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8/10/2019 Gabriel Garcia Marquez Analiza
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Șapte povestiri în care fantasticul transpare în manieră insolită într -o lume plină de contraste, în
satele de la marginea deşertului sau a mării, a timpului, a uitării, o lume măiestrescă în care îngerii
mai poposesc din când în când în curţile oamenilor, morţii îşi rememorează trecutul, purtați de
apele întunecate ale oceanului, iar moartea este una constantă dincolo de dragoste.
Un domn foarte bătrân cu niște aripi uriașe- un înger prăbușit ajunge să doarmă în poiată, semn
că până și divinul este supus decăderii și patinei timpului
Marea timpului pierdut - moartea îl recompensează pe bătrânul Iacob cu un miros prevestitor,
amețitor de trandafiri, morții cei mai frumoși plutesc nemişcaţi pe mare, având cu toţii expresia
făpturilor uitateiar soția bătrânului Iacob va duce după ea flora tuturor mărilor lumii
Înecatul cel mai frumos de pe lume- frumusețea unuia, a multora, a tuturor oamenilor nu este
dezvăluită decât în momentul în care nu mai există cale de întoarcere a timpului și a ființării
N-a fo st nevoie să se uite unii la alţii ca să- şi dea seama că nu mai erau cu toţii şi că nici n-aveau
să mai fie în veci. însă mai ştiau şi că totul va fi altfel începînd de atunci, că locuinţele lor vor
avea uşi mai mari, tavane mai înalte, podele mai solide, pentru ca amintirea lui Esteban sa se
poată strecura pretutindeni fără să se lovească de praguri şi pentru ca nimeni să nu se încumete
în viitor să mai murmure că a murit prostul cel mare, ce păcat că a murit prostul cel frumos,
fiindcă ei aveau să- şi zugrăvească faţadele în culori vesele spre a face să dăinuie memoria Iui
Esteban, şi aveau să se spetească săpînd după izvoare în stînci şi semănînd flori pe ţărmuri,
pentru ca în zorii anilor ce vor veni, călătorii de pe marile vapoare să se trezească sufocaţ i de
parfum de grădini în larg, iar căpitanul să fie nevoit să coboare de pe puntea de comandă în
uniforma-i de gală, cu astrolabul său, cu steaua sa polară şi cu şiragul de medalii de război, şi
arătînd promontoriul de trandafiri în zarea Mării Caraibelor să spună în paisprezece limbi,
priviţi într -acolo, unde vîntul e acum atît de blînd că se strecoară să doarmă pe sub paturi, acolo
unde soarele străluceşte atît de tare, că floarea- soarelui nu mai ştie încotro să se întoarcă, da,
acolo se află satul lui Esteban.
Moarte constantă dincolo de dragoste- senatorul hotărește nu ca moartea să aleagă pentru el, ci
ca frumuseţea de necrezut a Laurei Farina, mai imperioasă decît boala lui, să fie cea care îi va
decide repudierea și ultimul plâns de furia de a muri fără ea
Ultima călătorie a vasului fantomă- deriva și salvarea transatlanticului celui mai mare de pe
lumea asta; călăuzirea marelui palat pustiu spre uscat de către fiul de pescar pe care nimeni nu l-a
crezut că vasul fantomă devine un înspăimântător corp de oțel în timpul mareei; nouăzeci de mii
cinci sute de cupe de şampanie se vor sparge în timp ce apele străvechi şi stătute ale mărilor
morţii se vor scurge din cele două flancuri peste satul adormit peste care fiul de pescar îl va abate
Blancamăn cel bun, vânzător de miracole- dulcea răzbunarea este mai presus de moarte, de viață,
dar și, mai ales, de nemurire
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Ori de cîte ori ajung pe melea gurile acelea îi duc un automobil înţesat de trandafiri şi mi se
frînge inima de durere pentru virtuţile lui, dar apoi îmi pun urechea pe placa de fier să-l aud
plîngînd, printre rămăşiţele cufărului năruit, şi dacă a murit, îl înviez din nou, căci tîlcul pedepsei
e să rămînă viu în mormînt cit timp voi trăi eu, adică în vecii vecilor.
Incredibila și trista poveste a candidei Erendira și a bunicii sale fără suflet- prostituarea corpului
nu semnifică că sufletul este și el pervertit; Erendira ispășește o pedeapsă: bunica fără suflet
hotărăște că are de plătit datoria pentru conacul mistuit de flăcări din vina ei în opt ani, şapte luni
şi unsprezece zile prin oferirea trupului său oricărui doritor; uciderea bunicii sale fără suflet de
către cel iubit și fuga ei până la capătul lumii o izbăvesc; în veci nu s-a mai aflat cea mai mică
veste despre ea, şi nici nu s-a găsit vreo urmă, cît de neînsemnată, despre nenorocirea ei.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez- Incredibila şi trista poveste a candidei Erendira
şi a bunicii sale fără suflet, ed. RAO, 2004
Ultima fictiune a scriitorului columbian Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Povestea tarfelor mele triste"
(traducere, prefata si note de Tudora Sandru Mehedinti, Editura RAO, Bucuresti, 2005), nu se dezice
decat aparent de intentia sa, anuntata inca din 1999, de a scrie doar texte autobiografice. Sub pretextul
unei fictiuni a senzualitatii si erotismului, inspirate de celebrul prozator japonez Yasunari Kawabata,
cartea construieste un eseu despre batranete si despre plenitudinea trairii in vecinatatea mortii.
Autenticitatea care razbate de la primele randuri este strans legata de biografia ultimilor ani, in care
Garcia Marquez a trait experienta bolii si bucuria de a-i supravietui.
