Turner's Novel Aves Sin Ni example essay topic

Clorinda Matto de Turner's novel Aves sin ni do was published in July 1889. It's release caused great controversies amongst intellectuals; some praising it for its accurate portrayal of Peruvian life, such as the then-president Andr " es Ave lino C'a ceres who wrote a letter of praise to Matto de Turner saying that her novel had stimulated him to pursue much needed reforms, and others condemning it for its social critique of the national model of Peru and for its anticlerical tone. But no matter whether praising or condemning Matto's most famous novel there is no denying that the novel is based around the idea of the native culture of Peru. Clorinda Matto de Turner begins by voicing her reasons for writing the novel. In the proem io she cites her desire to show the world what life is really like in Peru, to create a " 'ia que los vicious y las virtues", to show what happens when authorities are not correctly chosen or monitored and to enforce the idea that the clergy should have the right to marriage, in order to limit the possibility of devastating effects on society as portrayed in her novel. Each character in the novel is a vehicle for Matto de Turner's ideas about the Peruvian national model and her thoughts on possible changes.

The main focus of the novel is on the plight of the native Indians. The story focuses on two main Indian families, yet throughout the novel their plights are generalised by the use of the terms of "the race" and "brothers born in adversity" so that the novel critiques the entire nation and its treatment of the native culture. The two families, the Yupanqui's and the Champi's, although both Indians, have very different economic backgrounds yet are both still defenceless against the local gentry. The novel highlights the oppression faced by the Indians via what Gone " alex Prada characterised as a triad, consisting of the judge, the governor and the church. Each member of the triad plays a role in the oppression of the Indians. First, the more obvious roles are that of the governor and the judge.

Both embody the idea of corruption and oppression, taking advantage of the Indians and their social and economic standings. The local officials exploit the Indians through their policy of "el ", paying the Indians a pittance for wool for the following year, which would have gone up in price, and then when the Indians can't produce the correct amount of wool forcing them to pay back more than was originally paid to them. When this happens to the Yupanqui family their youngest daughter, Royal " ia, is taken from them by officials as payment for their debts showing the unethical means by which the government obtain economic gain. The judge is also seen as a corrupt force, as when faced with the inquiry into the attack on the Mar " in's house he overlooks the evidence and accepts the view of the local gentry that the blame lies with the village sexton.

The local officials are constantly seen plotting together, fuel led by alcohol. They are only interested in what they can gain from exploiting others and how they can cover it up and place the blame on others, in order to exploit them. Matto de Turner's explanation for the corrupting nature of the juridic o-political structure is a lack of education. The governor, Pancorbo, is described as having "received as elementary an education as the three years he spent at a city school allowed", Verdejo, the judge, is virtually illiterate as he needs someone else to write things down for him "-Esperemos o tro po quito, mi se~nor; no tartar'a mi pa -rep uso Verdejo also " and Est " efa no Ben " it ez, supposedly one of the best educated, merely has "good handwriting". At times the reader could be mislead into thinking that the plight of the Indians is due to this corrupt governing body and that if they were to comply with their obligations the problems could be resolved. However, when the new sub prefect arrives, although he jails some of the gentry, he soon settles into the ways of his predecessors, showing that it is a better understanding of things and a greater need for education that is needed in Peru rather than new reforms.

The third element of the triad is the church, in this novel embodied by Don Pedro Mirando y Claro and Father Pascual Vargas. One of the aims of Matto de Turner's novel was to raise the awareness of the need for the clergy to have the right to marriage and so this concept is stressed throughout the novel by focusing on the private lives of the priests. Don Pedro Mirando y Claro is not a present figure in the novel but we learn that by using his position of authority he was able to exploit the young Indian women and as a result has fathered two children, Margarita and Manuel. Father Vargas is portrayed as a drunkard womanizer who exploits the Indians for his own personal needs which, like Don Pedro Mirando y Claro, are sexual. He forces the women of the village to work for him for free and although it is never directly said it is hinted that this work is of a more sexual nature than a religious one. He also has a mistress, Melitona.

