At its heart The Pongo’s dream, a story about a mistreated and humiliated worker and an abusive landowner who is told of what could await him in the afterlife.
The story incorporates themes of anti-colonialism and class relations in a striking manner, and when reading about the author who adapted it from Quechua, this should come as no surprise.
Arguedas is an anthropologist, who possibly knows firsthand the treatment of indigenous people through his life in Peru, and is an individual who fought for the preservation of indigenous culture as well.
The story is adapted and taken from a Cuzco peasant lends it credibility in the sense that it might give us an insight as to what living conditions were like for so many indigenous Peruvians during colonial rule. The story has a very anti-colonial and anti-imperialist message, showing the landowner who refers to the worker as an ‘Indian’ and treats them all with abuse, but especially the pongo worker who is the most destitute. The worker who endures all the abuse and never lashes out violently, tells the landowner and the other workers about his dream. A dream in which through divine order, the unfortunate worker who in this life is smeared in dirt and excrement and the landowner covered in honey find their fates reversed int the afterlife. Having the story end at that very point emphasizes the point of the story, the spirit of opposition to tyranny and rule.
The story also carries implications of class relations, by having the worker and landowner having their fates reversed in an instant, a common theme seen in the revolutions that have taken place in many Latin American countries.
For me, this story raises the political questions of class relations and revolutions. What can we understand about the conditions of the working class and indigenous populations in colonial nations? and what were the forms of backlash and revolution against colonial rule in Latin America?
I really enjoyed reading your blog post! It’s very important that you mentioned how this story leaves the reader with an insight on how Indigenous Peruvians were treated during colonial rule. I especially liked how you mentioned class relations and how this relates to the story and real life events that have taken place in terms of revolutions.
Hey!
I really like the notion of revolution you make. I think Pongo’s Dream definitely illustrates the maltreatment and subordination of the Indigenous in Latin America, as well as some type of resistance of that power dynamic. Although Pongos dream is a rather suddle attempt of regaining some of that power, it highlights the underlying resentment, which eventually could lead to revolutions.
I loved your post! I agree the story brings reflections about class relations and revolutions. Precisely, I think it seems to call Indigenous people and peasants to revolt against the oppressive social order and change it. Yet, I am not entirely sure it points to the exact way people should change the social order. As you said, in the dream, the oppressor exchanged sides with the oppressed. So maybe it is pointing in this direction. But would this be a profound change in the system or just a change in who is in control? I don’t know. Maybe if the dream were calling for a communist revolution, it would argue for eliminating the oppressor’s side but instead shows some kind of revenge. This relieves the people from the feeling of injustice, but I do not know how this idea would work in a revolution. Often, in a ‘revolution,’ an elite replaces the other, or a government who affirmed it was representing the workers installs a dictatorship. Maybe in the revolution, the dream is possibly encouraging; there would be a real exchange of places between the oppressor and the oppressed. But I don’t know if that would be a revolution.
“What can we understand about the conditions of the working class and indigenous populations in colonial nations?”
This is a good question, but just one note… Peru in the twentieth century was *post*colonial, rather than (strictly) colonial. In other words, the story illustrates how colonial attitudes persist even after the end of colonialism (and perhaps right to today).
I think what makes Latin America such a ‘case study’ is that the revolution has been happening since 1492 up until today, there is no end to the Latin American revolution. People across the continent are hurting from hundreds of groups and communities, and I guess that’s why were here, to maybe find some answers.