Timpul scriiturii este inegal, cand prea alert, cand prea lent, are sincope sufocante pe alocuri, ca
respiratia unui batran pornit la o lunga calatorie. Totul incepe in dimineata in care eroul-confesor, critic
muzical si vechi colaborator la "El Diario de La Paz", implineste 90 de ani. Pe langa articolul sau
duminical, o pledoarie a senectutii, el isi propune sa-si daruiasca "o noapte nebuna cu o adolescenta
virgina", pasind iarasi pe urmele pierdutei sale tinereti, dulci locuri ale pierzaniei si ale muzei. Cautarea
frenetica, pierderea si regasirea tinerei in conditii misterioase, teama de inexorabil - spaima ca fata ar
putea chiar muri - sunt consumate intens si secondate de inregistrarea tuturor starilor osciland intre
fiziologie si filozofie. Frenezia si disperarea indragostitului se reflecta mereu in oglinda prin care
batranetea si moartea se privesc conciliant.
Alaturi de nostalgia copilariei si a fostelor iubiri, trairea ireala a acestei aventuri nocturne retrase in
imaginar, care-si tese pas cu pas propria poveste in mintea nonagenarului, aduce cu sine intreaga
recuzita a vietii traite de batran in singuratate: tabloul preferat, muzica pe care obisnuia s-o asculte,
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nenumarate obiecte de decor ajung sa populeze camera saracacioasa de bordel din Barranquilla, in
care revine doar pentru a vedea copila dormind.
In acelasi timp, chiar daca "Povestea tarfelor mele triste" e ancorata in real, universul lui Garcia
Marquez ramane consubstantial cu lumea fantasta a magiei si a vrajii. Fecioara adormita are legaturi
misterioase cu taramul mortilor, iar prezenta ei nocturna, de fiecare data surprinsa intr-un somn
profund, cu o biografie incerta si colorata de imaginatia si vocatia artistica a eroului, e materia unei
existente ireale. Pana la urma, totul se transforma in fantazare si vis.
Tot la Editura RAO, care il publica de cativa ani pe Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Romania, a aparut o noua
editie a "Incredibilei si tristei povesti a candidei Erendira si a bunicii sale fara suflet" (traducere de
Tudora Sandru Mehedinti, 2004).
Cu aceasta carte, datand din perioada cea mai prolifica a prozatorului, suntem chiar in miezul dur al
fictiunii marqueziene. Cele sapte povestiri au fost scrise intre 1961 si 1972, cartea fiind publicata in
1977. Dupa trei zile de ploi neintrerupte, Pelayo, personajul din "Un domn batran cu niste aripi uriase",
descopera in fundul curtii, in timp ce scoate crabii morti din casa, un inger batran. Cativa ani il culca cu
gainile si il hraneste cu resturi, timp in care copilul sau scuturat de friguri se insanatoseste miraculos si
iese in lume. Abia atunci, la fel de discret cum a aparut, ingerul isi ia zborul si se pierde in zare,
deasupra marii. Din acelasi amestec de ireal si concret se naste si povestea senatorului Onesimo
Sanchez din "Moarte constanta dincolo de dragoste". Personajul mai are "sase luni si unsprezece zile
pana sa moara, cand intalneste femeia vietii lui", intr-un "satuc iluzoriu" si desertic, dar se stinge singur
si repudiat, conturand cu trupul forma bratului feciorelnic care ii acoperise candva chipul ingrozit de
moarte. "Ultima calatorie a vasului fantoma" schiteaza biografia tragica a tanarului care urmareste cu
indarjire o himera: "transatlanticul urias, fara lumini si fara zgomot". De data aceasta, certitudinile
realului se intrupeaza din vis: vasul fabulos va fi scos la liman si impotmolit in dreptul bisericii de forta
neclintita a credintei personajului.
Magical Realism
"Magical realism expands the categorizes of the real so as to encompass myth,magic and other extraordinary phenomena in Nature or experience whichEuropean realism excluded" (Gabriel García Márquez, eds. Bernard McGuirkand Richard Cardwell, 45).
Gabriel García Márquez uses the technique of magical realism in his novels aswell as his short stories. Marquez uses magical realism to blend reality andfantasy so that the distinction between the two erases. An example of this
technique comes from the story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"where an angel falls to the Earth because of a violent rainstorm. When the angel
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is found by Pelayo and Elisenda, they are shocked to see an angel, and yet theynever question its existence. The reality of the situation is never mistrusted;however, the angel itself is an astounding manifestation. Even the neighbor ladyis not shocked:
"He's an angel," she told them. "He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellowis so old that the rain knocked him down" (204).
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" demonstrates Marquez's ability to tell a fairy tale orfolk tale in a realistic manner while incorporating the magic of the angel. The angel is thecatalyst for the family's recovery from destitution. Before the arrival of the angel, they are asimple, poor family with a dying son. Once the angel is captured, the son recovers and thefamily uses the angel for financial gain. Marquez shows us true human nature. An incredible
being falls to the Earth and the humans use it to make a fast buck. Eventually, the familygrows to resent the angel and they wish it would vanish. Instead of the simplistic, happy
ending of the ordinary fairy tale, the characters are allowed to exploit Nature until it flies offwithout a word. Consequently, the angel is never allowed to fulfill his destiny which was totake the soul of the dying child.
"She kept watching him even when she was through cutting the onions and she kept on
watching until it was no longer possible for her to see him, because then he was no longer an
annoyance in her life but an imaginary dot of the horizon of the sea" (210).
Literary Devices
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is characterized for theliterary techniques he employs in his works. He isrecognized as one of the best Latin American writers forhis uniqueness in the use of magical realism. Thistechnique along with his ability hyperbolize and describeevents and places by utilizing visual, sensory, olfactory,
and auditory imagery makes him one of the mostinteresting authors.
