I thoroughly enjoyed this piece, although the ending was a bit disturbing to visualize haha.

The six-page chapter follows the story of an “hombre Quechua moderno”, or in this case a lowly house servant (Pongo), who was wildly obedient despite the abuses he faced on a regular basis. The pongo never spoke, which was one of the main reasons his landlord picked on him out of all the serfs, until one day when he recited a religious metaphor to his landlord that would reward the quiet serf for his suffering and punish his oppressor in a revolutionary call.

There are many elements in this short story that I would like to address but I will briefly address only two. I think one of the most obvious points is the hierarchy of power built on racism. Throughout Latin America, there was a social system “La Limpieza de Sangre” or the cleanliness of blood (and the legacy of this system is alive and well today) created by the Spanish that relied upon blood quantum to determine everyone’s role in society.

The Silent Bell piece also exemplified this concept a bit with the Indigenous nun being too poor to give jewellery so the clergy wanted to sacrifice her ‘golden’ eyes instead. However, in these two examples, the golden eyes and the golden honey that the Pongo licks off the landlord as angels in his metaphor signify a purity contrast to the traditional form set out in feudal LA. The endless sacrifices made by Indigenous people and their good nature challenges the status quo with a more meritocratic form of justice.

Religion also plays a large role in popular culture in Latin America, so it only makes sense that the Pongo’s Dream (and the Silent Bell) heavily references it in the story. Catholicism was used to assimilate Indigenous and African groups after the conquest in the new colonies and eradicate cultural pluralism to make the administration of the colonies much easier. Political context aside, when the Quechua house servant with no name spoke metaphorically in reference to Catholicism, such as using the name of Saint Francis for the landlord to understand, It was as if he was speaking on behalf of the whole peasantry that the erasure of Incan cultural autonomy had no basis despite what has been conditioned and forced for centuries. The Pongo was a modern man because he was no longer silent to place the feudal system as obsolete.

Question for the class: Do you think that there is any other idea or imagery that serves as a microcosm of what is taking place throughout this piece?