The blog contribution requires a small bit of additional reading in one of our texts, The House of the Spirits (HoS). This novel is essentially an historical autobiography. The character in the book named Alba is the author, Isabelle Allende, but Alba comes late in the book. The history covered in The House of the Sprits (HoS) runs from 1925 to 1975. Therefore, it begins at the tail end of the neocolonial period and runs into the heart of the Cold War.
I have an edition of the book published in 1993. You have an edition published more recently. Because of that, the page numbers in my edition may not correspond to those in yours. So, what I want you to do is find the last seven pages of chapter 4. In my edition those are pages 134-141. I want you to read those seven pages which begin with this sentence:
“Esteban Trueba entered a very prosperous period.”
That paragraph very quickly describes the way neocolonial wealth was made. The book is a history of Chile, one of the only countries in Latin America that traded in both temperate agricultural goods and minerals. Be sure to look back on the geography map to know where Chile lies. After you read that paragraph go back to MLAH, p. 129 and read the second paragraph. Note the following sentence:
“A sharp price rise on the international commodities markets triggered national euphoria; a sharp fall spelled national disaster.”
Then go on in HoS to read about the “exanthemic typhus” that struck Chile in the aftermath of a price drop in nitrates on the world market (1932). Keep reading about how the characters in the book cope with the disaster by consulting psychics. Clara and Blanca are the two main characters in this scene and they take to the streets to help the poor, sick and dying. Clara explains the following to Blanca,
“This is to assuage our conscience darling. But it doesn’t help the poor. They don’t need charity, they need justice.”
Read on from there to learn how the character Esteban Trueba reacts to the idea of justice. His argument corresponds to the notions of evolution and progress embraced by Latin American elites in this period as described by E. Bradford Burns in our Reading in MLAH pp. 134-140. These are the notions of Social Darwinism and Positivism that constituted the spine of white ideology in this time period. Keep the paragraph in HoS handy to better understand what Burns is talking about.
As you read the following five or so pages in HoS to the end of chapter 4, you will be introduced to the interplay of characters who favor justice and are called Socialists, Communists and Bolsheviks versus Esteban Trueba, the patron (Spanish for boss), who looks at justice from an elite perspective.
Go to the blog “Assignment 3” and post 100 words (or more) providing your interpretation of the story told at the end of chapter 4, HoS, about the fox and the chickens. The story is metaphorical. What is it about (not just chickens and a fox) and how do you feel about it? Post by 5 pm, Saturday January 21.
The fox and the hen story in The House of Spirits is a direct representation of the countries that are controlling Latin America. Latin America has always been seen as inferior and weak, just as the hens in the story that the fox steals from. The fox would come in to the chicken coop every night an steal the eggs and eat the baby chicks, just as Germany, France, and the United States, along with others, have tried to come into Latin America and steal their freedom away from them. The United States strategy of “containment”, for example, relates to the fox and hen story because the United States did not want Latin America to take on any Communist ideas. Instead, the United States wanted them to become a democracy. It seems like the grandfather is predicting that one day the hens, or the countries of Latin America, are going to team up and revolt against the fox, all the countries that are controlling Latin America. The grandfather thinks that Latin America will defeat the fox, and the fox will then leave them be.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the fox and chicken story would start by defining the fox in the situation as dominating countries like the United States and the chickens as Latin America. The United States would pick on Latin America and control them by taking whatever they wanted. This would include taking each country’s exports for very cheap prices just as the fox stole the chicken’s eggs. Latin America could only withstand so much of this bullying and stealing by the United States before they would have to group together and fight back. The Latin American countries would have to group together and attack the United States like the chickens attacked the fox to regain control of their economies and not rely solely on the United States and European countries as income. There would have to be trade between the countries to support their growing needs. The story is summarized as a community of people grouping together to defeat a greater power. The chickens are not born weak like Blanca assumes them to be. They are smaller but together they have more power than the fox ever can, there really is strength in numbers.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading from The House of the Spirits, as well as Problems in Modern Latin American History this week, I realized that the relationship between Latin American countries and the United States and Europe, was similar to the story of the fox and chickens. Latin American countries were the chickens and the European nations were the fox. The fox was constantly meddling in the affairs of Latin America. It was up to the chickens to stand strong against the powers of these nations. As it states in PILAH, European (and eventually U.S.) companies ran the system: they were the shippers, the bankers, and the builders. Still, they continued to use Latin America for their natural resources such as tin, bananas, sugar, wheat and others. Perhaps Pedro Tercero pondered on the future of Latin America, and how they would triumph over these nations’ control in the future.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing the reading for the week paired with this excerpt from The House of Spirits, it obvious that the story of the fox and the chickens is a metaphor for the relationship between the United States/Europe and Latin America. With both the United States and Europe heavily controlling and planting their influence in Latin America—and really bossing the Latin American people around—it is inevitable that a rebellion would rise. People can only be oppressed and pushed around by tyrants for so long. Take, for example, the Occupy Wall Street protests that are occurring with the borders of the U.S. right now. The ‘99 percent’, as they call themselves, are tired of corporate big cats who sit on their millions while the average American struggles financially. The same goes for Latin America. People in Latin America who live in poverty and despair will eventually band together and peck at the fox that is the U.S. and Europe until he leaves them alone.
