The Old Gringo, by Carlos Fuentes

A detailed Summary of The Old Gringo, by Carlos Fuentes

The Old Gringo is a fiction novel written by one of Latin America's most renowned and eloquent authors, Carlos Fuentes. Filled with war, adventure, love and more, this novel takes you back to the Mexican revolution fought in 1912. This contemporary fiction is based on many themes found and experienced by the main characters in this novel. The relationship between Mexico and the United States, the drive to find one's true self and the different ways two men need a woman are only a few themes contained in this story. The question: Is he Ambrose Bierce or just an old gringo, is one that I had to answer while reading this book. We all have different opinions, but it is a question that all ask themselves while reading The Old Gringo.

This novel is told in third-person narrator and at times, different characters in the story. Death is the most popular choice taken in the novel, especially for two of the main characters. It all begins when Harriet Winslow, an American schoolteacher, decides to come to Mexico in 1912 to teach English to the children of a wealthy landowner. What she finds is a general in Pancho Villa's Revolutionary Army and an old American journalist, on a quest for adventu

My favorite part in this novel took place at the beginning. The old gringo had just arrived into Mexico and met the people who he would fight with. When the gringo tells them that he wanted to fight with them, all of the Mexicans laugh to show their thoughts on how useless they thought an old white man could be to them. The gringo then pulls out a coin, throws it up in the air, and shoots it with his gun smack-dab in the middle of the coin. No one had anything to say after that except how wonderful of a shot he made. I loved this part because it just shows that anyone can do anything they want whether they are of a different culture, age, sex or more. This incident in the story also showed the American's bravery, which was a huge problem for Arroyo. Could there be anyone braver than Arroyo? Arroyo sure didn't think so, but I did.

The tone in this story varies with the diverse characters in the novel. When talking about Arroyo, a sense of toughness is heard and felt. When talking about the gringo, a sense of mystery, confidence, bravery, and smoothness is seen when describing or telling what the American is doing. The simple statement of: "That man came here to die," show what the gringo stood for and what others shared about him. "As it turned out, the old gringo was braver than anyone in the battles of Chihuahua," also showed that this man ended up being one of the bravest men that they have encountered. The tone in the story concerning Harriet always seems to be sweet and gentle. Harriet never seemed to be upset (except for when it came to Arroyo) and was constantly demonstrating her kindness like when she saved a young girl from choking. These tones ranged from tough to sweet and gentle to harsh but added to the characters and the novel as well.

Most of the story revolves, however, not around the old gringo but the young gringa, Harriet Winslow. Harriet Winslow is a Yankee spinster, who decides one day in 1912 to break loose from her humdrum life by taking a job as governess in Mexico. Once she arrives, she is immediately caught in the middle of the Mexican revolution. Here, she meets the general, Tomas Arroyo, and the American author, the old gringo. Harriet is described as a, "quick, elegant, and a beautiful woman of thirty." In a discussion with Miss Harriet and the old gringo, we learn that her father disappeared in the Spanish-American War somewhere in Cuba. Her and her mother were the only ones at home, which made her want to come to Mexico even more. In this novel, Miss Harriet has an affair with Tomas Arroyo to save the old gringo's life. Supposedly, Arroyo claimed that he would kill the gringo unless she slept with him. At the end of the story, Harriet despises Tomas Arroyo for everything he does and learns to love the old gringo as a father.

The Old Gringo takes place in the early 1910's in Mexico. The setting of this novel had major influences on the characters, the plot, and the themes of this story. Each character had different ideas on what Mexico meant to them. For Tomas Arroyo, Mexico was his home, a place he could never leave. The old gringo thought of Mexico as a destination for death, a place to die, while Harriet thought it was a place of escape from home and a new life across the frontier. The setting was essential for the plot because it is based on an actual event, the Mexican revolution, thus needed to fulfill the storyline. The setting also influenced one of the major themes of the story, the historical relationship between the United States and Mexico. As you can see, the setting of this novel was very important to everything included in this story.

re and death. The climax is reached at the death of the old gringo and the Mexican general. The story then ends with the return to the United States made by Harriet Winslow.

The major points in the novel were easily recognized. The historical relationship between the United States and Mexico, the beauty o

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Approximate Word count = 2715
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels