUFesoemente ? la contrariedad tiene plena, justiflcaclon> .pues la escena esta fuera de lugar y hasta, careoe da buen gusto.

Silva O&stro also ofitloisses Prado ’a taste $Guando naco Alsino. en efecto, el poeta vaoila. entre la no­

vela, y el poema porque no quiere dejar silencioso el espxritu integrador que lo domina. Hay en Alsino trozos de pura poesxa

- vert Ida en parosa* en una prosa aerea que vuela m^s alto que el nino con alas, y hay tambien fragmentos de burda naturalidad.Parece sentir el autor cierto sadismo en hacer naufragar al- gunos de sua ricos ensuenos en la. cienaga de la vida vulgar.

lorres-Rioseco commentsi "Sus toques de realismo, exagerados a veces,dan a esta obra un ambiente de chilenidad. extrano en el desdoblamientosimbolico del relate."20 The effect of this contrast is particularlydisturbing when it is in the character of Alsino himself that it occursfor example when one compares the two tales that Alsino tells, one toa group of servants and the other to Abigail. Abigail's story is.alyric recollection of the days before Alsino's wings were clipped $ ■

/ / ' ■ \ . ■ z — Una tarde— comenzo— , erase en el tiempo en que yo recieniniciaba mis vuelos, a.un presa del loco entusiasmo de mi nuevo ..

. poder, sin reparar en obstaculosy espoleado por deseos ihago-' tables, mil veces superiores a mis fuerzas, volando sobre una

serranxa divise tras ellas el resplandor del mar. Era poco. mas de mediodxa, hora en que lasolas ruedan tranquilas y mejor

reflejan, como las escamas de plata de un'pez gigante, la luzcegadora- del .sol,. ;:'b'

The tale told to the servants is a simple account of a,n incident that . occurred while Alsino was hunting for food and which ends with a gro­tesque event; .■/ . _ \ ' ,; li;:- : , /

; En un descuido, cuando el zorrb, ya extenuado, parecia echar ;; afuera los bofes,, le tome de;la cola y sub^ con el. Desde lo

18. Montes'Brunet, op.cito, p. 166.19. Silva Castro, Betratos..., p. 131. .20. Torres- Rxoseco. Grandes novelistas..., p. 185.21. Alsino, p. 21A. ■ - Ty'-

61/ s''- " 'i ' ■ 'alto lo lance al aire. Gayo dando volteretas y, al estrellarse

contra el suelo, sono como un saco que se derrmba y revlenta022This story, • and another incident when Alsino slyly tricks a

pair.of journalists who want to exploit him, are the only occasions■ when Alsino behaves like the peasant boy that he is. Both incidents .seem out of place in the development of his character since we do notsee his dual nature as peasant boy and winged creature continuouslyfrom the beginning of the novel* Prado concentrates mainly on Alsino1sspiritual development# If he had emphasized the counterpoint betweenthe reality, of Alsino !s human existence and the lyricism of his wingedlife,he could have created a greater tension of opposites and a morebalanced work of art. As it is, the realistic passages merely breakup the flow of the:narrative.with unrelated episodes, thus reducingthe dramatic effect of the. narrative#

The odes that Alsino sings alsb interrupt the narrative, butthey contribute to-;the understanding of his inner turmoil. They arethe only instances of Alsino5s speaking of his innermost thoughts,- . — i Oh, luna. de las solitaries alturasl — exclamo delirante— , ■... perdona que te .sorprenda, perdona que, sin haber sabido como,

haya llegadO hasta esta region desierta donde tu, quizes, confiada,. ensenes tus mas cercanos encantos#. jPerddnamei Mas ique podia •

;■. \ hacer? .tin dxa, ligado a mis piernas, las vi" mover se y llevarme a - cumplir con un secrete destino# ' Bsa vez, ardiendo de curiosi-

; - .dad,, feliz de sentirme libre, libre. de ’toda pOsible libertad.,. no \ : alcance a experimenter al mismo tiem^o este terror de verme unldo I a algo que ahora me: arrastra mas alia de loS ijmites de accion fijados a mi vida.,2^ - : :'-:

22, Alsino# p..' 203,,": - ■■ ' v '' . r ’

23, Ibid*. p,/71*J'

