Arguedas

Warma Kuyay is a love story written from the eyes of a 14 year old boy. For some reason it reminds me so much of McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses- in the description of the gorge and the ranch and the sky. Also in the point of view of the young boy and the way he relates to the land and the animals. Arguedas does a spot on job of translating that feeling of loving someone so much and knowing that you can't be with them- the feeling that tears are not enough and your heart is ready to burst. When Ernesto is finally overtaken by remorse for the calf he watched Kutu viciously beat we see almost a coming of age and also an embodiment of his love for Justinita. He stands up to Kutu and is, in the end, left in his comfortable loneliness at the hacienda.

There are some very interesting social and racial questions brought up by this story. Ernesto loves Justinita who is an Indian but he is very aware that Kutu is an Indian as well and does not understand why Justinita would choose Kutu as her lover over him. He has been raised by the Indians on the hacienda just like a child would be raised by servants and nannies in some places and yet he isn't an Indian. He seems stuck in the middle and does not identify wholly with either the Indians or Don Froylan or the other white ranch owners. And he hates Don Froylan for abusing his power and raping Justinita. We can see the strange power dynamic especially between Kutu and Ernesto. They are clearly friends and care about each other and yet Kutu treats Ernesto in a very subservient way. He offers him Justinita and leaves the ranch when Ernesto tells him to.

The Pongo's Dream has a very different style. It reads almost like a parable. It's easy to see how Arguedas would have been involved in the peasant movements. It's interesting in regard to both stories that Arguedas learned Quechua from the servants when he was young and must have been very close with them.