Nellie Campobello’s Cartucho provides invaluable insight into both the Mexican Revolution and the cruelties of armed conflict in general. The format is quite unique, consisting of three parts broken down into sections based on different personalities the narrator comes across as a girl caught in the crossfire of deadly civil war.
The first part recounts short (approximately 1-4 page(s)-long) profiles of men involved in the Mexican Revolution who are known personally by the town of Parral, the novel’s setting and narrator’s hometown. In my notes, I was able to briefly describe each “character” with a singular verb: e.g. Cartucho sung, Elías screamed, El Kirilí loved, General Bustillos fought. It seems reductive to compact a complex person- it also somehow feels wrong to call these people “characters” based on how Cartucho might be based partly on reality and the author’s own experiences- but I think that is precisely what Campobello attempts to do by condensing whole histories in such limited chapters. Thus the reader is compelled to become more interested in the individuals whose lives are summarized in such an abbreviated and simplistic way; the chapters feel incomplete and the characters undeveloped. I think this adds a great deal of authenticity to the novel as it reflects the reality that sometimes people lost to war are not afforded the posthumous story they deserve. Their legacy might be reduced to legend or unjustly glorified with time.
The second part is graphic and tragic, expanding on the many executions that occurred in Parral during the Mexican Revolution. The third part relates most closely to Pancho Villa and his ideology villismo which played a notable role in the Revolution. I think the most striking aspect of Cartucho is its perspective: this is a recount of a war not from a soldier, general, or politician- but a little girl. This is reminiscent of last week’s reading, Mama Blanca’s Memoirs, which also retold history from a child’s perspective, albeit in a much more peaceful setting. The immediate violence and tragedy Cartucho‘s narrator experiences underpins the relentless cruelty of war and its many indirect casualties. As mentioned in the lecture, the lack of control associated with childhood can be aggravating, yet also liberating in its provision of a third-person perspective unaware of why this war is occurring in the first place. Detaching the reasoning behind a war shifts its focus exclusively on its effects: cruelty, misery, death. This is only what a child sees.
I am curious to see if my peers agree with my interpretation of the relative shortness of the chapters. So, my question this week is: why do you think Cartucho‘s chapters are so short? What effect does this brevity have on the reader?
“I was able to briefly describe each “character” with a singular verb: e.g. Cartucho sung, Elías screamed, El Kirilí loved, General Bustillos fought.”
Oh, that’s kind of neat. Not sure if it’s entirely true, but it’s made me think.
Do the narrator and her mother also have a verb each??
It’s harder to condense more complex characters into a single verb. In the spirit of the novel’s memoir-like qualities, I would say the narrator “observes”. I’m not sure about her mother.
I like your idea that each character can be summarized with a verb – obviously it’s somewhat reductive, but the book already is in how it compresses complex people into very short stories lasting only a page or two.
I found the short chapter length extremely disorienting. It was a bit like the feeling of reading the first few pages of a book when you don’t know any of the characters or what is going to be important later on – except this lasts throughout the entire thing. Yet, on the other hand, this can also make reading easier in a different sense; since it’s not as necessary to keep track of characters or overarching plotlines, you can jump in anywhere and it will be approximately the same experience. For this reason, I wonder why Campobello ordered the chapters the way she did, as seemingly any order would convey the same story.
Why do you think Cartucho‘s chapters are so short? What effect does this brevity have on the reader?
To answer your questions, I believe the chapters are so short because it really captivates the narrative of a little girl. You wouldn’t expect a young child to write long beautiful passages, the shortness makes it feel as you are reading a journal or diary of some sorts.
Hi Katherine, nice post on this week’s reading! It never crossed my mind that Campobello tried to summarize each character into a single verb. I knew she wrote their narratives concisely, but not in a one-word way.
In response to your question, aside from the fact that I think her youth in terms of experiencing these events had a great impact on how she wrote, I think it was also the fact that she experienced it quite a lot during these times that she can just explain it in such a minimal amount of words has an effect on it too. For someone who has a short attention span, I quite appreciated this style compared to Mama Blanca’s Memoirs.
Hey Katherine,
I think this is a great discussion question! I wish there were more ideas to read. I think the chapters are short to really drive across the idea that these are memories. She doesn’t recount every detail about their lives, just those that were impactful enough to commit to memory.