Victor’s thoughtful nature allows Allende to demonstrate the challenging nature of coping with change and the extraordinary effort that people had to put forth to survive in these times. When he enrolls in medical school to complete his degree after the war, “Victor knew as much as his professors about practice, but very little about theory: it was one thing to mend broken bones, and quite another to be able to identify them by name” (143). He learns his trade via action, only learning the underlying theories later. In the beginning of A LONG PETAL OF THE SEA, Allende writes about the many thousands of terrified refugees escaping to France, where a campaign of fear and hatred awaited them, about how nobody wanted these filthy fugitives or repugnant beings who were going to spread epidemics, commit robberies and rape, and stir up a communist revolution. Given the times in which he lives, Victor is forced to learn medicine on the frontlines of battle. He is a man of science who is drawn to the study of medicine. Introspective and at times, prone to sadness, Victor is somewhat shy and bookish.
He is the primary lens through which the author tells the history of Spain and Chile.
Through the character of Victor, Allende invites the reader to experience the Spanish Civil War, exile, the life of an immigrant, the repression of the Pinochet regime, arrest and political persecution, and belonging.
0 kommentar(er)
