Our Lady of the Assassins (novel)
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| Our Lady of the Assassins | |
| Author | Fernando Vallejo |
|---|---|
| Original title | La virgen de los sicarios |
| Country | Colombia |
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre(s) | Semi-Autobiographical novel |
| Publication date | 1994 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Our Lady of the Assassins (Spanish title: La virgen de los sicarios) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Fernando Vallejo about a Colombian author in his fifties who returns to his hometown of Medellín after 30 years of absence to find himself trapped in an atmosphere of violence and murder caused by drug cartel warfare. The novel was later adapted into a film.
A growing body of scholarship and critical commentary already exist about this controversial work, most of it in Spanish. The brief sections below attempt to give the reader a basic understanding of some of the main approaches to what undoubtedly is a central work in Colombian fiction of the 1990s, and perhaps the most elaborated and discussed fictional work dealing with events related to the drug trade and its deleterious consequences in Colombian society.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Historical Context
The City of Medellín (1990’s) This is the place where La Virgen De los Sicarios takes place. Vallejo chose wisely since this city became the main drug city in all of South America during the nineties. This city was home to maybe the most powerful cocaine cartels in the world. The main distributor of the illegal product created many social changes. The tension the emerged between the drug lords (mainly Pablo Escobar) and the authorities produced something like a civil war within the city. The characters of Vallejo’s are part of one of the new types of social groups created as result of the drug problem. “Los sicarios” were a group hired killers that derived from all the tension. The majority are young kids that do not know more than to kill for money offered by members of the “Medellín Cartel” that were trying to get rid of authority figures that threaten their drug lord status and transactions. Most of the executions happened at the victim’s door or car, as it does in Vallejo’s Novel. This city expanded during this period because of the help of drug lords who were trying to gain the popular vote. These traffickers would build houses and give them to poor people and these people would do jobs for them as a type of pay. This expansion created chaos once these bandits were caught by officials, since the people who lived on these expansions no longer receive dirty money the execute dirty jobs. These communities are also called “comunas” and are also the home to many of the characters in the book, like Alexis, one of the main characters. This story grasps the main situation of Medellín, Colombia during the late eighties and early nineties. The two main characters explore all the limits of this dangerous city, this odyssey points the social changes brought by the drug problem thru the daily happenings of the main character.
[edit] The concept of "race" in Vallejo
The concept of race, which is mostly divulgated by Fernando(the protagonist) in a negative manner is represented in La virgin de los sicarios novel in a very paradoxical way. It is paradoxical because he criticizes the ‘Colombian race’ in such a way that makes him seem racist. In fact, he seems to be influenced by social Darwinism when dealing with ‘people of color’ by generalizing in one of his statements. Indicating that the indigenous and African people are of bad blood, bad race, bad personality, and of bad law, he then furthers his argument by stating that there is no worse mix than that of the Spanish and the indigenous and the black. Because they produce ‘saltapatrases(counterproductive people)’ in other words monkeys, apes, primates…(translated from novel). Needless to say, this statement is outrageously offensive and inappropriate for modern times. Modern times is explicitly stated because keep in mind that there was a time in history when this statement was completely accepted by society as an entirety. The paradox is apparent from the beginning of the novel as the protagonist runs around the city with these low second class citizens that he is so quick to criticize.
[edit] La virgen de los sicarios as an urban novel
A person can define La Virgen de Los Sicarios as an urban novel for one reason.[citation needed] It takes place in a city called Medellín. This city has a large population and has grown to be Colombia’s second largest. As such, it has a lot of potential but it is plagued by societal factors such as violence, killing, and drugs. Another thing to note is the social, political, and economic factors that are typical of life in a big city. Furthermore, city life leads to excessive individualism and because of that a sense of community is diminished. Examples of this include punk rockers who listen to music, people who sit outside in a city and are killed, and people who are in certain places of a city and then are killed for no reason. The city has so much violence and killing that it is difficult for it to better itself. Urban areas deal with problems such as this. It could also be argued that this novel is urban because it represents the cultural and social position of the city. One thing that Fernando Vallejo does is put emphasis on certain social aspects such as being in a gay relationship, dealing with violence, and finding the difficulty to live on when there is so much chaos in the city.
[edit] Role of pederasty
In the novel the main protagonist, Fernando, is a homosexual. However, there is never a sense of ridicule or marginality due to his sexual orientation. In fact, it seems that most of the sicarios in the novel have slept with Fernando. Their masculinity is never called into question. The novel describes a world that is ultimately masculine. Women have no real role within the novel except to lament the death of their sons. It seems that within the novel being in a pederastic relationship is an acceptable expression of masculinity. Machismo, in the novel, seems unreleated to sexual prowess over women. In fact, Fernando at one point describes homosexuality as a harmonious pairing of equals and decries heterosexuality as a bestial mixing of two different species. Sexual orientation is not a point of marginality but Fernando does criticize gender. Women to him are unnecessary. In the novel, it is between equals that real love and understanding can occur as it does between Alexis and Fernando and later Wilmar and Fernando.
[edit] Catholicism in the Novel
The characters in La Virgen de los Sicarios allude to parts of Catholicism even though they do not exhibit the typical characteristics of Catholics or follow church doctrine. Catholicism is the predominant religion in Colombia. The title refers to the matron of the sicarios.
Sicarios wear scapulars around their wrist, ankle, and neck in order have good business, improve their shooting accuracy, and get paid on time. The scapular is part of Catholic tradition, and it is to be used as an outward manifestation of a Catholic’s devotion toward a moral life consequently excluding them from hell. Alexis, however, uses it as a good luck charm and attributes it to the reason he is alive. He also mentions how to prepare holy bullets, which are soaked in holy water and then prayed upon by the sicario in order to have perfect accuracy.
The characters’ spend time at the church of Maria Auxiliadora, and the Church is criticized because of the priests who confess and absolve the sicarios every time they commit murder. At one point of the novel there is an allusion similar to a biblical story since a church is converted into a mall. Ultimately, there is a misunderstanding of Catholicism, and the Church's lack of structure is part of the chaotic setting.