Garcia Marquez employs the technique of magicalrealism in almost every single one of his works, speciallyhis short stories. For instance, in the short story A VeryOld Man with Enormous Wings magical realism can beobserved as the author tells the story about an old manwith enormous wings that landed in Pelayo's front yard.The old man symbolized an angel meaning it is somethingsupernatural, and the author gives him such human
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characteristics that he makes him seem real to theaudience. He uses in this case imagery describing the manof having almost no hair, ugly teeth, and having bad odor.The irony of an angel possessing these characteristics is
what makes him real, becoming easy for the audience tovisualize and sympathize with.
Furthermore, the author tends to describe every singledetail in his stories so that they do not seem fictional. Forexample, in Chronicle of a death foretold, the authormakes a vivid description of the house that Ibraham Nasar
bought to make the story more credible, also to reveal theimportance of the front door of the house which was used
by anyone except for Santiago Nasar who exited throughit, the morning of his assassination.
Employing magical realism and imagery are the mostconsistent literary devices appearing in the works ofGabriel Garcia Marquez. He also utilizes alternativeliterary devices, but these two are the techniques thatcharacterize his works, and make them so unique. Hisability to create vivid images and to bring the unnatural tolife are some of the abilities that make this Gabriel Garcia
Marquez so special.
Home
Author Biography
Chronicle of a Death Foretold occupies a unique place
among Márquez's works because the narrative is both
journalistic and fictitious. García frequently uses
journalistic techniques in his fiction. For example, in
most of his novels he creates a high level of interest in the
very first line of the text, and employs many journalistic
details based on close observation throughout the entire
novel. Márquez himself said that he became a good
journalist by reading literature, and that journalism in turn
helped him maintain contact with reality, which he
considers essential to writing good literature.
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In the 1920s and 1930s, the Latin-American novel did
little besides realistically portray of regional or national
life and customs. In terms of narrative technique, this
fiction functioned within the realist tradition of the
nineteenth century. In the late 1940s, Latin-American
novels changed, as they had been influenced by the
modernist novels of Woolf, Joyce, and Faulkner. Such
modernist novelists were well-known among Latin
American intellectuals by the 1930s.
Along with contemporaries such as the Cuban Alejo
Carpentier, the Guatemalan Miguel Angel Asturias, the
Mexican Agustin Yanez, and the Argentine LeopoldoMarechal, Gabriel García Márquez contributed novels
that insisted on the right of invention. The books were
concerned with the construction of new realities, not the
reflection of existing themes. One technique that came
into being in this fiction is magic realism, which is the
incorporation of fantastic or mythical elements matter-of-
factly into otherwise realistic fiction. Alejo Carpentier
was the first to use the term when he recognized thetendency of his region's authors to illustrate the mundane
by means of the extraordinary.
Colombia prides itself on being a stronghold of Spanish
tradition. Gabriel García Márquez became part of a
coastal group that wanted to leave Bogota and the
conservative attitudes prevalent in much of Colombia.
Coastal towns like Barranquilla were more supportive of
innovative and imaginative literature. Márquez and his
contemporaries involved in this coastal movement were
called the "Group of Barranquilla." Márquez's first
novel, Leafstorm, strongly reflects Faulkner's influence in
its structure and narrative point of view. In the 1940s,
Márquez read and learned from Faulkner's novels.
Márquez, who was originally planning to study law after
graduating from university, said that when he first read
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Faulkner, he knew he had to become a writer.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold showcases Márquez's
skills as a journalist rather than as a novelist. After the
publication of the novel, journalists poured into Sucre,
the town where the real murder that inspired the book
took place, in order to interview the surviving characters.
In a strange twist, real life replicated the novel — the novel
tells the story of a the narrator's return to the Colombian
town to resolve the details of a murder twenty years after
it had taken place.
P Gabriel Garcia Marquez‘s literary techniques differ between books of fiction and non-fiction: His works offiction incorporate ―magical realism‖ while his works ofnon-fiction are much more objective and seem toincorporate the skills used by journalists. The books I will
be analyzing are: ―News of a Kidnapping‖ and ―OneHundred Years of Solitude.‖ m
Themes Gabriel Marquez uses ―magical realism‖ in ―OneHundred Years of Solitude.‖ This figurative method ofwriting may include some realistic aspects, but thoseaspects are twisted into a supernatural outcome thatsometimes defy the laws of physics:
A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed theliving room, went out into the street, continued on in a
straight line across the uneven terraces, went down stepsand climbed over curbs, passed along the Street of theTurks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left,made a right angle at the Buendia house, went in underthe closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging thewalls so as not to stain the rugs, went on to the otherliving room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining-roomtable, went along the porch with the begonias, and passedwithout being seen under Amaranta's chair as she gave an
arithmetic lesson to Aureliano Jose, and went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen, where Ursula was
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getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread.
"Holy Mother of God!" Ursula shouted.
Though this narrative contains magical elements that defyconventional realism, it is realistic in its approach (it doesnot shy away from depictions of violence and sex; it isconcerned with, and directly addresses, complex politicaland social issues in a matter-of-fact kind of way). Thus,in the novel we have Remedios the Beauty floating up toheaven rather than dying and Buendia‘s death mourned
by a rain of yellow flowers from the sky.
The magic and the realism that together compose thenovel, however, are perfectly reconcilable: they are, infact, both necessary in order to convey Marquez's
particular conception of reality in fictitious novels.
I have analyzed these two novels and realize thatMarquez limits his usage of figurative language mostly tohis fictitious novels while he tends to apply his skills as a
journalist when writing non-fiction. In conclusion,Marquez‘s literary wizardry in his works of fiction arerelatively absent in his non-fiction narratives.
