Captain Of The Sands Summary

Brazil’s history may be described as cruel and evil to those who know the truth of its past. When Brazil was first visited by the Portuguese they quickly found that there were rich lands and money to be made off those lands. The coastal areas of Brazil were taken by wealthy settlers, this was over 500 years ago. Jorge Amado’s “Captains of the Sands” was written in 1937 and although the main theme was set around a group of orphan children who ran the streets, there were political undertones that also told a story of the divide between the rich and the poor. When the Portuguese first arrived there were native Indians living in Brazil, the Indians lived off the land and worked for themselves. It was easy for the Portuguese settlers to take
Because these boys were smart and enjoyed freedom so much they almost always managed to escape from the system that failed them. To the native Indians of Brazil and the boys from captains of the sands freedom meant taking care of themselves not having to answer to anyone and being able to enjoy the sunshine. Some of the boys wanted justice, one boy Pedro Bala felt great pride that his father died as a union organizer. I see similar themes throughout the history of all of Latin America, people that were brave enough to speak out were often punished or murdered in an attempt to have complete control over the
The boys were organized although it seemed like the whole world was against them, they were aware of the bad things they did but it was survival for them. Jorge Amado drew from different experiences and showed the life that existed but was not acknowledged, the boys that were the captains of the sands were caught for their crimes but tortured for being the lowest in society. People like the police and those who ran the reformatory or orphanages were not interested in giving these children decent lives, instead they knew that the children were worth nothing in the eyes of society and in turn they were treated like