ReplyDeleteThe story of the fox and the hens is a metaphor that describes the relationship between Latin America and their industrious trading partners (Europe and North America). Latin America is represented by the hens and the fox represents the larger, powerful countries of Europe and North America. Throughout the years, these wealthier nations interfered in Latin American affairs and in time they were running many aspects of the country. As described in PILAH, the large countries took advantage of the region’s resources and people and followed their own agendas with little regard for effects it had on the countries and the people who lived there. The story tells of the fate of these smaller countries and the seemingly hopeless position they were in. It also tells of hope, and the possibility that, by combining forces, they may control their own destiny and get back the control that they have lost. Pedro Garcia had seen these realities and told the story to the children in hopes that they may realize its true meaning and perhaps, someday, be part of the gathering of hens to finally fend off the pesky fox.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the story about the chickens and the fox is about several different things. The first is that people, or animals for that matter, need each other. If just one chicken had tried to stand up against the fox he wouldn’t have succeeded, he may have even been killed. The only way to defeat the fox was by working together. Another way to look at is even though the chickens were dumber animals, they were able to, as a group, out smart the fox. This tells us that even if we are less intelligent then our opponent, we can still defeat them, sometimes with the simplest idea. Finally, I believe the story is about standing up for yourself. The chickens finally got fed-up with the fox and fought back. Because of this, the abuse stopped.
ReplyDeleteThe story of the fox and the hens is a metaphor for the inequality of classes in “The House of The Spirits.” In the story, the hens take justice in their own hands by trapping and attacking the fox in an attempt to deter the fox from returning to the coop. The fox represents the upper class having all the wealth or in the case of the fox and hens, all the eggs. The hens represent the lower class which is taken advantage of by the upper class. The moral of the story is that by using numbers to attack the fox (upper class) the hens (lower class) will be able to break free from the inequality and obtain justice. This inequality of the classes in the book “The House of The Spirits” is similar to the relations between Latin America and Europe, the United States, and other dominating countries. The U.S. and other dominate countries have discriminated against Latin American countries for many years. I personally, do not condone an uprising against the U.S. as the story of the fox and hens but I feel that the government leaders should not consider the Latin American countries as inferior and attempt to control their affairs.
ReplyDeleteThe pages in “House of the Spirits” correspond well with the chapter on neocolonialism in our text “Problems in Modern Latin American History.”
ReplyDeleteThe story at the end of the chapter is a metaphor. The groups who favor justice, but do not yet have it, (Socialists, Communists and Bolsheviks) are the chickens. This group is being treated with injustice by the elites.
Esteban says, “Is it just for everyone to have the same amount? The lazy the same as those who work? The foolish the same as the intelligent. Even animals don’t live like that.” Esteban (the elite/mother countries) is the fox. He finds it perfectly okay to benefit from the suffering of others – like the fox does.
Pedro’s story says that when the hens come together to stop the fox they receive the justice they want. They need to show the elite/mother countries that the injustice is not okay.
I feel that the poor do not need the charity – they need to change the system so they can get justice just as Clara says. As in the threads of Social Darwinism, if a certain business fails (like the nitrate fields) those people supported by the nitrate fields will fail too. The people will need to come together and evolve. To evolve they must change their attitude and support some kind of revolution in the name of justice.
After reading the passage from The House of Spirits, I believe this story is a metaphor for the relationship between Latin American and North America/Europe. In the reading there is a difference, between Latin America and North America/Europe there is an inequity of classes. The fox in the story pertains to larger countries in this case North America and Europe. The hen pertains to the smaller countries and in this case it is Latin America.
ReplyDeleteThe hen in the story is being bullied by the fox. The fox is bullying the hen because it has more power than the hen. And when the hen is tired of being bullied, the hen bands together with other countries like itself (small) and tries to push back at the fox hoping to be successful.
After reading the story from the House of Spirits, about the fox and the hen, it becomes a clear description of what is taking place for Latin American Countries. Being seen as "lesser" countries or even a inferior race of people, the bigger countries "bully" and control these Latin American countries. In detail the Hen would be considered the latin american countries. Scared, worried and not in a position to hurt or attack back at the fox. The fox is the powerful countries. Never worried or scared of the Hen, the fox is always in control. The only way the Hen, or the Latin American countries have a chance against the fox, or the larger more powerful countries in the become one power and band together. If not the fox will continue to control the hens life.