Theme Analysis
Imagery Analysis
Gabriel García Marquez – „Patriarhul‖ literaturii latino-americanein Personalitati 0 224 Vizualizari
Pe data de 6 martie 1927, asadar, in urma cu 87 de ani,la Aracataca, in Columbia, s-a nascut Gabriel García
Marquez - cel care avea sa devina unul dintre cei maiimportanti scriitori ai secolului al XX-lea. Opera sareprezinta un adevarat arhetip al „realismului magic‖, ununivers in care granita dintre existenta si proiectia ei in
opera , intre memoria individuala (mai ales cea afectiva)
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si cea colectiva, intre timpul sacru si timpul trait, intreistorie si literatura, este intr-o continua miscare, cele douadimensiuni (realul si fictivul) reinventandu-se sireimprospatandu-se reciproc, purtand, fiecare, germenele
unei schimbari esentiale, pe masura ce sunt parcurse,rememorate, evocate. Intrebat, la un moment dat, de ceeuropenii par a aprecia dimensiunea „magica‖ a scrierilorsale, ignorand, in mare masura, realitatea pe care o evoca(aceea a lumii careia scriitorul ii apartine prin nastere),Marquez a raspuns ca, probabil, „rationalismul‖ lor (aleuropenilor) „ii impiedica sa vada ca realitatea nu selimiteaza la pretul rosiilor sau al oualor din piata‖. Capodoperele lui Garcia Marquez sunt: Un veac de
singuratate (saga familiei Buendia, in fascinantul tinutMacondo), Toamna Patriarhului (roman inspirat dedictatorul Marcos Perez Jimenez, in realitate un fel de
portret simbolic al tuturor dictatorilor latino-americani),Cronica unei morti anuntate (cu un subiect construit in
jurul asasinarii lui Santiago Nasar), Dragostea in vremea
holerei (relatand doua povesti de dragoste atipice),Generalul in labirintul sau (roman despre SimonBolivar, supranumit Libertador , Presedintele Boliviei sial Marii Columbii – o confederatie politica si militara atarilor latino-americane iesite de sub dominatia spaniola)etc. Universul imaginar al acestor romane este marcat,dupa cum insusi autorul a marturisit, in nenumarateranduri, de marile mituri ale spatiului latino-american,mituri pe care le-a auzit, inca din copilarie, de la buniciicare l-au crescut. „Povestile‖ copilariei si ale adolescenteisunt cele care i-au cladit personalitatea creatoare si aufost valorificate, spune scriitorul, cu spontaneitate,magicul si realul suprapunandu-se dupa o logica
intrinseca si nu neaparat dupa sofisticate tehnici narative.Bunicul, caruia i se spunea „Papa Lelo‖ (Colonelul), eraun veteran al Razboiului de o mie de zile (Guerra de losM il Días ), razboi civil dintre liberalii si conservatoriicolumbieni, Papa Lelo fiind el insusi liberal si consideratun adevarat erou, foarte respectat la vremea lui. Pe de alta
parte, bunica, Tranquilina Iguaran Cotes, a marcatcopilaria lui Gabriel Garcia Marquez, prin manierainconfundabila de a povesti lucruri iesite din comun,
terifiante – premonitii, istorii cu fantome, profetii – „in
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modul cel mai natural‖. Ea pare a fi principala „sursa‖ pentru predilectia, de mai tarziu, a scriitorului, de asurprinde realitatea sub semnul magicului, al superstitiei,al supranaturalului, prin alunecarea subtila si continua de
la evenimentul credibil, la ceea ce se ascunde in planul deadancime al naratiunii, intr-un stil firesc, menit sa-icreeze si cititorului o atitudine similara. Peste toateacestea s-au suprapus lecturile din scriitorii sai preferati – Kafka, William Faulkner, James Joyce, Alvaro MutisJaramillo (scriitorul mexican care l-a si incitat peMarquez in scrierea si publicarea primului sau roman – Frunze uscate (titlul original, La Hojarasca), din 1955.Un rol major in devenirea, ca scriitor, a lui Marquez, l-a
avut si activitatea jurnalistica, cea care l-a ajutat sa fiemereu in contact cu realitatea imediata. Din acest punctde vedere, perioada cea mai interesanta pare a fi fost cea
petrecuta in Europa de Est, alaturi de Plinio Mendoza (totscriitor columbian), rastimp in care a scris o serie dearticole despre „cortina de fier‖ (granita clara dintrestatele aflate, la data respectiva, sub influenta sovietica, sicele din Europa Occidentala). In 1958, la Caracas,Marquez asista la fuga dictatorului venezuelean MarcosPerez Jimenez si scrie o serie de alte articole despre rolul
bisericii in inlaturarea lui Jimenez si a regimului sau. Alucrat, de asemenea, pentru mai multe agentii de
publicitate si a scris si cateva scenarii de film.Temele recurente ale scrierilor lui
Marquez sunt solitudinea, iubirea si moartea, pe caredestinul niciunui individ sau colectivitati nu le poateocoli, dar pe care fiecare le traieste si le exprima in felulsau.Macondo , spatiul imaginar in care se desfasoaraintreaga actiune din romanul Un veac de singur atate (in
care se nareaza intreaga poveste a locului, de laintemeiere, pana la sfarsitul tragic, dar care apare si inalte scrieri ale lui Marquez) nu este atat un spatiugeografic ( desi modelul este, clar, Aracataca) ci, maiales, spune scriitorul, „o stare de spirit‖, un universsimbolic, suport si generator perpetuu al vocatiei salecreatoare. Despre singuratate , Marquez marturisea caeste convins ca aceasta deriva, in primul rand, din faptulca oamenii sunt tentati sa interpreteze si sa isi traiasca
viata nu dupa cum ar dori, ci dupa niste „scheme de
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gandire‖ (impuse de societate, traditie, conditionari personale), ceea ce ii face din ce in ce mai putin liberi,mai neintelesi, mai tristi, captivi in propria existenta.In 1982, Gabriel Garcia Marquez a primit Premiul Nobel
pentru literatura, fiind primul columbian caruia i s-adecernat o asemenea distinctie si al patrulea scriitorlatino-american, laureat Nobel, dupa Gabriela Mistral,Miguel Angel Asturias si Pablo Neruda. I-au succedatscriitorul mexican Octavio Paz (in 1990) si Mario VargasLlosa (in 2010). La ceremonia de decernare a Premiului
Nobel , Marquez a venit imbracat in liquiliqui(vesmantalb, traditional, din Columbia, cu incaltaminte neagra),ceea ce nu a fost pe placul tuturor. Discursul tinut cu
