Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

68 reframing latin america
after the blazing serapes of the previous country these garments seemed
colorless. The city itself was somewhat drab. A few of its structures were of
the heavy masonry found elsewhere in Central America, and its Governmental
Palace was imposing in its wealth of marble columns, yet the city as a
whole—being another favorite objective of the local earthquakes—was constructed
mainly of wood and corrugated iron, even to the cathedral, which,
although painted to suggest stone, was convincing only at a distance.
But it was a decidedly pleasant city, with many parks and tinkling fountains.
Pretty señoritas were abundant. Priests in black robes—unrestricted
by law in this country—were to be seen everywhere. Men walked through
the marketplaces ringing dinner bells, and carrying little boxes containing
a tiny image of the Virgin, to whom one might bow for a penny. Horse cars
rattled through the streets with much crackling of the drivers’ whips. There
was music each night in the plaza, and fl irtation beneath the palm trees.
The tropic air was balmy and soothing. About the whole city there was an
atmosphere of contentment—and a touch of that fi ctional romance which
the traveler craves.
VI
The Central American, like the Mexican, is both an idealist and a materialist.
He sees no inconsistency in being both devoutly religious and frankly
immoral.
He is quite apt to use the name of his favorite saint as a fi tting title for
his gin-mill. He employs it as a harmless ejaculation. He may even resort to
it for emphasis, as in the case of an advertisement I recall, which endorsed
a Charlie Chaplin moving picture with the phrases: “Is it funny? Jesus,
Joseph, and Mary!” And, among the lower classes, he is quite apt to regard
any religious holiday as a fi tting excuse for over-indulgence in liquor.
It is frequently charged throughout these countries that the great waves of
illegitimacy follow the principal church processionals, which fact is not a refl
ection upon the church, but upon the inability of the peons to associate the
ideas of religion and personal behavior. In fact, the common people see nothing
essentially wrong, or even unusual, in illegitimacy itself. In Nicaragua,
the newspapers in publishing a list of births, distinguish each new citizen
with the candid “legitimo” or “ilegitimo,” and the latter outnumber the former
by two or three to one, a ratio which holds good for all these countries.
It must not be assumed from these statements, however, that all Central
America is a hotbed of immorality. In discussing any moral question,
a writer must indicate which social class he has in mind. In any of these
countries there is a distinct division between the aristocrat and the peon.