How Does Alegria Present Conflict In Latin America

Gavin Foote, Carissa Napier, Noah Fraser, Zoe Beers, Caitlin Niles Dr. Nicholson Honors English 10, Period 1 28 February 2017 Latin America Literature Essay Brenda Shoshanna’s quote,“All conflict we experience in the world, is a conflict within our own selves” is revealed in Latin American literature. During the 1900s, Latin America, El Salvador in particular, was poverty-stricken and the population was oppressed by corrupt governments. Consequently, different types of conflict became prevalent in Latin America. Latin American author Claribel Alegria uses Person vs. Self, Person vs.Society, and Person vs. Government in order to illustrate conflict. Many people were not satisfied with themselves, as they felt that the stress of living in Central

When someone sees flaws within their person, they often compare themselves to lesser, perhaps bad things. Alegria expresses this in “Savoir Faire” when she compares herself to a “black cat (318)”. Black cats are known to symbolize bad luck, and by comparing herself to one, she compares her more cautious nature to that of a free, wild cat, idolizing the reckless traits as good and hers as handicapping as she believes they slow her down. Alegria also reveals resolution to Person vs. Self conflict in her poem “Nocturnal Visits”. She writes that “At night I listen to their phantoms, shouting in my ear shaking me out of my lethargy (319)” to illustrate this struggle within the narrator as she realizes the conditions that the veterans of her nation dealt with and continue to deal are terrible. The whole poem describes this internal conflict, showing her pity for them and how the thought of their efforts galvanizes her into

Internal conflict with oneself can lead to the conflict of Person vs. Society, as seen in Alegria’s poem “Nocturnal Visits”, as it shows a clash between not just Alegria and her own ideas, but society’s ideas as well. Her society felt like they were in a bad situation, but she points out that there are others in worse situations, saying, “I think of our anonymous boys, of our burnt out heroes (319)”. Alegria uses ‘our’ to show ownership of the people in terrible living conditions, which expresses the guilt she believes she and others in better living conditions feel to be able to avoid the experiences that those others face. After reflecting over these people, Alegria says that those in better situations should not feel sorry for themselves as they do not have to experience what those in extreme poverty face every day. The mere thought of them troubles her, for “their phantoms [shout] in [her] ear shaking [her] out of [her] lethargy (319)”. To reiterate, she believes that not only herself, but others as well should regard those who are in need with pity rather than feel sorry for