acest prilej s-a intitulat Singuratatea Ameri cii Latine .Gabriel Garcia Marquez locuieste, in prezent, in Mexic.In1999 a fost diagnosticat cu un cancer limfatic, fiindtratat, cu succes, intr-o clinica din Los Angeles. Aceastaimprejurare a vietii sale l-a determinat sa se apuce sa scrieo carte autobiografica, primul volum aparand in 2002, subtitlul A trai pentru a povesti (Vivir para Contarla). In2004 a mai publicat Memorias de mis putastristes ( Amintirile curvelor mele triste) – o poveste dedragoste intre un barbat in varsta de 90 de ani si o tanarade 14 ani, care a starnit vii controverse in Iran, carteafiind interzisa, in tara respectiva, dupa ce se vandusera in
jur de 5000 de exemplare, Del amor y otrosdemonios ( Despre dragoste si alti demoni), iar in 2010 – Yo no vengo a decir un discurso ( Nu vin sa tin undiscurs).In 2012, presedintele rus Dmitri Medvedev l-a decorat peGabriel Garcia Marquez cu „Ordinul de Onoare‖, pentru„contributia adusa la intarirea prieteniei intre Rusia si
America Latina‖, Marquez fiind cel mai popular scriitorlatino-american, in Rusia, gratie romanului Un veac de
singuratate. O exceptionala biografie a lui Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
pe buna dreptate considerat „Patriarhul‖ literaturii latino-americane, a fost scrisa de catre Gerald Martin, criticul siistoricul literar columbian adunand informatii timp desapte ani. Cartea, publicata in 2008, se numeste „GabrielGarcia Marquez. O viata‖ si a fost tradusa si in limba
romana, in 2009.
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The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship
The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship is an interesting story written by Gabriel
Garcia Marquez. In the story, the writer describes the growth of an ordinary boy
(the narrator) to an assertive man. The writer here wants to prove that one cannot be great in life without courage and determination.
According to the story, a small boy saw a ghost ship in the sea at night in the
month of March. The ship was quite big and wonderful. It had no sound and
light. It was moving without any control. The surprising thing was that it would
disappear when there was light and would appear when there was no light. The
boy was surprised with the ship but he thought he might have seen it in the
dream.
The boy saw the same ship in the next March and told his mother about it. She
didn‘t believe him. She said that his mind was rotting. However, she had to send
a boatman to confirm whether it was the ship or not. The boatman saw nothing
except some fish playing in the water. She became sad and worried about her
son. One day, she bought a chair and began to see the sea sitting on it. She
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remembered her dead husband. She became excited and died. Other four women
also died so it was a accursed chair. Finally, the chair was thrown into the sea.
The boy became orphan and he didn‘t want to live with anyone‘s mercy. As an
orphan he lived on stealing fish. He was all alone. Villagers did not help him.
In the next March again he saw the same ship and talked to the villagers about it.
The villagers also thought him to be mad and he was severely beaten. Then, he
decided not to talk anyone about it but he tried to show who he was. In the next
year, he saw the same ship and followed it rowing a boat. When the light of
lighthouse fell upon it, it disappeared and the boy fell in problem. He lit a
lantern and saw the ship again. He rowed his boat near to the ship and brought it
under control. He found nobody in the ship and brought it at the harbor near his
village. He called the villagers and the villager‘s were surprised at seeing the
ship larger than the village.
Thus, the boy proved himself to be an assertive Youngman. He showed the
villagers who he was. It means that if a person works hard to develop his career
without losing patience, he can certainly get success in his life.The story describes the growth of an ordinary boy to an assertive young man. It
presents the boy‘s inner journey from the innocence to experience and how he
gains manhood. The ships stand for the child‘s imagination and his encounter
with the ship many times indicates his growing vision which finally makes him
a strong man with strong voice and confidence. In fact, this story brings out the
child‘s inner consciousness. The whole story is a psychological study which
describes the boy‘s attainment of maturity. Thus, the story deals with the mental
growth of the child in proportion with his physical growth. Both the growth
combined makes him confident about what he says and does.
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The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship Gabriel Garcia Marquez 18-08-2013
arnikoconfession / August 18, 2013
The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Line-wise Summary
1-2: These lines are in the present. The boy is saying that now people will
believe him, but in the past they did not
2-94: These lines all describe past events.
2-28: Many years ago the boy saw the ship for the first time. He saw it in March
at night. The ship was very big. It didn‘t have any lights and it didn‘t make any
sound. It was moving towards the village. Something was broken on the ship, so
it couldn‘t find the correct path in the water. It hit rocks in the water, broke and
sank to the bottom of the sea. Nobody heard any noise from the ship hitting the
rocks and breaking.
28-36: The next day the boy didn‘t see anything unusual, so he thought maybe
he had only dreamed about the ship and that it wasn‘t real.
36-40: Exactly one year later during the night, the boy saw the same thing. This
time he was sure that he was not dreaming.
40-44: The boy told his mother about the s hip he had seen. She did not believe
her son. She thought that her son was becoming crazy.
44-54: The boy‘s father had died 11 years ago. Since then the mother spent all of
her time sitting in a chair and thinking about her dead husband. Now the
mother‘s chair has become old. She needs to buy a different chair. She takes a
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small boat to go to a place where she can buy a new chair. The boy goes with a
boatman. While they are in the boat the man shows the boy that there is no
broken ship at the bottom of the sea.
