Sobre el autor y la obra
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Ricardo
Güiraldes
o
Argentina;
1886-1927
o
Novelist
and poet
o
One of the most significant Argentine writers of
his era
o
Wealthy background, part of landowning
aristocracy; lived part of life in Europe and part on the family estancia on
the pampa (Franco, Ch. 7)
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Novel is a regional novel that focuses on the Argentine
gaucho
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Work was considered the greatest regional novel of the
century (Franco)
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“la
primera obra de carácter universal producida por la literatura gauchesca
argentina”
Historical/political/social context
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Typical Argentine gauchos were disappearing at the time
the book was written, as the agricultural/rural system was ever more strictly
organized
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These were tough years for Argentina; this novel
presents an nostalgic look back at how life once was
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empujados
por una organización nueva de trabajo rural, typical gauchos (reseros) were disappearing.
This serves in homage to them.
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presenting
this novel to a generation of a “juventud desconcertada por los malos años
caídos sobre la república”, so author creates a hero with el más macho de los
oficios.
Comps Example Question
The regional narrative (novela
telúrica), with its variants (criollismo,
novela de la tierra, de la selva, etc.). Authors: Gallegos,
Güiraldes, Rivera, Quiroga. Some suggested, secondary readings: Alonso.
Notes from Wikipedia
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novela
rural argentina, no reivindica socialmente al gaucho, sino que lo evoca como
personaje legendario ("sombra"), en un tono elegíaco.
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El
título del libro, escrito por un estanciero (Ricardo Güiraldes) es sintomático,
si no fuera por el tratamiento respetuoso de Don
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"Segundo
Sombra" parece sugerir a un subalterno, si bien la prelación respetuosa
con el tratamiento de Don contrapesa (quizás sin que Güiraldes fuera consciente
de ello) la subalternidad, señala a un gaucho que por mantener su axiología,
sus principios, resulta superior a la axiología burguesa. Ricardo Güiraldes
aprende en una especie de viaje iniciático lo que es el valor, el honor, la
lealtad (que desde otra perspectiva puede mal interpretarse como
subalternidad), el respeto al prójimo (todo esto, amenizado en el libro con descripciones).
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primera
persona.
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con
regionalismos gauchescos de la llanura argentina.
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la
más destacada tentativa de su autor en el propósito de renovación de la
literatura gauchesca
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el trabajo
no aspira a tener un carácter realista o presentador de costumbres, sino que,
desde la perspectiva del narrador -el mocito Fabio Cáceres- se propone
desenvolver el desarrollo espiritual y físico (bildungsroman) de
un adolescente que madura y se va haciendo hombre a la vera de un gaucho cabal.
From adolescent restlessness to sober manhood, which parallels
Argentina's growth ("education of an adolescent world begotten without
love and abandoned without remorse")
Super short article by Bernardo Gicovate with some notes:
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Don Segundo as the perfect type of gaucho, last and
most complete representative of a vanished class.
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Gaucho is symbol and the nostalgia of bygone days of
freedom and simplicity.
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Don Segundo is the past and his son, Fabio, is
"new 20th century Argentina burdened with a history."
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can be considered (at least in part) picaresque because
of a desire for freedom and wanderlust (yet no hunger motive, no change of
masters, no dishonest behavior and no social satire)
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Fabio was kicked out of aunts' house; ready for heroism
or crime. The appearance of Don Segundo starts a chain of events that will lead
him to maturity.
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Fabio learns how to break a horse, hold his liquor,
master men, deal with women
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During this process, Don Segundo's tales contain
lessons of popular philosophy that complete with their theoretical
teaching the practical education of Fabio.
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Theme of fatalistic acceptance of the hardships of
this world. Must learn to accept and not choose his place in the world.
Fabio must try to assimilate with the Western world, but preserve pristine
Gaucho-self (although he will no longer have freedom, joy)
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must leave behind self-pity and unprofitable roaming to
enter a new cycle of sober and slow accomplishment.
