A Journey to Political and Social Activism in Ernesto Che Guevara's 'Motorcycle Diaries'
Emily Gjos November 12th, 2012
A journey to Political and Social Activism In Ernesto Che Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries
Global Development Studies Holler
Book Review
Emily Gjos November 12th, 2012
Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto “Che” Guevara is an autobiographical account that outlines the journey of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, then a 23-year-old medical student. Che and his friend Alberto leave their hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in January 1952 on the back of an asthmatic and sputtering motorbike. Guevara inadvertently goes on this journey of self discovery where he witnesses the social injustices of exploited mine workers, persecuted communists, ostracized lepers, and the tattered descendants of a once-great Incan civilization. The journey lasts a symbolic nine months spanning 8,000 kilometres through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and to Miami. 1 Che and Alberto decide to take a year off of their studies to travel across South America and experience life in their own backyard. They set out from Buenos Aires and make it fairly easily to Myanmar and later to the Chilean border. Part way through, the rickety motorbike breaks down beyond repair and they must hitchhike across the countryside. They rely on the kindness of the people along the road and they swindle their way into the kitchens and barns of the more generous of the inhabitants. The stunning landscapes give way to incredibly diverse people and less diverse conditions of poverty and oppression. The leper colony becomes a turning point for them as they discover within themselves the need for change. The experience has a stirring affect on them as they anticipate the political and social journey that they will take later in their lives and start to become the men they want to be. Ernesto Guevara was born in June 1928 in Rosario, Argentina into a middle-class family.2 He was studying to become a doctor at the time that the novel was written. He
A journey to Political and Social Activism In Ernesto Che Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries
Global Development Studies Holler
Book Review
Emily Gjos November 12th, 2012
Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto “Che” Guevara is an autobiographical account that outlines the journey of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, then a 23-year-old medical student. Che and his friend Alberto leave their hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in January 1952 on the back of an asthmatic and sputtering motorbike. Guevara inadvertently goes on this journey of self discovery where he witnesses the social injustices of exploited mine workers, persecuted communists, ostracized lepers, and the tattered descendants of a once-great Incan civilization. The journey lasts a symbolic nine months spanning 8,000 kilometres through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and to Miami. 1 Che and Alberto decide to take a year off of their studies to travel across South America and experience life in their own backyard. They set out from Buenos Aires and make it fairly easily to Myanmar and later to the Chilean border. Part way through, the rickety motorbike breaks down beyond repair and they must hitchhike across the countryside. They rely on the kindness of the people along the road and they swindle their way into the kitchens and barns of the more generous of the inhabitants. The stunning landscapes give way to incredibly diverse people and less diverse conditions of poverty and oppression. The leper colony becomes a turning point for them as they discover within themselves the need for change. The experience has a stirring affect on them as they anticipate the political and social journey that they will take later in their lives and start to become the men they want to be. Ernesto Guevara was born in June 1928 in Rosario, Argentina into a middle-class family.2 He was studying to become a doctor at the time that the novel was written. He