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EvelynZazueta
CAS114B
April29,2014
ProfessorZelaya
ViolencethroughoutCentralAmerica
WiththeCivilWarwhichlasted36yearsinGuatemala,tookabout200,000livesduetothe
violencethatoccurredeveryday.Duringthewar,
Thearmydestroyed626villages,killedordisappearedmorethan200,000peopleand
displacedanadditional1.5million,whilemorethan150,000weredriventoseekrefugeinMexico.
Forceddisappearancepoliciesincludedsecretlyarrestingorabductingpeople,whowereoftenkilled
andburiedinunmarkedgraves.
ViolencewasanormforGuatemalanscitizenswhiletheCivilwaraswellaswhenthewar
ended.RodrigoReyRosawroteashortnovel,TheGoodCrippleduringthistime.Violenceis
portrayedthroughoutthestory.JuanLuisLunaiskidnappedbyagroupoffiveguyswhoturnto
extremeviolentmeasurestogetwhattheywantfromJuanLuisLunaswealthyfather.Symbolic
violenceistheviolencewhichisexerciseduponasocialagentwithhisorhercomplicity(Bourdieu
andWacquant2002,167,italicsinoriginal)thisformofviolencecanbeverydangerousbecauseit
makesotherquestionthemselves.Physicalviolenceoccurswhensomeoneusesapartoftheirbodyor
anobjecttocontrolapersonsactions.Violence,bothphysicallyandsymbolicallyareportrayed
mostly,throughthecharactersofJuanLuisLuna,DonCarlos,&thegroupofguysthatkidnappedJuan
Luis(Bunny,Tapir,Elhorrible,CarlomangoandSephardi).Throughhisstoryyoucantellhowviolence
affectedpeopleduringtheCivilWarandlongafteritended.
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WhenaviolenteventoccurssuchliketheoneinTheGoodCripple,itisusuallyabigdealbut
inthestorythecopsarenotinvolvednordoesJuanLuissfatherseemsalarmedbyhissonmissing.Its
likeDonLunaexpectedittohappen.Peopleweredisappearingeverydayduringthistime,thatwhenit
happenedtoJuanLuis,thatinordertogethisfather'sattentionthekidnappershadtodosomething
drastic.JuanLuiswroteletterstohisfatherbuthedidntevenbotheredopeningthem.Sincethetoe
didntmoveDonCarlosthekidnappersdecidedtogoforthefoot.
thebittertasteofsomedruglingeredinhismouth,andwiththelastmouthfulhebegantofeel
drowsinessthatmadehimdizzyandwastoosuddentobenatural.Heclosedhiseyesintheanguish
certaintythatwhenhewokeuppartofhisbodywouldbemissing.(ReyRosa,33)
PhysicalviolenceismostlyportrayedwhenRodrigoReyRosawroteaboutJuanLuisskidnap
becausethegroupofkidnappersuseapartofJuanLuissbodytocontroltheactionstheywanthis
fathertotake.Surprisingly,theynevertookthistothepolicewhichwasbecausethissortofviolence
wasnormalduringthistime.Kidnaps,massacresandmurderofcivilianswerehappeningeveryday
duringtheCivilWarthatitwouldmakenodifferenceiftheytookthiscrimetothepolice.
WesometimeshearpeoplesayEveryManforthemselvesandduringtheCivilwarthisslogan
couldnthavebeenanymoretrue.Bunny,ElHorrible,Tapir,CarlomagnoandtheSephardiwere
supposedtosplittheransomsotheybothgotenough.ButbeforethecrewpickedupSephardiwho
hadtheransomdecidedthathedeservedmostofthemoneybecausehehaddonemorethantheothers.
throughonlyoutofthecornerofhiseyethetrashcanthatcontainedthehalfmilliondollars,theplan
thathimselfhadcomeupwithbecameadifferentplan,whichsuitedhimbetter.(ReyRosa,53)
Sephardibackstabbedtherestofthemenjustsohecouldkeepthemoney.Whenitwastimefor
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Bunny,ElhorribleandTapirtopickSephardiup,hetookasteptotheside,pulledhishandoutofhis
pocket,tiltedhisbodybackslightlyandwhenhiscountreachedtwentythree,threwthegrenade.
Thisoccurrencewasinthenewsbutthepolicedidntdomuchbecauseithappenedduetothe
civilwar.Peoplewerefightingagainstoneanotherandthiswasanotherbattleaddedtothewar.
Thesefivemenwereusingviolenceasawaytogetthemoneytheywanted.
WomeninTheGoodCripplearearepresentationofSymbolicviolence.Accordingto
Bourdieu,Examplesoftheexerciseofsymbolicviolenceincludegenderrelationsinwhichbothmen
andwomenagreethatwomenareweaker,lessintelligent,moreunreliable,andsoforth
AnaLuciaisJuanLuisgirlfriendwhobecomeshiswifeafterhiskidnapisweak,becauseshe
hastodependonamantosaveherhusbandslife.Shefeelspowerlessandangeredthatshecantdo
anythingtohelpbringherhusbandback....shedfeltangernotonlybecausethekidnappershadnt
communicatedwithher,butalsobecauseshewasinnopositiontodoanything.AnaLuciacouldntdo
anythingwhenBunnytookJuanLuissfoottoher,shehadtogotohisfather.Justlikemanyother
womenduringthisperiodoftime,AnaLuciacouldntbeindependentandhadtoturntothemenfor
help.
Havingchildrenisoneofwomensbiggestdesireandblessing.HoweverJuanLuisLunaasthe
oneinchargetakesthisfromhiswifeAnaLucia.Throughoutthebookwelearnthatafamilyisnotin
thebooksforthiscouple.AnaLuciahasnosayinwhethersheishavingkidsornotbecauseJuanLuis
hasmadethedecisionforher.AttheendofthestoryReyRosanarrates,
Attheloverssuprememoment,hepulledouttospillhissemesonhersmoothbellywithits
finetracingofhair,itwasariskydayandhedidnotwanttohavechildrenhewassureofthat.(Pg.
116)
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Thestoryendingwiththisquoteportraysthataftereverythingthathashappenedtothiscouple
JuanLuisstillhasnotchangedhismindaboutkidsandwontbechangingit..Manywomenwantto
havechildrenbutsincetheirhusbandshavethecontrol,whattheywantisntevenanoption.Thisaction
maynotbeseenassignofviolencebutitsanactionofSymbolicviolencethroughgenderroles.Juan
LuisisthedominantintherelationshipandhehascometotheconclusionthatAnaLuciaistheweaker
link.
ViolencedidnotjustaffectthecitizensofGuatemaladuringthewar.Theviolencetheyhadto
livethroughwaswellimplantedontheirmindsevenafterthecivilwarhadended.Becauseofwhat
manypeoplewouldputthroughduringthe36yearsthewarlasted,theyseekedrevengeafterwards.
JustlikeinRodrigoReyRosasbookTheGoodCrippleJuanLuiscouldn'tforgethiskidnappedeven
aftermanyyears.

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References:
Anonymous,."GUATEMALA."CaribbeanUpdate,20.2(2004):11.
http://knowledge.sagepub.com/view/consumerculture/n534.xml
http://gov.nl.ca/VPI/types/index.html#1
https://www.hmh.org/la_Genocide_Guatemala.shtml