Summary
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From Franco, Chap. 7: “The hero of the novel is
a boy, Gaucho, so nicknamed because he is illegitimate and does not know who
his father is. He lives with two ‘aunts’ in a small town and is well on his way
to becoming a juvenile delinquent at the time when the novel begins. He is
saved from this by his hero-worship for Don Segundo Sombra, a gaucho he sees
riding into town one day and who proceeds with stoic calm and dignity to disarm
a drunk who tries to pick a fight. Gaucho runs away from home to follow Don
Segundo Sombra, who becomes his ‘tutor’ and takes him on a long cattle drive
across country. The boy’s boastfulness, his vanity and impudence are soon
tempered when the long rides and the round-ups teach him that these have no
place in gaucho society, where real skills are all that count. But Don Segundo
Sombra teaches him more than this. He shows him the threat that women can offer
since they help to provoke quarrels between men or try to enslave them to
passion. He teaches him, too, that acceptance of death is the only way to
transcend fear. When, after five years, Gaucho returns to the small town where
he had once lived he is a man in the fullest sense of the word. Here he
discovers the identity of his father, a landowner who had died and left him his
estate. But he is now able to meet this responsibility, while Don Segundo
Sombra, his work done, rides away.”
“Adquirir alma gaucha es la finalidad decisive de un adiestramiento del
cuerpo y del alma
-aceptación igualmente estoíca de los bueno y de lo malo
What Cambridge Latin America says (Chapter 2)
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The hero of his text was a popular Argentine
gaucho, who bestows folk wisdom on a male apprentice from the city while
spinning a nostalgic vision of the Pampas around Buenos Aires (46)
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Depicts an idealized rural life prior to the
influx of immigrants in the late 19th century and the modernization
of agriculture; nostalgic perspective (46)
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Nostalgia and idealization create a new
Argentine identity that fuses idealized rural values and modern urban culture
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Novel is a celebration of rural life (46)
What Franco says (Chapter 7)
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This work was considered the greatest regional
novel of the century (222)
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In this work, Güiraldes turns away from European
Romanticism to the gaucho. Idea that Europe had taken the wrong direction, and
desire to record the American experience (224)
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Work is a Bildungsroman – “formation novel,” in
which the central character undergoes a series of key experiences and thus
achieves maturity (225)
o
Güiraldes describes a process that is universal,
but relates this to a regional experience
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Summary –
pg. 225
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Journeys which form the basic pattern of the
novel are analogues of human life (225)
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Idea of a male world, in which women, towns, and
officials of any kind pose a threat (225)
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Human misery is described as essential (225)
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Nature is a blind force, obeying the law of
survival of the fittest. Nature without man is chaotic, even vile (226)
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Neither lone nature nor lone man is capable of
achieving perfection. Man reaches maturity by learning to control nature (226)
Personajes
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Gaucho/Fabio – protagonist, young illegitimate
would-be juvenile delinquent that joins Don Segundo in cattle ride across
country
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Don Segundo Sombra – gaucho; source of
inspiration and guidance for Gaucho (Gaucho calls him “padrino”)
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Fabio Cáceres – Gaucho’s rich protector in the
pueblo, turns out to be his father
Temas/ideas importantes
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Estilo de escritura
o
First person narration (by protagonist, Gaucho)
o
Lots of similes…
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Genre: Regional/telluric novel
o
Lots of regional language/slang
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Builds a type of national identity for
Argentina, focusing on the role of the gaucho (vs. the stationary ranch peeps)
and on the land
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Genre: Bildungsroman
o
Shows the protagonist Gaucho’s development from
a young would-be juvenile delinquent to a responsible man
o
Various lessons that Don Segundo teaches Gaucho
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Gender (Role of Women)
o
Women don’t figure largely in this novel except
in a negative way – women are the source of problems (often fights between men)
o
Women don’t have a place in the world of a
gaucho because the gaucho cannot be tied down to any one place
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Gender (Role of men, masculinity)
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Cattle driving / herding – referred to as “the
most macho of trades”
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Gauchos are manly men
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The role of the “gaucho”
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Don Segundo Sombra is presented as the model of
the perfect gaucho, a last and most complete representative of a fading class
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As opposed to José Hernández’s Martín Fierro, this work does not try to
create a social space for the gaucho, but rather uses him as more of a
legendary figure.
o
Lots of description of the work done as a
gaucho, breaking animals and riding in rodeos, as well as managing the herds (hint
of costumbrismo?).
o
The end does not directly refer to a national
loss of the gaucho lifestyle; instead, the protagonist serves as a synecdoche
for the country as he becomes tied down to a particular ranch and place
o
Definitely a much more positive portrayal of the
gaucho than in someone like Sarmiento
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National identity
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The gaucho
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The pampa
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Social commentary/criticism
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The protagonist is an illegitimate child who is
initially subjected to poor treatment because of it and, later, must abandon
the life he has made for himself in order to assume the reins of the business
of his father
o
Some commentary on race – mentions different
races (chinos, indios); reflects immigration and mixed population in Argentina
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Nature, role of nature in life of man
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Nature is a blind force, obeying the law of
survival of the fittest. Nature without man is chaotic, even vile (Franco 226)
o
Neither lone nature nor lone man is capable of
achieving perfection. Man reaches maturity by learning to control nature (Franco
226)
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Suffering; fatalistic acceptance of the hardships of this world
o
Don
Segundo is the supreme example of this attitude.
o
Gaucho/Fabio
is forced to do this at the end.
