Summary: The exposition of the novel begins with a biographical note of Che and a chronology. In the chronology is gives the reader a visual image of how Ernesto Guevara de la Serna because known as Che, one of the great revolutionary leaders of his time. In the chronology it states many important dates of Che's life, and important dates that help better the reader's understanding of the complicated dilemmas that existed around the 1950's and the '60's. In the exposition, Che's close relationship is palpable from his entries. The first couple of passages are dedicated to his mother, though in those passage's Che does not speak of his mother. In these passages Che explains the tussles which Guatemala had to bear. In the period of time which Guatemala was experiencing the pressure from the attacks of Honduras and Nicaragua, Árbenz, the president of Guatemala has fled and left Colonel Carlos Enrique Díaz in charge of the country. Che described in the passages in great detail the hardships which the country in which he was living in was experiencing. In the passage’s that he had written to his mother, he also explained how he had to flee from Guatemala to Mexico and began to work at a hospital. While in Mexico, Che met Fidel Castro and quickly enrolled in the guerilla expedition to Cuba.
*Basic biographical facts of Che: Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born in Rosario, Argentina, on June 14, 1928. Ernesto is the first production of Ernesto Guevara Lynch and Celia de la Serna, he had 4 other brothers and sisters. Che was a well educated man, who graduated from college as a doctor. Dr. Che worked in hospitals in most cities in which he resided in, before he enrolled in the guerilla expedition to Cuba. As a result to enrolling to the guerilla he was the doctor who assisted to rebels with many of their support when dealing with injuries.
Quotation: "A political event was that I met Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary. He is a young, intelligent guy, very sure of himself and extraordinarily audacious. I think we hit of well" (Guevara 28).
Reaction: I believe that Che views Fidel Castro as a good friend that he ‘clicked’ with right-of-the-bat. Che believes he hit off well with Castro, and I seem to think so too because he quickly enrolled in Fidel’s plan to begin a revolutionary government in Cuba.
The style in which the author wrote this novel attracted me to it in a flash. I seem to like diaries quite a bit, even though I’ve only read one novel which was a diary of a character. As I mentioned before, the story is told in first person. In relation to the setting, the entries that Che wrote in his diary were around the 1950’s and ‘60’s. There was no permanent location in which the protagonist, Che, is staying. As explained in the chronology Che travels the world quite often, and even more frequently when he begins to represent the new revolutionary government in Cuba. For example, on behalf of Cuba, Che would speak at the United Nation’s gathering.
The novel is told in first person, which most diaries of people are normally written in. The exposition reveals much information of who is Ernesto Che Guevara, and how many people viewed him in an international scale. Because it’s a diary, the narrator is telling the story as a reflection, which I find quite interesting. The setting of the novel is quite broad, because in Che’s life, he traveled through Latin America constantly. And as described in the chronology, he also traveled to many parts of the world on behalf of the revolutionary government in Cuba.
very detailed post!
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