Che Guevera's "Motorcycle Diaries"

Che Guevera-- Motorcycle Diaries

Guevera, while most famous for his affiliation with Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, was born and raised in Argentina in 1928.  He was of Spanish, Irish, and Basque descent.  He was an avid reader of ecclectic texts and was a medical student at the University of Buenos Aires in 1948.  He was almost finished with his medical studies when he and his friend, Ernesto, went on a journey that would change the trajectory of Che's life.  During this journey, Che and Ernesto meet a number of various people that start to shape Guevera's political ideology and desire to unify South America as one America. 

Motorcycle Diaries is often considered a buildungsroman, which is a term coined during the German Enlightenment that simply means "a coming of age" story.  A buildungsroman is also similar to what one might know as an identity plot where the protagonist comes to learn who they are--their identity.  Will will further discuss an identity plot and buildungsroman in class so consider the following question after we have the appropriate notes.

Questions to Consider:

1. How do you see Guevera's trip a buildungsroman--what does he learn about himself along the way and how does he react and grow as a person?

Guevera's trip definitely exemplified a buildungsroman as it shaped him to become the person he was. At the age of 22, Guevera (Ernesto) set out on a journey with his uncle (Alberto Granado) and their motorcycle (La Ponderosa) across South America. A few examples from the movie  where he depicts this include:  when he sees the man with the lump on his neck and tells him it is cancer, whereas Alberto tries to lower the diagnosis so they could stay for the night; next when they met a communist couple whom was suffering, as he secretly gave them the money his girlfriend gave him for when he reached America; when he honestly criticizes the book and thus gains more respect from the writer, whereas Roberto immaturely told him what he wanted to hear just because he had done so much for them; and lastly in the leper society, where when even the nuns were superior, he said they should not be treated differently and thus shook their hands, played "football" with him and they showed their appreciation as they brought him lunch the day he was not served.

2. Do you think Guevera could've made a greater impact on the world by going home and finishing his medical studies and serving as a doctor, or by following the political path of a revolutionary?

He could have gone back home and still made a significant difference; however, I think he was called to be a part of a revolutionary and thus an advocate for others.