Notes from text
Chapter I
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Narrator speaks in first person; he is a
fourteen year old boy who doesn’t know who is father is and who is bored with life
in the small town.
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Childhood: taken away from his mother and sent
to town to live with his aunts in order to go to school. His protector/guardian
is Don Fabio Cáceres, who owns a ranch outside of town. His life with his aunts was unhappy, they
didn’t love him or treat him very well.
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Well on his way to becoming a juvenile
delinquent because his aunts pull him out of school and he likes being on the
streets more than being at home.
Chapter II
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Narrator Gaucho glimpses Don Segundo Sombra on a
half-wild horse – idea of something new and exciting. Description of him –
tough guy, wild, dangerous, strong.
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Don Segundo avoids a fight with a cocky drunk
and treats him graciously instead of killing him.
Chapter III
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Narrator Gaucho wants to join up with Don
Segundo, so he leaves home and goes ahead of him to wait at a ranch where Don S
said he would look for work. At the ranch, Gaucho starts to work.
Chapter IV
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Don Segundo arrives at the ranch to help break
some horses. Breaking horses – idea of man’s
domination over nature.
Chapter V
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Don Seg finishes his job of taming/breaking the
horses.
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Gaucho is determined that he absolutely does not
want to return to his home in town (with his aunts) – he’s enjoying being a “free
man.”
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The men (including Don Seg) are going to go on a
cattle drive, Gaucho wants to go. He doubts his ability to keep up but is
really determined.
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Gaucho grabs a chinita girl in a cornfield and
feels her up (or maybe has sex with her? Not clear)… testing masculinity.
Chapter VI
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Starting the cattle drive. Gaucho feels like a
manly man. (Masculinity)
Chapter VII
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Idea of the difficulty of this work (of driving
cattle). Not many men can do it.
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Gaucho/boy-narrator watches another cowboy break
a horse and decides to break his own. He gets hurt but plays tough.
Chapter VIII
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Gaucho/narrator’s exhaustion.
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Gaucho/narrator helps slaughter a sheep for
meat; he doesn’t really know how to do it.
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Gaucho/narrator’s conflicted feelings – feels manly
when admired by a younger boy, but feels stupid/inept when he has no idea how
to butcher the sheep.
Chapter IX
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Don Segundo helps Gaucho to break his horse
while nobody’s watching, so he won’t get made fun of as much. (Mentor, father-like behavior).
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Rain storm – work is even harder.
Chapter X
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Five years
have passed. Gaucho’s life has changed greatly. He’s become a man,
following Don Segundo’s example. From Don Segundo, he’s learned the work of a
cowboy/gaucho, how to live life (“fatalism in accepting whatever came along
without grumbling), and how to enjoy himself.
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Don Segundo’s love of freedom and movement (gaucho spirit).
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A dance at a ranch.
Chapter XI
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At the ranch dance. Gaucho dances a lot but doesn’t
have much luck with the girls.
Chapter XII
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Don Segundo (who is a good storyteller) tells a
story the night before the cattle drive continues. In the story, a young lad
has to face challenges to save a beautiful girl from the son of the devil
(sorcery and romance).
Chapter XIII
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Don Segundo and Gaucho stop for a meal;
people-watching (lots of different races – highlights
high immigration to Argentina).
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A cockfight. Gaucho gets involved in the betting
and wins some money.
Chapter XIV
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A police
officer tries to arrest Don Segundo and Gaucho for riding too fast in town. Don
Seg kind of mocks him and gets them out of the problem.
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Fair in town. They meet someone who needs help
on a cattle drive and join it.
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Rough times on the cattle drive; no water and
then tons of rain, a stampede.
Chapter XV
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Rest for a night during the cattle drive, at Don
Sixto’s house. Gaucho goes out on the land a bit on his own and nearly loses a
horse in quicksand. Don Sixto’s superstitious fears… there is a demon attack.
Gaucho is scared, but Don Segundo remains composed. (sorcery, fear, witchcraft, superstition).
