Similarly, Marquez makes clear the importance of reputation to the colonel early on – the colonel has little else left on his life as he awaits his pension. Getting ready for the funeral that he must attend, he dresses as best as he can despite his lack of money. He puts on a pressed suit instead of a newer one, does not dare move out on to the street despite the rain with an umbrella where “the bright satin material had been eaten away by the moths”. Then he shaves and scrapes “the dried mud from the stitching” of his “patent-leather shoes”. He does not, however, comb his hair and his wife, who also seems concerned with her reputation, refuses to let him out onto the street without having done so. She “seized him by the sleeve of his coat”, which is a desperate act, as if she is afraid of what people might think of her and her husband. When the colonel makes his way to the funeral, the rain means that a couple of men offer the colonel a place underneath their umbrella. The colonel refuses both. He thanks each politely but insists on making his way under the pouring rain.
It is clear that the colonel does not like to accept things from other people or for other people to make sacrifices or him. This almost certainly comes from a sense of pride that he treasures, having lost everything else. We see this throughout the novella, not only from what the colonel does but also what he does not do. For example, he attempts to sell things to people at a reasonable price, like the clock (despite “The colonel felt ashamed” even at this) and, eventually, the rooster. But he is reluctant and hates asking “for credit in the neighbourhood stores”. We know this because “he had to grit his teeth many times”. This is mentioned only once and this is perhaps explained by the fact that the colonel is ashamed of this and although the novella is written as a third person narrative, events are explored from the colonel’s perspective. The fact that Márquez only mentions this incident once and quickly shows that it is something that the colonel would rather hide and let pass. There is another moment in the text where he is at Sabas’ house and he declines another umbrella and says that he would rather wait for the storm to pass. Although the colonel and his wife are in desperate need of money and the colonel’s pension, they would hate to show that they are suffering. They want to appear strong more than anything and want to keep up their image and hence, their reputation.
As well as there being a definite desire for reputation amongst the eponymous protagonists in the two texts; there is a similar feeling amongst many other characters. In ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’, the villagers are extremely hostile at the end of act two, concerning the woman that had an illegitimate baby and “to hide her shame she killed it”. Librada’s daughter, as she is known, was acting in shame, hence fearing a loss of her standing in the village and her reputation. This is perhaps the problem with such a village, where everyone knows each other and where your reputation is closely linked to that of your family, perhaps one reason why the play is called ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’. They apprehend the frowns and whispers that they would surely be submitted to, had they recently done something shameful, when they walk out into the street. The villagers who are going to kill her are supposedly doing so because of her lack of heart. Nevertheless, when Bernarda is screeching “Kill her! Kill her!”, we get the impression that it is because the woman had an illegitimate child. This image is partly created by the fact that Adela seems devastated at the prospect of this woman’s death, especially when she is “clutching herself”. In the Spanish edition, it specifies that she is touching her stomach (“Cogiéndose el vientre”). Yet again, this is an example of Bernarda attempting to enhance her reputation, joining the mob of angry villagers.
Whilst studying both texts, it is important to understand the cultural and political situations in which they take place. Both ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ and ‘No One Writes to the Colonel’ are set in times that are very significant to their respective countries’ history. ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ was written and is set during a turbulent time in Spain’s history, just as Franco started his civil war campaign. It is very possible that Lorca wanted to set out to represent and denounce the Generalissimo’s upcoming rule through his portrayal of Bernarda. Through this he uses Bernarda’s thirst for reputation to convey the importance of a dictator’s need for authority in order to rule. The protagonist ‘In No One Writes to the Colonel’ is a veteran of the Thousand Day War, living under martial law during a time of “La Violencia” (The Violence). Marquez uses the Colonel to tell the tale of a time of deep injustice for both civilians and war veterans in Colombia. Reputation is hence a key theme because when everything has been taken away by their government, all they have left is image and reputation to survive with. Conversely, this is something that the government has lost amongst the people.
In conclusion, I believe that the themes of reputation and image play a key role in both The House of Bernarda Alba and No One Writes to the Colonel and that they, in a certain way, dictate the ways in which the main characters act throughout their respective texts. What is very interesting to notice is the difference in the reputations that Bernarda and the Colonel are attempting to live up to whilst taking into account their situation. Whilst Bernarda has money but maintains her power in her household in a most brutal way and a great lack in faith and friends, she is worried about seeming very religiously correct, to the point that she exaggerates this greatly (she decided on eight years of mourning for her and her family). The colonel, on the other hand, is a good man but has no money. Therefore, his concern is about seeming strong despite this and he realises that he has friends and that people like him so he has no fears about being a good citizen and friend. Both writers show us that how we are perceived by others affects our sense of identity and, in turn, our status in society.
Bibliography
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The House of Bernarda Alba, Federico García Lorca, translated by Rona Munro, NHB, 2005
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La Case de Bernarda Alba, Federico García Lorca, CATEDRA Letras Hispánicas, 2004
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No One Writes to the Colonel, Gabriel García Márquez, PENGUIN, 1996