Che: The Diaries of Ernesto Che Guevara ; Pages: 33- 62

Summary: In these following pages, the narrator explains in detail how it was like beginning a revolution in Cuba. Che explains how he met Fidel Castro in this portion of the book in more detail. Che also mentioned how great of a person Fidel was, and how well of an honest man he came to be. He also explained the difficulties that he went through while in Mexico, such as going to prison, though his time was very short. After his time in prison, he and a group of revolutionaries fled to Cuba to begin their quest in defeating the dictator already in power: General Fulgencio Batista. Che mentioned the trip that he took to Cuba with the Cuban revolutionaries, on the ship named the Granma. The trip was long and hard to read. The fact that Che would narrate the scene of men covered in vomit and having their heads in buckets was disgusting. The men that were sea-sick did not make it any cozy for the crew. Also, with a result of his arrival in Cuba, sense he was a medical personal for the revolutionaries, he treated those who had blisters on their feet. Che mentioned in his passages the guilt he felt after he spent time working with a patient, and having seen that patient die moments later after being treated for his blisters. The tragedies mentioned by Che were truly heavyhearted, and even I, the reader, felt Che’s pain.

Quotation: “I will not abandon you” (Guevara 36).

Reaction: The quote was said by Fidel Castro to Che Guevara. This quote showed Che Fidel’s personal commitment to him, while they were still in Mexico. This is important to their relationship, as explained in the chronology: both Che and Fidel became important figures in the Cuban revolutionary government. In the novel, one of the characters that could be considered an antagonist because he impedes Che from reaching a goal is General Fulgencio Batista. At the time he was the Cuban dictator, and Che wanted to defeat him along with the Cuban revolutionaries, and take over the dictatorship which he controlled.