55-56: The boy still believes that the ship is real and that it will come next year,
like it has come for the past two years. The mother promises to watch for the
ship with her son next year.
56-72: That night the mother dies sitting in her new chair. After that four other
women die while sitting in the same chair. The people in the village think that
the chair is bad and throw it into the sea.
72-72: Now the boy has no parents. He has to steal fish so that he can have
something to eat.
78-90: On the same night in March a few years later the boy is watching the sea
again. He sees the same ship. He makes a lot of noise to wake up the villagers to
see the ship. But when the people get up the ship has already broken and gone to
the bottom of the sea. The villagers don‘t see anything and do not believe that
there is a ship. They beat the boy for making a disturbance and scaring them.
90-94: The boy is angry at the villagers because they do not believe him. He
made a plan to show them the ship so that they would believe him.
94-193: Now events in the present are described. The boy is no longer
describing the past
94-171: One year later on the same night in March the boy steals a small boat so
that he can get near the big ship. He takes the boat to where he has seen the ship
in the past. When the ship arrives the boy lights a lamp in his boat. The big ship
sees the light on his boat and begins to follow him. The boy leads the shiptowards the village.
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171- 180: When the ship gets close to the village it blows its loud whistle. All of
the people in the village wake up because of the loud noise and come out of their
houses.
180-193: The ship comes onto the ground by the village and stops moving in
front of the church. Now all of the people in the village see the ship and believe
the boy. He feels happy.
Stream of Consciousness Definition :
A narrative technique that gives the impression of a mind at work, jumping from
one observation, sensation, or reflection to the next is called stream of
consciousness. These varied elements are usually expressed in a flow of words
without conventional transitions.
Though stream of consciousness is commonly associated with the work of
novelists (including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner), the
method has also been used effectively by writers of creative nonfiction. This
technique does not divide the story into sentences or paragraphs. There is no full
stop at the end of a sentence and no capital letter at the beginning of a new
sentence. It eschews dialogues as they are used in conventional stories. It also
has little or no plot and the plot flow is not chronological, but rather convoluted.There is shift between the present and the past and between the real and the
imaginary. You can see the overlap between character‘s thoughts and the main
narrative. Another recurring element of the technique is the repetitive nature of
the story. Certain ideas, words or lines have presence throughout the plot with or
without variation. The story is one long continuous sentence.
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Because stream of consciousness is used to denote the flow of inner experiences,
it has now become an almost indispensable (absolutely necessary) term in
literary criticism as it refers to that technique which seeks to depict the
multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind. This
technique works best when dealing with abstract phenomena like memory (Look
at a Tea Cup), psychological maturity (Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship),
mysterious past or historical truths (The Royal Massacre of 2058 could be a
fascinating story), and other abstract matters like piety, loss, separation, death,
etc. Another phrase for it is ―interior monologue‖
This note should answer question no 1 of Style and Rhetori cs.
Etymology:
The metaphor of the stream of consciousness was coined by American
philosopher and psychologist William James (The Principles of Psychology,
1890).
Some Comprehension Questions
1. What time of the day does the boy see the ship?
2. In what month does the boy see the ship?
3. Describe the ship?
4. How many times does the boy see the ship?
5.
When the boy tells his mother about the ship does she believe him?6. What happens to the boy‘s mother while she is sitting in the chair?
7. Does the same thing happen to other people who sit in the chair? How
many people?
8. What do the villagers do to the chair? Why?
9. What do the villagers do when the boy wakes them up during the night?
10. Do the villagers in the village believe that there is a ship?
11.
How does the boy get the small boat?
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The story is about a boy who finds himself become strong and mature after he
sees a ghost ship many times. The more he sees the ghost ship each March on
four occasions, the stronger, more mature, and more assertive he becomes.
When he first saw the ghost ship he didn‘t have a strong voice. He saw the ship
heading towards the land and sinking. He was not sure of the event; he himself
thought it was a dream. Upon seeing the ship the second time he relates the story
to his mother so much so that she tells him that he is going mad, but he
somehow convinces her to see the ship the following year. But she died before
she could keep the promise. Her death made him orphan but that didn‘t stop him
from being independent and self-assured. He would steal fish rather than depend
on charity. He has started to evolve into an assertive man – ‗ his voice was
becoming a roar‘. The villagers looked down upon him calling him the ‗son of a
widow‘ and that his mother had brought evil in the village. When he raises
people of his village after having seen the ghost for the third time he is soundly
beaten for creating unnecessary nuisance. But this event has put more courage
into him. He again promises to show them what kind of man he is. He is made
so courageous that he steals a boat and waits for the ship in the channel. Out of
sheer anger and bravery, he maneuvers the ship and finally manages to land the
ship in the village so that the unbelieving ‗coward‘ villagers could see the ship.
He has finally proved his manhood.
The ship is the product of the boy‘s imagination, so it is only he who sees the
ship. The imaginary ship is the subjective product of his assertive mind. It
followed the will inside the boy. At the end, the ghost ship could be seen even
when light fell on it. This proves that the boy has total control over his fear,
doubt and weakness.
Why does no else know of the ship‘s existence?
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The phantom ship that makes no sound, and that disappears when lights fall on it
is the boy‘s private vision. The boy sees its four times with varied impressions
and sensations from boyhood into adulthood. No one knows of its existence as it
is the boy‘s imagination. It is the creation of the boy‘s mind. When he saw it for
the first time one March night he was not very sure of it, but when he saw it the
second time he was so sure that he went to tell it to his mother. But when the
boatman and he went to the shipwreck site, they saw mantra rays, corvinas, pink
snappers and wandering hairs but not any sign of the ship. The same thing
happened the third time – the people made no effort to see the unlikely
apparition of the ship which disappeared in its annual disaster. They didn‘t see itso they felt he was lying to them. And then, they beat him soundly.
What do you think is the meaning of the boy‘s newly discovered ability near the
end of the story to control the ship‘s movement?
