A Sympathetic Antonio in Hector Tobar's The Tattooed Soldier
Sympathetic Antonio
In Hector Tobar’s novel, The Tattooed Soldier, many of the characters experience unpleasant situations. These include homelessness, joblessness, and murder. These unpleasant situations lead to negativity in their lives, and this negativity can evoke feelings of sympathy. Of all the characters in Tobar’s novel, I believe Antonio deserves the greatest amount of sympathy because he lives a life of constant despair and is often treated unfairly, which is like a trap from which he cannot escape.
Antonio’s wife and son, Elena and Carlos, are killed by Longoria. In the chapter, Fire Escape”, on page 183, it states “I did not bury my wife and child, but I can stand and seek vengeance, for them and for the many, for the anonymous dead”. “Now Antonio knew how Elena must have felt when she marched in the demonstrations. Now he could see why she was a revolutionary, he could understand what had been a mystery before”. “This is how Elena felt, tall and strong. This is what she was trying to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen. Elena knew that to march with the many was to stand tall. Elena loved me because she knew I could be a brave fighter” (Tobar 183). This shows that Antonio is upset because his wife Elena and his son Carlitos are killed. Elena had written a complaint letter to the government because people were dying due to the filthy water caused by the garbage that people dumped onto it. She requested that the changes should be made in a nearby city. She was also famous for making her points clear. The Guatemalan government sent a soldier named Longoria to kill Antonio and Elena for complaining to the fascist government and they found it to be a threat. Their family have been suspected of being informer immigrants and are being hunted down. Antonio escaped death by being at work when his family was killed. After the death of his wife, Antonio had no choice but to escape from there if he wanted to live. He ran away to Los Angeles, hoping for a
In Hector Tobar’s novel, The Tattooed Soldier, many of the characters experience unpleasant situations. These include homelessness, joblessness, and murder. These unpleasant situations lead to negativity in their lives, and this negativity can evoke feelings of sympathy. Of all the characters in Tobar’s novel, I believe Antonio deserves the greatest amount of sympathy because he lives a life of constant despair and is often treated unfairly, which is like a trap from which he cannot escape.
Antonio’s wife and son, Elena and Carlos, are killed by Longoria. In the chapter, Fire Escape”, on page 183, it states “I did not bury my wife and child, but I can stand and seek vengeance, for them and for the many, for the anonymous dead”. “Now Antonio knew how Elena must have felt when she marched in the demonstrations. Now he could see why she was a revolutionary, he could understand what had been a mystery before”. “This is how Elena felt, tall and strong. This is what she was trying to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen. Elena knew that to march with the many was to stand tall. Elena loved me because she knew I could be a brave fighter” (Tobar 183). This shows that Antonio is upset because his wife Elena and his son Carlitos are killed. Elena had written a complaint letter to the government because people were dying due to the filthy water caused by the garbage that people dumped onto it. She requested that the changes should be made in a nearby city. She was also famous for making her points clear. The Guatemalan government sent a soldier named Longoria to kill Antonio and Elena for complaining to the fascist government and they found it to be a threat. Their family have been suspected of being informer immigrants and are being hunted down. Antonio escaped death by being at work when his family was killed. After the death of his wife, Antonio had no choice but to escape from there if he wanted to live. He ran away to Los Angeles, hoping for a
Cited: Tobar, Hector. The Tattooed Soldier. New York: Penguin, 2000. Print.