Chapter XVI
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Meet up with some other cowhands at a
settlement. Working along the coast; they round up some wild cattle from the
beach.
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Gaucho inspects the wild cattle – several with
injuries of all kinds. (cattle doesn’t do as well wild, since no one to care
for it – nature and men both better off
as a team)
Chapter XVII
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All the cowhands work, separating good cattle
from bad. Gaucho’s horse gets injured.
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Gaucho goes with a new friend, Patrocinio, to
check out the crab lands. Some crabs appear to be praying.
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Gaucho kills the bull that injured his horse. In
the meanwhile, he gets himself injured – a broken collarbone.
Chapter XVIII
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Guacho is in recovery from his injury. He flirts
with the girl who’s taking care of him (Patrocinio’s sister, Paula). He sells
two horses to Patrocinio.
Chapter XIX
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Gaucho’s life at the ranch as he recovers. He’s
half in love with Paula, and competes with another cowhand for her; they get
into a knife-fight. (women only bring
problems). Gaucho leaves the ranch to find Don Segundo again.
Chapter XX
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Gaucho and Don Segundo go see some horse races. Gaucho
places several bets and loses them all.
Chapter XXI
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Don Segundo tells Gaucho a story about a man
during Jesus Christ’s time, who receives some wishes from Jesus and is able to
hold the devil at bay with the power of the wishes. Message of the story: world
needs balance of good and evil, and Poverty and Misery are constants in the
world.
Chapter XXII
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Don Seg and Gaucho work breaking some horses. The
owner of the ranch offers Gaucho a long-term job as a horsebreaker, but Gaucho
turns him down (doesn’t want to separate from Don Segundo). The owner asks him
where he’s from and who his parents are and Gaucho says, “Parents? I’m not the
son of anything more than hardship; outside of that, I don’t have any lineage.”
Chapter XXIII
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Gaucho’s pride for having broken a particularly
difficult horse. “I was almost an instrument in the hands of my padrino”
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Gaucho’s friend at the ranch, Antenor Barragán.
Friend Antenor is forced into a knife fight at a bar (due to some mess with a woman), and the other man dies.
Chapter XXIV
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Ponderings about fate and what drives men to
desperation or to murder. “there’s no escape from the pampa for the weak. The law
of the strong is to keep your own faith, or die.” Gaucho admires Don Segundo’s
tranquil nature and his “absolute indifference to whatever happened.”
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Another cattle drive. The first night, there is
a huge storm and things are rough; they lose some cattle. The entire drive
seems cursed, tons of bad luck.
Chapter XXV
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Gaucho receives a letter stating that he’s the
son of his old protector; his real name is Fabio Cáceres and he has inherited
his ranch because his father has died.
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Gaucho/Fabio reacts badly, tells Don Seg, “I’m not
the son of anyone, and I don’t have to take advice, or money, or even a name
from anyone…” (gaucho pride)
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Rather than being excited about his inheritance,
Gaucho/Fabio is almost sad to be leaving his poverty. He imagines rejecting his
“evil” inheritance.
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Idea that Gaucho/Fabio is no longer a gaucho… loss of identity. Don Seg reassures him
that if he’s truly a gaucho, he’ll never lose that.
Chapter XXVI
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Gaucho/Fabio returns to his hometown, where
everyone’s behavior towards him has changed.
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“Earlier, it’s true, I was a gaucho. But all
that time I’d been a bastard son, hidden away for years as an embarrassment. In
my previous condition I never worried about my birth. Gaucho and gaucho seemed
to me the same because I understood that they both signified being a son of
God, of the pampa, and of oneself. If I had been a legitimate son, the business
of bearing a name would have indicated a social position and family, and would
always have seemed to reduce my freedom – something like changing the destiny
of a could to that of a tree rooted to a few feet of earth.”
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Gaucho/Fabio meets the guardian assigned by his father,
the owner of a neighboring ranch. He rapidly makes friends with his guardian’s
son, Raucho.
Chapter XXVII
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Three
years have passed.
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Don Segundo was the one who convinced
Gaucho/Fabio to accept his inherited property, agreeing to stay on with him
there. Gaucho/Fabio tried to retain his gaucho life, living with Don Seg in a
cabin instead of in the big ranch house. Even so, the effects of his new life
take hold, as he is slowly “educated” by his guardian and his guardian’s son to
become a “cultured man.”
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Don Segundo finally leaves – can’t stay in one
place anymore. Gaucho/Fabio must stay…
THE END!
