The Motorcycle Diaries – Literary Elements

The dramatization of a motorcycle road trip Che Guevara went on in his youth that showed him his life’s calling.

1) What is the point of view of the movie?

2) What is the plot of the movie?

1The Motorcycle Diaries.Thumbnails

3) Describe the following characters using the Fox Character Analysis Pyramid which includes name/title, physical appearance, personality, character’s role, character’s problems/challenges, major accomplishments, cultural context, and world view.

Rodrigo de la Serna as Alberto Granado

2Rodrigo de la Serna as Alberto Mial Granado

 

Gael García Bernal as Che Guevara

3Gael García Bernal as Ernesto Fuser Guevara

The History of Ernesto Che Guevara – A Short Story

Che Guevara

4) What is the theme of the movie?

5) What is the setting of the movie?  How important is the setting?

6) What is the genre of the movie?

7) Does the movie have any cultural lessons?

I first encountered extreme poverty when I visited my Peruvian family in the sixties and seventies.

hugh-fox-iii-peru

Progress in Peru – the story of Lima’s slums  

I spent seventh grade in Argentina and read Lenin, Marx, and Mao from books borrowed from the Biblioteca Centro Lincoln (ICANA ).

Viva la revolución by Domigorgon

viva-la-revolucion-ernesto-che-guevara-maximilien-robespierre-martin-luther-king-susan-b-anthony-vladimir-ilyich-lenin-mohandas-gandhi

Ernesto Che Guevara, Maximilien Robespierre, Martin Luther King, Susan B. Anthony, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Cuban Revolution | 3 Minute History

Top 10 Notable Revolutions  

Top 10 Influential Communist Leaders  

I came to the conclusion that revolution invariably creates more problems that it solves.  I also read a great deal of philosophy during this period and became a Buddhist.  I think Buddhism or some sort of mix of Buddhism with positive psychology is the answer to most psychological problems.  However, I  am unsure how to apply the lessons of Buddhism to political problems.

I encountered poverty again as an ESL school teacher at Fleming Middle School in Houston, Texas in the eighties.

hugh-fox-iii-fleming-middle-school-houston-1980s

Poverty in a poor country is regrettable.

Poverty in a rich country is obscene!

1) Revolution is a major cause of human suffering

2) If we understand the causes of revolution then we can prevent revolution.

3) The main cause of revolution is income inequality.

4) If we understand income inequality then we can solve the problem of violent revolution.

So how bad is income equality?

Wealth Inequality in America  

Global Wealth Inequality – What you never knew you never knew  

How wealthy are you?

http://wealthometer.org/US/calculator1.html

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

unequal-countries

https://www.statista.com/chart/6908/the-worlds-most-unequal-countries/

 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-news/270964/income-inequality-in-thailand

comparing-per-capita-asian-gdp-1960-2012

From the above article:

“He said Thailand fared poorly on its income gap compared to other countries, on par with troubled Latin American countries like Mexico, Argentina and Columbia.”

Is income inequality all bad?

Income Inequality is Good  

Income inequality can lead to wealth creation and wealth creation can in turn lead to social programs that reduce poverty.

US vs China model for Reducing Poverty

US Model focuses on making the pie bigger by encouraging economic growth through Liberal democracy but the US became a mixed economy during the New Deal.

The New Deal: Crash Course US History #34

China uses state capitalism to reduce poverty more directly than in the US.

China has “best record” of poverty reduction: expert  

One could say the US started out as a capitalist country and became more socialist over time.  China started out as socialist country and has become more capitalist over time.

Revolutionary movements that reject a mixed economy like Guevarism and Maoism and other have very little international support today.

Revolution – The Beatles Kinetic Typograhy

8) What are the literary conflicts of the movie?

Worksheet at Scribd:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/164168541/Motorcycle-Diaries-Worksheet

Wikipedia Entry

WereVerse Universe Baby!

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