However, Matto de Turner does not critique this blatant lack of Christian values but rather sympathies with the priest's situation and highlights that the reason for his debauchery is due to his lack of a loving family which is voiced through the priest himself, "! Desdichado el hombre que es al deserto del cura to sin el amparo de la familia!" The natural imagery associated with him also highlights his corrupt nature as instead of a bird, which is the imagery associated with the majority of other protagonists in the novel, he is described as "un ni do de " which is a clear biblical critique of his actions. The other main characters in "Aves sin ni do" are the "outsiders" from Lima. Lucia, Fernando and Manuel have all been educated in Lima and are considered far more enlightened than the inhabitants of K'ill ac.

They are the characters who fight for the rights of the Indians and highlight the problems and possible solutions for these. Lucia believes that there is a great need for education and is particularly interested in Indian culture. The Mar " ins have very Liberal ideas and also reflect positivist ideology, in particular Fernando, who believes that the underdevelopment of the Indians is due to malnourishment. Manuel is also very keen to educate Margarita and to move himself and his family away from the corruption of the small Andean towns to the Liberal, enlightened capital, Lima. Although the novel primarily critiques the make up of the Peruvian nation it also has a feminist element. The novel represents the female characters in a much better light than the male characters.

Both the female Indian characters, Marcela Yupanqui and Martina Champi, show great determination and strength when faced with a crisis, neither of them ever give up and approach others in their hour of need. Whereas their husbands immediately give up when faced with a problem, becoming depressed and so desperate that in Juan's case he sees death as the only way out. The two other main female characters, Lucia Mar " in and Do~na Petronila, both express Matto de Turner's view that women "exercise a morally corrective influence upon men". Do~na Petronila is repeatedly seen trying to persuade her corrupt husband to turn his back on the corruption and violence.

And Lucia is constantly asking her husband to do the morally right thing, firstly by helping the Yupanqui family by giving them money and secondly by helping to prove that the village sexton, Champi, is innocent. Matto de Turner's thoughts also transpire through three of the more enlightened male characters; Fernando, Manuel and Gaspar. All three have the view that women are sharper than men and have an incredible ability to read and judge others. Fernando sums up Matto's views by saying "Women always excel us in insight and imagination".

Although the novel has a feminist element it is typical of nineteenth-century feminism, the aim of which was to win over the majority of society. The novel therefore depicts the idea that although women are more ethical than men and that they are superior in thought they are primarily wives and mothers. When Petronila offers her husband advice he rejects it saying "Really, women should never mix themselves up with men's business; they had better keep to their pots and pans" clearly showing that women shouldn't be too progressive, they should still know their role in society and not try and force their ideas on men. From reading Aves sin ni do the world is left with an image of Peru filled with social oppression, corruption and backwardness. But, it is also clear that some Peruvian's want change to take place in order to modernise and unite the country under one national identity. However, it becomes apparent that even with the help of enlightened intellectuals the Indians are still powerless to the corruption of their small towns.

At the end of the novel Manuel and Margarita's dream of marriage is shattered by the revelation that both are fathered by Don Pedro Mirando y Claro thus bringing them back to the reality. "Aves sin ni do" shows that the native culture of Peru is based upon exploitation and the issues that arise from it and raises the issue that in order to end the oppression and corruption more significant changes have to be made in the shape of education.

Bibliography

o Clorinda Matto de Turner, Aves sin ni do (Lima 1988) o Antonio Conejo Polar, "Foreword" in Torn from the Nest translated by John H.
R. Post (New York 1998) o Efrain Kristal, "El de Clorinda Matto de Turner" in Una vision urban a de los Andes.
G'ene sis y del en el Per'u 1848-1930.
Lima; Instituto de Apoyo Ag rerio 1991) o Clorinda Matto de Turner, Birds without a nest, translated by J.
G. H, amended by Naomi Lindstormo Francesca De negri "La nacional en Aves sin ni do, Indole y Herencia" in El Aba nico y la Cigarrera: La primer a genera ci " on de en el Per'u (Lima 1996).