Metaphor for Systemic Corruption
The rurales are the covert agents of the Mexican government tasked to root out dissidents and forcibly recruit citizens into participating in the Mexican Army. They are more than just flesh and blood bogeymen used by the government to kowtow the populace the rurales are also metaphors for the systemic corruption that has infiltrated all layers of their society. These secret terror groups will use force and fear to break the will of the people and as such, though many, they are the collective face of tyranny.
Metaphor for Value
Money, or rather the perceived value that it brings the possessor, was the major concern of the author’s family, and with good reason. Far as their family was concerned, being poor was equal to being powerless and worthless as they had no means to buy protection to defend themselves from the harassment of the rurales. It also meant that they were stuck doing hard labor on the farm and their children would have no access to any opportunities apart from farming. Having experienced all these it is therefore a no-brainer that money is a clear metaphor for value or worth, even personal worth as the author later learns. When they get a chance to migrate to America, Ernesto manages to get a taste of financial stability at least for a moment, making the sudden loss of it all the more bitter because now he has to work to support himself now and the only work he can get is manual labor—a matter he resents greatly because he knows that he is worth more financially because of his educational attainments.
Metaphor for Freedom
Education wasn’t even an option for the author as he was growing up in Mexico. He worked even as a child and to a large extent it was actually expected of him to contribute by helping out at the farm. Things change considerably for him though when his family migrates to America and his mother remarries. This allows him an opportunity to study and experience the joy of learning. Here he discovers for the first time that he is a gifted student and for the first time he also realizes that he can be so much more than a farmer or a day laborer if he gets the right kind of education. Education therefore is a clear metaphor for freedom because of the new avenues it can open up for Ernesto.
Metaphor for Survival
The author’s life, despite the many hardships he endures, is marked by gratitude and this characteristic is modeled to him by his elders. This attitude of gratitude is what allows him not just to endure the trying times but it actually helps him to flourish. When his family is suddenly uprooted from their little town in Mexico, rather than fuss over the sudden change he responds with gratefulness at having been given the chance to move with his family. When his mother remarries he is grateful for the opportunity to live comfortably and study; and when his mother suddenly passes away, he remains grateful that he still has family that would take him in. Ernesto’s gratefulness has not just been a coping mechanism but the very key to his survival. Gratitude wasn’t just an attitude for him but the very metaphor for survival.
Metaphor for Defeat
His mother’s unfortunate demise abruptly halts his education. The greater tragedy however is not the loss of his mother but rather the sudden return to poverty and a life of menial labor. Despite his academic aptitude Ernesto cannot seem to get beyond being hired as a day laborer. He is grateful for the work because it provides him with a means to survive but he wants to do so much more than just pick fruits and vegetables. The dead-end nature of labor makes it a perfect metaphor for defeat, especially for Ernesto, because he knows that he can be so much more than just another gatherer or farmhand.