ReplyDeleteThis story starts out describing the atmosphere of a particular area, which was not a good place to be during this time. With the exception of a man named Estaban Trueba, the people were suffering through extreme times of poverty and sickness. The amount of people in this situation was too high of a number for any changes to be made. The hospitals were even at their maximum capacity. The people were wondering the streets very ill and without shelter. On the other hand, was Estaban Trueba who was a successful businessman. He and his family were doing well. His wife Clara felt bad for the people who were suffering and believed that magic and talking to the spirits is what they needed to get better. She did offer food and clothing too, but stated that this would not solve their problems. Estaban did not agree with either the handouts or the magic. He did not try and stop his wife though, because he knew that he would not get anywhere with that action. Estaban did make it clear though that he did not want his sons involved in any of this, because this was a woman thing to do. He sent both boys to boarding school. Clara’s daughter Blanca was involved with her mother and the magic since an early age. One man, Pedro, did try and help the troubled citizens, but received punishment for it. I believe that at some point, Pedro is going to again try and help make some changes for the area based off of his serious thinking of the story that his grandfather told him of the fox and the chickens. The innocent chickens that were being attacked finally got tired of it and teamed up and sent a message to the fox. People assume that chickens are dumb, as Pedro was assumedly being portrayed as dumb and weak, but the story made him realize that maybe…just maybe he could make a change for his country and fight back at the fox which is a title for people like Estaban and Pedro’s father.
ReplyDeleteThe story that Pedro was told by his grandfather about the fox and the chickens can easily be related to the relationship between Latin America and Europe/U.S. In the story, they describe the injustices between the hens and the fox. Like the U.S. and Europe, the foxes take advantage of the weak like the hens. For years now, we know that Latin America is looked down upon as weak and immature. Europe and the U.S. take advantage of the vulnerability. They have controlled them and made it into how they want things to be. After so long, the hens are sick of being treated like they're not equal, and try to get justice.
ReplyDeleteIn the story with Estaban Trueba, while many people are struggling through this bad time, not everybody gets poverty stricken. Estaban's family does not struggle. Clara and Estaban feel different about the poor. She understands that like the hens, the poverty stricken people need to change, because without a revolution, nothing will get better which is connected to Social Darwinism. That's exatly what the hens did to get justice.
The fox and the chicken metaphor in chapter four seems to simulate a group of people standing up for what is right against opposition. The fox would symbolize an enemy of the chickens, a common predator, as in nature. In the metaphor the unlikely victor is the chickens, joining forces to protect what they love and overtaking the fox. I believe that this story was meant to tell of all the obstacles that were faced by Pedro Garcia and how he stands up to opposition. Without knowing the entire book, I cannot say for sure. However, I get a very dark feeling about this parable (if you will). This man has been changed in some way because of the challenges that he has faced. This may be due to the sufferings of those who lived their in Latin America, with disease and poverty within the city and in Pedro’s case within his family. Much of the challenges faced by Latin Americans was passed down by the predators-Europe and US. So the metaphor could be speaking of the Latin Americans standing up to them as well. I do feel a very personal vibe behind this story.
ReplyDeleteMetaphorically speaking, the story of the Fox and the Hens is a story about “little people” or oppressed people (such as the tenant farmers at Tres Marias) who band together to defend themselves against the “big” and stronger people who take advantage of them (similar to Esteban who took advantage of the peasants). This story reflects the political situation of Chile in the novel. It stands as an example of how the conservative party ruled the country for many years oppressing the people and preventing them from voting for the socialists. Just like the Hens, the socialist party overcame the influential power of the conservatives by convincing the people to revolt in the ballots. This tale is also representative to how people in general are stronger as a unity rather than alone. The value of collaboration and teamwork is something important that we learn at Seton Hill and I have found through my studies that it really is the strongest way to achieve goals.
