Firstly, I will agree with the sentiment expressed by other students that this was a challenging reading assignment. His stories took me a great deal more time than they would have were they written in English, but I suppose that is what one can expect from SPAN 322. And admittedly, I believe his work was worth the effort required in reading it.
I find it interesting that the majority of my fellow students seem to be riffing on the ‘heavy-on-the-description’ vein, because this was not the first thing I noticed about the ‘Escenas Norteamericanas’ that Martí wrote about. After constulting the Wikipedia article (it could use some work!), I learned about his past as an exiled revolutionary and Cuban national hero. There was a surprising discrepancy between his wonderment at facets of the North American lifestyle, and his work as a diplomat and revolutionary. Overall, one would not expect this level of scientifically-based dedication to a structure (El Puente De Brooklyn) from someone who is a vocal freedom fighter. He lobbied, and indeed died for, such causes as Cuba’s independence from Spain and an end to racism.
Overall, my impression garnered from Martí’s writings combined with his political and personal history is that he was a man of resolute ideals and a very strong mind. I think, as a political hero, Martí is a fine role model for anyone who desires mass change- he fought both physically and intellectually, using the international battlefield of North American diplomacy in addition to waging war (and losing his life) in Dos Ríos, Cuba.