■ ; . ■ . ' : - ' , : . ; - 62There is Some doubt'that Alsino can be designated a novel In

spite of the faot that Prado included the word novela in the title from the very first edition, "A pesar de haberse publicado todas las ediciones de fAlsino' con el subtitulo ’novela#dificilmente cabe el libro en ©ate genero literario, Se trata en realidad de una extensa obra poetica en que el autor hace gala de su capacidad de llevar a la poesia aun los elementos mas burdos de la vlda,"24

dEs novela todo esto? Segun y conforms, iDe que se trata.■ entonces? De fabulas tradlcionales, de cuentos legendaries, de creaciones de la fantasia individual que un pueblo o una raza prohija y.cuenta, repetidamente, en todas las formas accesibles, ya en prosa, ya en verso, Prado tuvo, pues, el coraje de tomarla

: por su cuenta, darle vestidura y echarla a rodar en prosa, y conapariencia de no vela, Gon eso basta., Pasta por lo menos para que por este libro le tengamos como novelista de verdad, 5

Alsino is clearly a work of narrative fiction, with a definite plot and characters, and a central.conflict which is satisfactorily resolved," The fact that Prado mixes his styles merely indicates that he has chosen not to be limited by arbitrary, nestrictions of form.

24„ Montes Brunet and Or land!, omclt,, - p«. l64i'' .-yd ■ ;25, Silva Castroj Panorama,.«, p, 261, ; fv

Chapter IX

CONCLUSION

We have seen that Pedro Prado has done what fev Latin American authors have attempted to do2 he has re-told a myth in a modern setting, relating it to both eternal and contemporary problems of creative man. By clothing the myth in poetic attire, Prado has added greatly to its beauty; by Using the myth as a symbol, he has added new dimensions to its significance, " ;

Prado has used the myth of Icarus with symbolic intent, as a.symbol of the artist, and, in the artist, a. symbol of himself, He hasnot tried to paint a realistic portrait of;the artist; rather he has ; tried to give us. a graphic representation of the emotional conflict within the artist caused by the duality of his nature, and the diffi- ■ culty of striking a balance between his environment and his desires for beauty and perfection, .The fact that. Prado felt himself to be prisoner of this situation added intensity and realism to his writing,

Prado has used, the other symbols, sUch as the Old Manj. the sun,etc*, to emphasize.the mythical qualities of his hero. Each symbol.expands our understanding of Alsino as a mythical hero and as the artist— the man of sensitivity beset by the limitations of environment and a sense of personal inadequacy* - '

It'is unfortunate'that Prado was.not more successful in his • attempt to. set the myth of Alsino on a base of realism and naturalism,80 many of the: realistic episodes are superfluous that they affect .

our regard for those that are necessary to point up the contrast in Alsino1s nature and his situation# .

Alsino’s death is satisfying not only artistically but psycho­logically. as veil. Prado has not twisted the conclusion of the myth into a "happy ending"' but has followed it to the "bitter end." He feel that Alsino not only earned that respite from travail that death brings but also that his suicide was justified in the light of the enormous frustrations laid upon him by his situation. He forgive his weakness . because we are weak. He admire his strength and single-mindedness ' because, we are not strong 'and are easily distracted. He mourn for the genius that at the same time crippled and freed him# "T son jorobas las ansias contenidas del vuelo,,. Aquellas dotes pop las cuales la humahidad reconocera a sUs me j ores representantes, suelen ser .las jorobas que mas atormentaron a quienes las poseyeron."^ .

■ Ricardo Brenes Mesen has said, "que de esta vez el hado de , Alsino ha dejado. toda una tarde de lluvia en mi ser, pues hay algo de sombrio y grave, de melancolico y grande, de ideal y realidad en las . paginas de esta novela-poema,"2 The cumulative effect of the novel is powerful. In spite of the defects in the development of the character of' Alsino, he attracts our sympathy for the anguish of his predicament, the nobility with which he confronts his situation, and the tragedy of his death, 'The fatal flaw of his.personality, his unwillingness to

; • ; ' • • 1» Brenes Meson, on.cit## n,. 31. - • : ■

. - ' 65compromise with life, strikes a vital chord in us because we often share this unwillingness* .

Alsino is not a great novel, but it is an important novel .be­cause of the- originality of its concept, the fact that it has something to say beyond the mere telling of a. tale, and because of the serious­ness of the author's intente The Chilean artist-professor, JorgeElliott, sums it up;' Prado es, entonces, no- un artista. mayor, pero sx todo un

artista* 'Su importancia en la tradicioh poetica chilena que recien inicia es real, puesto que el, fuera de haber escrito un buen numero de poemas de jerarqula, usa emotivamente el pensamienio, reflejando una inquietud intelectual de impor- tancia en nuestro medio y mas arm, toda su labor es un ejemplo de seria devocidn al oficio :literarioe3 -

" 3* Jorge Elliott, Antologia cr:itica. de la. nueva. noesxa. chilena.a(Santiagos Hascimento, 1957), pi 53* . . ■ '

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