Romanticism vs. Survival in The Death of Artemio Cruz
An important theme in The Death of Artemio Cruz, by Calrlos Fuentes, was the comparison of romanticism and survival. This is shown through two important characters: Artemio Cruz, and his son Lorenzo. A romantic (Lorenzo) is a being that has ideals and fights for them. They know their goals and try to achieve them, while survivors have an only goal of keeping themselves alive. The survivors live through their choices and the romantics die as heroes, but each one complements the missing half of the other. Artemio Cruz is a typical survivor. He "knew how to fuck up other people and not get [himself] fucked over" (PAGE 137). His choices allow him to survive and others to be killed. Although he lives through his choices, Fuentes shows through his interesting narrative device of expressing Cruz's unconscious, thoughts and memories that he regrets and reflects upon while on his deathbed. When the second person narrator says that you "are going to live...You are going to be the meeting point, the universal order's reason for being...Your body has a reason for being...Your life has a reason for being...You are, you will be, you were, the uni
verse incarnate" (PAGE 305), he is trying to show that everyone has a reason for living. Fuentes shows the reader why Artemio's life is so important and why he believes that he is a model to the people. However, his son Lorenzo, has a completely different life story, but of the same importance. Lorenzo was a romantic. He had his ideals and although he wasn't involved in the Spanish Civil War, he fights only to reach his dreams. He fights against the Fascists because they were oppressive, and not only that but because he wanted to make his father proud of him. At war, Lorenzo learned to love, admire and respect his friend Miguel, which was something very hard for you to see in Artemio Cruz. Lorenzo cared a lot for his friends. When he met Dolores, he "felt that he had to save her, protect her" (PAGE 231), and because of those thoughts, he sacrificed his life for hers. As they crossed a mountain, an airplane passed by, trying to shoot them. "Everyone hit the dirt" (PAGE 232), except for Lorenzo who had two bullets left in his riffle. He tried to save all his friends by killing the enemy, but since the trigger did not work, the riffle
Some common words found in the essay are:
Artemio Cruz, Cruz Lorenzo, Lorenzo Artemio's, Civil War, artemio cruz, Calrlos Fuentes, Nuri Maria, lorenzo romantic, , page 137, father proud, son lorenzo, reason beingyour, lives choices,
Approximate Word count = 768
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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