The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship provides a very unique depiction of the idea
of growth – mental and physical. It is the story of adolescent growth; a journey
every adolescent has to make through as (s)he leaves or comes out of their
parental shadow to find a passage to the world of experience – the world of the
adults. The vision of the colossal phantom ship is the extension of theconsciousness of the adolescent individual. This vision gradually gives leeway
for the boy to understand the weightage of the world, particularly to triumph
over a skeptical society, and thereby find his own identity and career growth.
Nothing in life is insurmountable, and the boy was relentless in its pursuit
throughout so, towards the end, he proved the impossible to the villagers – the
possibility of meeting one‘s goal or career objective as symbolized by the ship
that he showed to the shocked disbelievers. The boy‘s conscious control of the
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ship is the metaphor for every young man‘s triumph over odd should they work
relentlessly, purposefully and with the ego to prove.
What is signified by the story‘s refusal related to the protagonist‘s outer
experience? How is this refusal related to the protagonist‘s journey toward a
grand triumph in which the private ―vision‖ of the ghost ship is forced upon the
attention of the ―disbelievers‖?
The boy‘s outer experience is absent. What we find significant throughout the
story is the mental toughness of a boy who has gone through a lot of hardships.
The story incrementally presents the maturing level of thoughts of the boy as he
encounters one episode after another of the ghost ship, a unique imagination
only he could see. This inner movement of inner consciousness of the boy
finally proves the unbelieving villagers the existence of the ghost ship at the end
when he guides the ghost ship right into the village. He finally triumphs over his
weaknesses and thus becomes a strong new fearless man. The ghost ship is a
private vision because it‘s only he who sees it and it is this ghost ship that he
shows to the incredulous villagers at the end. The ghost ship is metaphorically
the representation of his inner consciousness.
Ans. Question no 2 under Style and Rhetoric: The refrain “Now they are going
to see who I am” hints towards the rising courage and assertiveness that is
evolving in the boy, who in the beginning of his life was weak. The vision of the
ghost ship, on four occasions, somehow helps him to kill his weakness. No one
believed him, not even his mother in the beginning. But after his mother‘s death,
he continued to see the vision of the ghost ship, but the villagers beat him up and
left him twisted for his audacity. Interestingly, this strengthened his mental
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resolve further until he shows the ghost ship to them in the end. Thus, the
private vision of the ghost ship has brought maturity in the boy, and this could
lead him to live a fulfilling life. The refrain binds the story together. Each
repetition tells us about the boy‘s mental, spiritual and physical growth. It
organizes the story together.
The tone in the recurring phrase is mostly that of extreme anger. He has a hostile
society that doesn‘t seem to believe the boy. The boy is certain of the vision but
the people of his village have misjudged or misunderstood him. That is why he
was roundly beaten for his extravagant boldness. Other moods this phrase
indicates are those of fortitude (Strength of mind that enables one to endure
adversity with courage), determination, challenge and unrelenting steadfastness
of purpose. This is the boy‘s mantra to steer himself to his goal.
What made the boy stronger and courageous?
When his mother died of heart attack the boy became orphan. He was called
‗son of a widow‘ by the people of his village (disbelievers), and was badly
beaten when he raised false alarm of the sighting of the ghost ship. Though he
was given bad treatment he was not disappointed. On the contrary, he drew
enough inspiration from this bad treatment. He became more determined and
focused in his motive. He sailed a stolen boat and waited for the ship in the
channel. Finally, he saw the ship. Therefore, his isolation, anger, indefatigable
will power and spirit for adventure gave his strength and courage to find a new
voice and position in the very society that looked down upon him.
How does the writer handle concrete, visual details?
The entire story is replete with mention to real historical figures, places and
people. There are mentions of historical personalities like Sir Francis Drake and
William Dampier who were illustrious English sea-faring heroes. The setting of
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the story is the Caribbean, which are organized into 30 states. Mentions to the
Hindu gods and shops, Dutch Negroes and the woman-flesh eating Malayans are
other realistic components of the story. One of the best example of concrete,
visual details is the description of the Caribbean day after the boy saw the ghost
ship first time - he saw the radiant fishbowl of the bay, the disorder of colours
of the Negro shacks on the hills above the harbor …..‘ Another interesting
description is that of the things the boatmen saw at the purported wreck site – he
saw in the glass of the sea, the love making of the mantra rays in a springtime of
sponges, pink snappers and blue corvinas diving into the other wells of softer
waters ……..‘ These are realistic visual details that Garcia has employed to givea semblance of reality to the otherwise magical story of a ghost ship.
What is so strange about the ghost ship?
The ghost ship is seen intermittently once a year at the same night in May. It is
sighted four times. It gropes its way towards the channel and suddenly heads
towards the shoals and sinks without any sound. It is strange that the ship‘scompass needle doesn‘t work at the crucial time and hence it goes wayward.
Summary
The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship is an interesting story written by GabrielGarcia Marquez. In the story, the writer describes the growth of an ordinary boy
(the narrator) to an assertive man. The writer here wants to prove that one
cannot be great in life without courage and determination.
According to the story, a small boy saw a ghost ship in the sea at night in the
month of March. The ship was quite big and wonderful. It had no sound and
light. It was moving without any control. The surprising thing was that it would
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disappear when there was light and would appear when there was no light. The
boy was surprised with the ship but he thought he might have seen it in the
dream.
The boy saw the same ship in the next March and told his mother about it. She
didn‘t believe him. She said that his mind was rotting. However, she had to send
a boatman to confirm whether it was the ship or not. The boatman saw nothing
except some fish playing in the water. She became sad and worried about her
son. One day, she bought a chair and began to see the sea sitting on it. She
remembered her dead husband. She became excited and died. Other four women
also died so it was an accursed chair. Finally, the chair was thrown into the sea.
