Mollie Siddens

Geography 340
31 October 2010
Racism and Its Conseqences
!"he only thing #hite abot that child is her color$% &'ernarda Caldera( mother o) Sier*a
Mar+a in Of Love and Other Demons
Gabriel Garcia Marqe, #rote his no*el Of Love and Other Demons abot a yong #hite
girl #ith long( red hair named Sier*a Mar+a de "odos los -ngeles$ "he no*el ta.es place in
Colombia dring the eighteenth centry/ a place o) sla*e trade( racial ineqality( and religios
sperstition$ "he protagonist( Sier*a Mar+a( is an e0tremely strange girl and both her parents
misnderstand and o)ten )ear her$ Re1ected )rom her )ather and mother( Sier*a Mar+a trns to the
blac. sla*es )or lo*e and direction throghot her childhood$ She gains many nsal traits and
habits )rom the blac. cltre that con)ses and )rightens the people in her #hite commnity$
2*entally( Sier*a Mar+a3s blac. characteristics lead to her ostracism )rom the #hite commnity
and the belie) that she is possessed by a demon$ 4ring this time( 5atin 6merica had an
e0tensi*e sla*e trade and con*ergence o) cltres( and the region #as still riddled #ith social
ineqality and misnderstanding bet#een the races( #hich #ere ma1or )actors that lead to Sier*a
Mar+a3s incarceration and e*ental death$ Marqe, e))ecti*ely ses the character o) Sier*a Mar+a
to emphasi,e the clash o) #hite and blac. cltres in 5atin 6merica$
"he no*el begins #hen t#el*e&year&old Sier*a Mar+a is bitten on the an.le by a rabid
dog$ 7er )ather( a peninslar marqis( has ne*er )elt lo*e )or his only daghter( bt
ncharacteristically begins to )ear that she had contracted rabies$ 6s his lo*e begins to gro#( the
Marqis decides he #ants more than anything to sa*e Sier*a Mar+a$ "he Marqis goes to the
local bishop )or his ad*ice abot #hether he belie*es Sier*a Mar+a has rabies$ 6)ter #itnessing
Sier*a Mar+a3s strange beha*iors learned )rom gro#ing p #ith the blac. sla*es( the 'ishop
decides that she does not ha*e rabies and instead determines that she is possessed by a demon$
"he 'ishop sends her to a nearby con*ent #here she is )eared and re1ected by the nns
becase o) her strange !blac.% beha*ior( #hich is interpreted as acts o) a demon$ 6)ter being
tormented and hmiliated by the nns and the abbess( Sier*a Maria3s actions become so bi,arre
that the 'ishop decides she needs an e0orcism$ "he man in charge o) the e0orcism is 8ather
Cayetano 4elara( a middle&aged librarian and de*ot Catholic$ 2*entally( Sier*a Maria3s
strangeness ensnares him( and the t#o begin an ill&)ated and brie) lo*e a))air$ 2*entally( Sier*a
Maria and 4elara are separated )rom one another permanently( and both die o) heartbrea.$
4elara is Marqe,3s representation o) a )ailed attempt at reconciliation bet#een the t#o races(
and the death o) him and Sier*a Mar+a epitomi,e the otcome o) this cltral clash that is still
)elt e*en today$
Sier*a Mar+a is misnderstood and )eared throghot the no*el becase her childhood
among the sla*es highlighted the cltral di))erences bet#een the #hites and blac.s in 5atin
6merica dring the eighteenth centry$ She ne*er learns ho# to act li.e a yong #hite noble9
Sier*a Mar+a spea.s three 6)rican langages( co*ers hersel) in blac. md )or ritals( and has the
.nac. o) silently snea.ing p on people$ 6ll these characteristics are e0tremely ne0pected in a
yong( #hite noble in eighteenth centry Colombia$ :hen the #hite commnity sees Sier*a
Mar+a acting in sch a manner( they associate her #ith a demonic presence$ ;eople belie*e her
to be possessed by a demon merely becase she acts li.e a blac. sla*e$ In eighteenth centry
5atin 6merica( the time o) peninslares( mesti,os( and other cltrally constrcted races( her
actions #ere socially nacceptable to the pper&class #hites$ Marqe, ses Sier*a Mar+a to
symboli,e the nhealthy relationship bet#een the blac.s and #hites dring this time$
Gabriel Garcia Marqe, #anted to se Sier*a Maria3s seemingly strange characteristics
to enhance the cltral di))erences and misnderstandings bet#een the blac.s and the #hites o)
eighteenth centry 5atin 6merica$ Racism and sla*e trade #ere dominant aspects o) 5atin
6merican cltre dring that time( and miscommnication bet#een the t#o separate cltres led
to sperstition and distrst$ "hese sperstitions #ere sho#n especially throgh Sier*a Maria3s
relationship #ith her parents$ 8or e0ample( her mother 'ernarda is e0tremely )rightened o)
Sier*a Maria becase the child #old noiselessly snea. p on her$ "his characteristic o) stealth
#as not normally something a #hite t#el*e&year&old #old ha*e in 5atin 6merica$ Sier*a Mar+a
also reglarly lies to all the #hite people arond her$ Marqe, sho#s this decepti*eness throgh
the qote( !Martina as.ed no more qestions( assming that the girl lied or had been lied to( not
reali,ing she #as one o) the )e# #hite #omen to #hom Sier*a Mar+a had told the trth$% In the
no*el( blac. sla*es in the region also lie to their #hite o#ners$ Sier*a Maria learned to lie )rom
her blac. !)amily% and there)ore #as treated #ith )ear and re1ection becase o) the cltral
di))erences and misnderstanding bet#een the t#o races$
"he )ear o) Sier*a Maria3s strangeness e0tends to the priests and nns to #hom her )ather
#ent to )or help$ Instead o) helping the child #hom he )ears to ha*e contracted rabies in a
normal )ashion( they percei*e her strange actions as those o) a demon( and loc. her a#ay in a
)ilthy cell$ She is gi*en remedies( #hich are basically tortre( and is treated li.e an animal$
Marqe, ses these e0treme circmstances to represent the social misnderstanding bet#een the
#hite and blac. races$ 4elara( a)ter he has )allen in lo*e #ith the yong girl( says !that #hat
seems demonic to s are the cstoms o) the blac.s( learned by the girl as a conseqence o) the
neglected condition in #hich her parents .ept her$%
"his no*el opens the reader3s eyes to not only Marqe,3s thoght)l argments against
the in1stices and n)airness o) the neqal races in 5atin 6merica dring the eighteenth centry(
bt it also pro*ides a glimpse into the mentality o) the #hites and blac.s dring that time$ "he
mistrst and )ear that gre# bet#een these t#o races #ere main components in the e*oltion o)
the social ineqalities in 5atin 6merica a)ter colonialism$ Sier*a Mar+a represents the otcome
o) the collision o) these t#o races in eighteenth centry 5atin 6merica( and her ostracism and
distrst )rom the #hite commnity sho# ho# the mi0ing o) these t#o cltres is not only loo.ed
do#n pon( bt recei*ed #ith )ear and sperstition$