ReplyDeleteThe story of the chickens and the fox outlines very well stories of the weak coming together against the strong. It is a story that we can see everywhere. From the formation of labor unions’, to the Occupy Wall Street movement, over to the Middle East and the overthrowing of dictatorships, when the so called weak can band together, even the most powerful leaders can be defeated. Unfortunately, the banding together of the weak can often be a long process. The grass root efforts of the “weak” build overtime after more and more oppression. The strong may try to squash these efforts once they are noticed, however, no matter how strong the leader is, the numbers of the weak are hard to overcome. This can be seen in respect to the relationship the United States and other European countries felt they needed to have with Latin America. The U.S.’s belief that Latin Americans were inferior to them created an opportunity for the U.S. government to set themselves in a position of power over Latin America in a misguided effort to direct Latin America in a better way of living. This can also be seen within Latin American countries themselves. The citizens, tired of the corrupt governments and living in poverty, have ousted many of their respective Presidents. This shows that their own citizens are very adept in declaring their rights. It just often takes time and dedication in order to fight for what you believe in. Eventually, in almost every situation, the browbeaten will fight back to assert their own rights.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the chickens and fox parable is a metaphor used to describe the suffering, poor people of Chile and people like Esteban Trueba. A fox is a symbol of strength when compared to inferior chickens. But in the parable, the chickens unite and overtake the fox. In our reading selection from HoS, a majority of the people are without jobs and stricken with disease. Esteban Trueba turns his nose up at those desperate people seeking alms, because he believes they're lazy or dumb or lacking in some way in comparison to him. I haven't read the whole story, but I feel as if the story foreshadows the remainder of the book's events. In the parable, the “hens decided they had had enough of the fox’s abuse. They waited for him in a group, and when he entered the chicken coop they blocked his path, surrounded him, and pecked him half to death before he knew what had happened” (page 141). My guess is that later in the story an event will occur that will cause the “inferior” people to band together to overthrow the one(s) that dominate over them.
ReplyDeleteToward the end of the chapter 4 in “The House of the Spirits,” Pedro García tells the story about how the hens the came together to deal with a fox that was ruining their lives. They pecked him half to death and he left scared. Blanca sees the story another way that foxes are much smarter than hens and are born strong and are not going to give up that easily, so therefore this story is not possible. Pedro Tercero did not see it this way; metaphorically Pedro did not want to believe he was weak against the government. He wanted to be strong and oppose what was going on and be a revolutionary. He agreed with the story that the weak can come together and take down a dictator. Blanca sees the situation as some people are born to be leaders and others are not. Personally, I do not think a leader is born but rather created through hard work and perseverance. This is why I believe capitalism is successful. Some people might say that in a society based off of capitalism, there is still a big class divide between the rich and poor, but unlike a communist society, the poor still have the opportunity to succeed through hard work, and government does not interfere with their success like communism and socialism. Also a revolution is not needed for success.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting story that basically referred to the United States versus Latin American. In the story the hens were Latin American and symbolized how they are weak. This shows how the United States along with other countries look down to Latin America. The foxes symbolized the United states and how they are smarter and steal all the hens eggs. Basically the United States is a very powerful country and tries to control Latin American. In the story the foxes take advantage of the fact that the hens are clueless to how their eggs get stolen. The United States also seems to take advantage of the smaller, weak countries. All the hens can do it try to protect themselves. It is obvious that they would not win a fight one on one against a fox.
ReplyDeleteThe story of about the fox and the chickens was a metaphorical story of about how a group of the weak can ban together and conquer the strong individual. It’s metaphorical story because of how Blanca’s father was so strong and dominated all the inhabitants of the huts of Tres Marias. It also has a sense of foreshadowing for how the patron may be over taken. I feel that since Clara came into Esteban’s life, as his wife, he seems to less harsh and there is enough distance between the house on the corner and Tres Marias that the inhabitants should not ban together against him. When Esteban is not present, Pedro Garcia is in charge, and so the inhabitants would therefore have to revolt against him too. Esteban has been harsh and overworked everyone at Tres Mairas but he as also increased their lifestyles, knowledge, and abilities!
ReplyDeleteThe story of the fox and chicken relates to Latin America and the neocolonialism perfectly. It is a metaphor of Latin America being the chickens and other foreign nations such as the U.S. and Germany being the fox. During the time of our readings for this week, Latin America was somewhat being bullied by other nations because like Blanca said the chickens were seen as weak, and so was Latin America. It was almost easy for the fox to steal the chicken’s eggs because he thought that they wouldn’t fight back. The same is for Latin America, other countries thought it was easy to just take what they want from them and that they wouldn’t fight back. However, the chickens came together and fought back leaving the fox to go pick on other chickens that he saw as weak. I think the grandfather was trying to tell a story of Latin America and how he thought one day the country will get tired of getting bullied and come together and fight back.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the story about the fox and the hens. It was very interesting and funny. However, it displayed that you should not judge a book by its cover. No matter how small the hens were the story displayed that they can still hold their own with the fox. What I took from that is no matter how hard something may seem. If you work hard and stick by your family you can over come those battles or fears. I think that was one of the main things that were displayed in that story. It also displayed teamwork from the hens that intimidated the fox and scared him away because they showed him that they had power too. And just because the fox looked big and mean that did not mean he could come and harm the hens whenever he wanted to so they had to let the fox know that they had power too.
ReplyDeletethis also went along with what we were learning because the Latin Americans faught back just as the hens did.
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