“The Death of Artemio Cruz” by Carlos Fuentes is a novel based off Mexican history in the 20th century. It is told through the life of Artemio Cruz, who is a young soldier fighting in the Mexican Revolution and whom later turns into an untrustworthy soldier, politician, journalist, friend, lover, and father. In the second chapter titled “1919: May 20,” Gonzalo Bernal and his family are introduced into the story. The Bernal family achieved their wealth by becoming the largest landholders in the area.
However, the revolution caused them lack of money which was slowly deteriorating their success and wealth. To add onto that, Peasants demand that Don Bernal give part of his land to them because they too are in need of money. This leads to the introduction of Cruz to Bernal’s daughter, Catalina in hope that she will like him enough to marry him. However, she knows that Cruz is manipulative and is only with her because he is going to benefit when married to her because women are not allowed to own property which means that Cruz will automatically inherit all the family’s wealth when Don Bernal dies. Don Bernal allows Artemio to marry Catalina because he is the only hope of saving the family’s success and power. This chapter introduces the theme of the endless cycle of idealism and corruption throughout Mexico’s history and also throughout this story told by the life of Artemio Cruz.
Don Bernal, who seems like a righteous man, bought his capacious lands when Juarez put all the church property up for sale after the Mexican Civil War of the 1850s. Purchasing large parts of land for very little money, the wealthy landowners set up a system by which most peasants were bound to servitude, almost as slaves. In turn, Bernal is in danger of losing his holdings to leaders of the Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910. The revolt, lead by Emilio Zapata, was primarily a movement of peasant guerrillas and urban intellectuals. The major aim of the revolution was to wrest land from foreign countries and wealthy families, and redistribute it to the common people, ending their hopeless poverty.
Although the rebels won the war, their economic dreams of a vibrant Mexican middle class were not realized. Eventually Cruz gains the Bernal property and secures it through deception and corruption. Furthermore, to ensure his wealth, Cruz is unfaithful to and bribes a fellow soldier’s sister into marriage. He quickly becomes the type of wealthy and vain human being that he fought against during the revolution. Throughout his life, Cruz continues to gain wealth and power by corruption, taking advantage of people, and betraying his family, friends, and former soldiers as well. Cruz decides to follow an erroneous path and unfortunately, his desire for wealth and success results in the death of his only son, Lorenzo. Not only did he lose Lorenzo, but as well as the rest of the family and several friends because his mind was corrupted with the thought that being wealthier is more important than being a good and generous person.
The lack of love he has in his life is proven when Artemio Cruz awakens in bed while battling a serious illness and not even his own daughter or wife care about his well being. His wife Catalina and daughter Teresa are present but not concerned with his health. This selection did a good job on the accuracy of the events. The book jumps around in time chronologically from past to present and sometimes becomes confusing as we go from 1919, at the time of the fighting, then back to 1913 when he met the love of his life who was killed in the war; then to the death of his son in Spain in the 1930’s.
However, Fuentes did get his point across. His purpose is to show, through the story of one man, how the ruling class of present-day Mexico has been shaped in the crucible years from the beginning of the century to the present. In the last chapter, 1889, we learn details of his birth and childhood at the end of the book. Artemio is dying all the way through the novel, but looking back from his sickbed and through the dreams and delirium of illness. The author therefore becomes the voice of the man, an artful and successful method of unwritten autobiography put down on the page by another. Fuentes feels difficult to me to read, however, it was very well written and I do recommend this book to future students or people in general looking for something interesting to read.
