The novel, Deep Rivers, takes the reader through the lens of life in a municipality in the mountainous interior of Peru through a personal perspective of a middle school student. Most of the inhabitants are Quechua-speaking Indians and mestizos. The novel reflects that although they live in pain and poverty, they are noble in spirit and full of hope for a better life. The novel begins with Ernesto’s school life and moves on to the festivals in the town, the people’s demonstrations against the salt monopoly, the bloody repression by the authorities, and finally his departure from the school due to the plague epidemic. The painful and joyful episodes of these successive events are vividly written with a strong lyrical atmosphere, full of the national character of the Indian nations.
The book is very interesting in that it includes many Quechua words and is followed by translations of the words, for example:
“Then I remembered the Quechua songs which continually repeat one pathetic phrase : yawar mayu, “bloody river” ; yawar unu, “bloody water” ; pUk’tik yawar k’ ocha, “boiling bloody lake” ; yawar wek’e, “bloody tears.” Couldn’t one say yawar rumi, “bloody stone,” or puk’tik yawar rum;, “boiling bloody stone”?” (p.8)
This list of gory and barbaric words immediately made me think of the title of the book, Deep Rivers, and then I started to think, why would Arguedas name a story about Indians Deep Rivers? What is the use of it? Or is it a metaphor for the oppression and injustice done to the Indians?
On the other hand, I found the main character, Ernesto, to be a very questioning and curious person about everything. We as readers also learn and understand through his personal perspective. A lot of the writing is descriptive of the landscape, which gives me as a reader a lot of room for imagination. The whole work was very realistic for me, no magical elements, massive descriptions of the environment portray the beauty of the land, the lives of ordinary people, their joys and sorrows, their pain and exploitation, etc. A beautiful picture of the Indians, the presentation is quite lyrical and emotional.
Question for Discussion:
“If the colonos, with their curses and their songs, had annihilated the fever, perhaps from the height of the bridge I would see it float by, swept along by the current, in the shadow of the trees. It would pass by caught on a branch of chachacomo, or of gorse, floating on the layers of pisonay flowers that these deep rivers always bring. The river would take it off to the Great Jungle, the country of the dead. Like Lleras !” (p. 233)
How would you interpret the “deep rivers”?
Thanks for sharing Cici! You could technically interpret “deep rivers” in a very literal way given the many times Ernesto expresses his sincere love for the Pachachaca river. After all, we see that he recharges emotionally by making trips to the countryside and spending time in nature.
Great post! I also was thinking about the title “Deep Rivers” while reading this book. I noticed that rivers, especially the Pachachaca river, was mentioned quite a bit, and was referred to as a place of great spirit connection and solace. I think for Ernesto it embodies how he feels about himself and the Quechua culture. The river is a powerful entity that will bend for you as long as you let yourself be taken by it.
Hi Cici! I was also captivated by the raw realism of “Deep Rivers” and Arguedas’ vivid descriptions of the environment. What struck me the most was the poetic quality embedded in the narrative, especially through the songs sung by the Indigenous peoples. These verses added a lyrical and emotional dimension to the storytelling, which I found to further enhance the beauty of the book.
“A beautiful picture of the Indians, the presentation is quite lyrical and emotional.” And yet, this picture contains some contradictory and complex elements, not at all idyllic, of the Andean world. The same insistence on the “bloody” aspects tells us something about that since the beginning of the narrative.