My Intro Paragraph/Rough Thesis

Gertrudis Gómez de Avellanda’s Sab is an account of a mulatto slave bound to a white family in nineteenth century Cuba in the province of Puerto Prícipe.  Although he is tightly knit within his master family, the “de B----s,” the amiable Sab has an even closer relationship with his adoptive mother, Martina.  Martina is an old mysterious woman of unclear decent.  Like her ethnicity, her identity, as Avellanda describes, is also ambiguous.  She seems to be the only kind of parental force in Sab and her grandson.  What is also odd about her parental aspect is the fact that Martina is only motherly figure that is ever mentioned in the novel (with the exception of Mother Teresa the nun).   Another strange quality of Martina is the fact that everyone close to her ends up dies.  She is an ill-fated woman whose house burns down and entire family perishes before her eyes, even her beloved adoptive son, Sab.  Her ambiguity lurks throughout several of the chapters of the story, and her motherly tenderness towards Sab, even as he is a grown man, is the only true parental affection and compassion the mulatto receives.

My Delirium on Chimbarazo (Revised Version)

We find our friend, "El Liberator," writing about a vision he had on Chimbarazo, the tallest mountain in Ecuador.  While experiencing his delirium in his dream, Bolivar sees multiple Gods: the God of Water, the God of Columbia, the God of Iris, Time, and Infinity etc.  The strange thing about this vision was that, Bolivar, a Catholic, speaks nothing about the Christian God.  However the weirdest God that confronts Bolivar is Time.  After expressing that he has surpassed every man financially, Bolivar comes to the conclusion that he may go to hell ("infernal prisons burning beneath [his] footsteps").  He wonders why a man like him just does not disappear in thin air because of his status. He also believes that he understands time and space.  Bolivar comes to these realizations and that heaven exists. Time instructs Bolivar to tell others of this realization about the reality of heaven.  Bolivar wakes up from his delirium that he has experienced.  I feel that this illusion was provoked by his feelings about Ecuador's independence.  Seeing how this letter was written after The Jamaica Letter, Bolivar probably wrote this letter in exile.  He most likely wrote this letter as a delirious man because of his solitude.  His radicals theories on these disorganized and violent governments throughout Latin America sent him into his own delirium.

Nina Scott's Presence = Good Idea

I felt that Nina Scott being a part in our discussion about Sab was a really good idea.  Thanks Mr. Cummings, you really hooked us up.  I thought she cleared up a lot of foggy parts of the book that I had trouble understanding.  I liked how she answered every one (or nearly every one) of our questions in full detail.  She really put a lot of things into perspective.  I also felt that Scott, showed me some new parts of Sab I never even realized existed. I wish we could even get her back into the classroom again because she was so great.  I thought she was great in some of the translation stuff as well.  Some of the Spanish/Cuban euphemisms that seemed weird at the time that I read the novel, quickly made sense after she spoke to us about her.  She was a lively character, and I thank you, Mr. Cummings, for organizing that meeting for us.  It was a good experience for us.

Sab Paper Ideas

Here are some of my thoughts on some possible themes for my paper.

1. Sab's love vs. Sab's Virtue. What is it that is keeping Sab from taking his love away from Enrique Otway?

2. Why does Sab want his adoptive mother to keep his good deeds a secret. What does he have to hide?

3. Why does Sab feel he could confess his love to Teresa? What is it about her that makes Sab feel that is acceptable for him to do this?

My Delirium on Chimbarazo (Why This Title?)

The title of the piece, My Delirium on Chimbarazo, is a clear reflection of how Bolivar felt while on top of the tallest mountain in Ecuador.  His restlessness/insanity may be due to his constant conquering.  He becomes delirious while on the mountain and sees an "apparition."  Bolivar does not even refer to his own God (Catholic).  Instead he talks about the God of Time and the "God of waters."  That is a clear implication of his delirium because he won't even seek out the help of his own religion's icon when he is definitely not in a stable mindset.  Being on top of this mountain may have overwhelmed his thoughts as well.  He sees himself almost as if he were at the peak of the world.  Bolivar also goes on to say that he has surpassed everyone in wealth, putting him at the peak of society.  Now, he is physically and economically at the pinnacle, yet he is still overwhelmed.  This craze he is caught in could also be caused by the lack of organization in the governments throughout Latin America.  Even though he is the best in many ways, he still finds flaws in his surroundings.