Filed under: El periquillo sarniento
I am loving this book. I’m lovin’ it (www.mcdonalds.com). So far all of the social commentary and antics of el Periquillo have made this one of the easiest reads of my college career. What I like most is the portrayl of religion and the views of certain characters towards religion.
La vida de fraile trae sus incomodidades inaguantables, como el estudio, la asistencia de comunidad, la observación de las reglas…En cambio de esas molestias, tiene el estado de sus ventajas considerables, como el honor de la religión que se extiende por todos sus individuos, aunque sean legos;…y sobre todo, hijo, el afianzar la torta para siempre. (el ínclito Martín Pelayo)
El afianzar la torta para siempre….ahahahahahahah…it just has such a holy ring to it. And then later Periquillo is talking with the Father of the church to gain his acceptance and he just lies through his teeth:
Y ’sí, Padre’, ’sí, Padre’, respondí a setenta “sabes” que me preguntó.
When he goes home and his mom gets all excited the father’s response to her is great:
…las familias que en realidad son nobles, como la tuya, no aspiran a parecerlo con el empeño de tener un hijo religioso, ni hacen vanidad de ello cuando lo tienen. La nobleza verdadera consiste en la virtud. (el papá del Periquillo)
So these various characters treat religion as the means to an end. The kids (Pelayo and Periquillo) talk about utilizing religion as a way to glide through life and make an easy living while having to deal with minor nuicances such as helping others. The mom views her son’s future in the religious realm as a way to improve the status of their family and for her own vanity. The father is the voice of reason here.
The idea of vanity and how one is seen by others is also demonstrated in the hilarious passage after Periquillo graduates and he just goes off with variations of the word bachiller (bachilleramiento, bachillerearon, bachillereadas, bachillería). He really finishes his schooling with very little to show for it but his mom is overjoyed because he has gotten “an education”.
Keeping up appearances is a theme that always seems to be present. And as far as I have seen, religion has a big part to do with keeping them up. Dressing up for church and blah blah blah…it is disgusting. Angering. You could probably tell someone this book was written yesterday and due to the fact that so much of its content still occurs today, it would be believable.
It is funny just to imagine the people reading this or having it read to them at the time it was brand new. The mockery of religion is something that will always be timeless.