The boy became orphan and he didn‘t want to live with anyone‘s mercy. As an
orphan he lived by stealing fish. He was all alone. Villagers did not help him.
In the next March again he saw the same ship and talked to the villagers about it.
The villagers also thought him to be mad and he was severely beaten. Then, he
decided not to talk anyone about it but he tried to show who he was. In the next
year, he saw the same ship and followed it rowing a boat. When the light of
lighthouse fell upon it, it disappeared and the boy fell in problem. He lit a
lantern and saw the ship again. He rowed his boat near to the ship and brought it
under control. He found nobody in the ship and brought it at the harbor near his
village. He called the villagers and the villager‘s were surprised at seeing the
ship larger than the village.
Thus, the boy proved himself to be an assertive young man. He showed the
villagers who he was. It means that if a person works hard to develop his career
without losing patience, he can certainly get success in his life.
The story describes the growth of an ordinary boy to an assertive young man. It
presents the boy‘s inner journey from the innocence to experience and how he
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gains manhood. The ships stand for the child‘s imagination and his encounter
with the ship many times indicates his growing vision which finally makes him
a strong man with strong voice and confidence. In fact, this story brings out the
child‘s inner consciousness. The whole story is a psychological study which
describes the boy‘s attainment of maturity. Thus, the story deals with the mental
growth of the child in proportion with his physical growth. Both the growth
combined makes him confident about what he says and does.
Further Reading and Understanding
Syntax
Gabriel Garcia Marquez managed to do the unthinkable. Write a six page short
story with only one sentence. At first, I was completely baffled as to why he
would want to write only one sentence for a short story. However, I noticed that
although the sentence is extremely long, the story still makes complete sense. Of
course I decided to read this story out loud, but having the one sentence made
the story flow. The short story is about a ghost ship that only one man can see.
The setting is near the sea, which could relate to the long sentence structure. Just
like the waves, the sentence continually flowed up and down, twisted and
turned, picked up speed and slowed down. The commas were put in place to
create pauses, which created a dramatic effect.
The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship – Imagery/Figurative Language:
―lunar encampment of glowing houses and streets of volcanic deserts‖ (123)
―a crash of metal and the explosion of engines that would have frozen with
fright the soundest-sleeping dragons in the prehistoric jungle‖ (124)
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―radiant fishbowl of the bay‖ (124)
―illusory liner, gloomy, intermittent‖ (124)
―the glass of the sea, the lovemaking of manta rays in a springtime of sponges,
pink snappers and blue corvinas diving‖ (124)
―until night came over him with all the weight of the stars and the jungle
exhaled sweet fragrance of gardenias and rotten salamanders‖ (126)
―one could hear the neat destruction of ninety thousand five hundred champagneglasses breaking‖ (128)
The imagery and figurative language in this short story help illustrate the action
and scenes. Marquez‘s use of imagery allows his story to come to life and leap
off of the page. The figurative language in the story also creates a sense of
magic and fantasy that does not seem impossible.
This should answer question no 3 under Style and Rhetorics.
Magic Realism
Definition:
It is a narrative technique that blurs the distinction between fantasy and reality.
It is characterized by an equal acceptance of the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Magic realism fuses lyrical and, at times, fantastic writing with an examination
of the character of human existence and an implicit criticism of social norms.
To expand this magical realism definition let‘s look at elements of magical
realism in fiction.
Elements of Magical Realism
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Traditional magical realism literature has definable elements of magical realism
that all works in this genre share. Magical realism authors put explicit
techniques to very specialized use in order to explore viewpoint or worldview.
Though any specific examples of magical realism may differ, they will employ a
smattering of the elements listed here.
Fantastical elements – fabulous and fantastical events are included in a narrative
that otherwise maintains the ‗reliable‘ tone of objective realistic report. Fantastic
attributes are given to characters.
Authorial reticence – The narrator does not provide explanations about the
credibility of events described in the text. Further, the narrator is indifferent; the
story proceeds with ―logical precision‖ as if nothing extraordinary took place.
Sense of mystery – Magic realist literature tends to read at a much intensified
level.
Plenitude – an ―extraordinary‖ abundance of disorienting detail.
Hybridity – mixing multiple planes of reality or inharmonious arenas of such
opposites as urban and rural, and Western and indigenous.
Collective consciousness –
Political or social critique – magic realism‘s ‗alternative world‘ works to correct
the reality of established viewpoints.
Some Real Names
1. 1. William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651 – early 1715) was
the first man of English descent to explore sections of New Holland
(Australia) and also the first person to circumnavigate the world three
times. Dampier has been described as the first natural historian of
Australia and the greatest explorer-adventurer between Sir Walter Raleigh
and James Cook.
After impressing the Admiralty with his book A New Voyage Round the World ,
Dampier was given command of a 26-gun ship and made valuable discoveries inWestern New Holland, but was court-martialled for cruelty.
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On a later voyage, he was able to rescue Alexander Selkirk, , who may have
inspired Daniel Defoe‘s Robinson Crusoe. Others influenced by Dampier
include James Cook, Lord Nelson and Charles Darwin.
1. 2. Sir Francis Drake, vice admiral (c. 1540 – 27 January 1596) was an
English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver and politician of the
Elizabethan era. Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the
world, from 1577 to 1580. Elizabeth of England awarded Drake a
knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet
against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He died of dysentery in January
1596 after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico. His exploits
were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the
Spaniards to whom he was known as El Draque. King Philip II was said
to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, about £4 million (US$6.5M)
by modern standards, for his life.
2. 3. The Caribbean: Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles) is a region
that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the
Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North
Atlantic Ocean), and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of
the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central
America, and north of South America. Geopolitically, the Caribbean
islands are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are
organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas
departments, and dependencies. From January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962,
there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies
composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were
then United Kingdom dependencies. The West Indies cricket team
continues to represent many of those nations.