Javier Cercas, Soldiers of Salamis——week11
This week I read Soldiers of Salamis, a novel in which the protagonist begins by expressing his unhappy life, with his father's death, the departure of his wife, and his having to give up his fiction career to become a journalist again. He later interviews Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio, who is giving a lecture at the university and tells the story of his father's confrontation with a firing squad. His father was shot in the Collell Sanctuary, escaped, was arrested in Barcelona, but took advantage of the chaos to hide in the forest before the arrival of Franco's troops and was found by a soldier who let him go. The journalist of this story was interested in Rafael Sanchez Mazas, and he began to collect stories about him, intentionally or unintentionally and decided to be the narrator of this story. The author of the novel is a seeker, not only in search of the details of the story and the forgotten hero but also in pursuit of his dream of becoming an author, which failed in its first attempt. Through these many searches, the author eventually reconstructs himself and a history that gradually becomes clearer.
The novel is divided into three parts, but the last part is, in my opinion, the climax of the whole story. In this part, the protagonist learns Miralles' account through an interview with Roberto Bolaño, giving the whole story a soul. As a witness of the civil war, Miralles saw young men who were once as passionate as he died on the battlefield, forgotten by the people and abandoned by the world. So in this section, the protagonist and Bolaño explore the theme of "heroes.
"I think there's almost always something blind, irrational, instinctive in a hero's behaviour, something that's in their nature and inescapable. Also, you can be a decent person for a whole lifetime, but you can't be awe-inspiring without a break, and that's why a hero is only a hero exceptionally."
Who is the real hero in this civil war? Perhaps in the eyes of Cercas, the author of this book, the legendary Mazas is not his favourite object, and the soldier who turned away may be the hero he most wanted to find. But after searching in vain, Cercas had to invent an epilogue in order to give the story a perfect ending: Miralles crossed the West-France border, joined the French resistance and attacked Germany with the Allies. At the end of the war, he lives in anonymity in a French sanatorium. Eventually, Cercas used the novel to do justice to the soldiers who died without a name.
Soldiers of Salamis celebrate the countless unsung heroes of war while at the same time provoking a redefinition of the word "hero" from a human perspective. My question for this book is: What is the definition of a hero in your eyes?
Hello Xiang.
回复删除It is interesting that you bring up the hero's question, which I think is an important theme in the novel. Miralles tells Cercas that what he is looking for is a hero, but he is no hero, heroes die; they are not alive. As in the quote you bring, there is an irrational instinct in the hero; it is also evident in the anecdote that Bolaño tells about the person rescuing people from a fire and then dying. In the end, he tells that civilization depends on people who fight without really knowing why and for whom. And worse, nobody remembers them.
"Who is the real hero in this civil war?"
回复删除It would be worth asking in more detail why exactly Miralles seems heroic (as I think he does) to Cercas. Is it because of his response to Sánchez Mazas, or despite it?
Hey,
回复删除I found your analysis of a hero's character very interesting, I had not considered it before. In my eyes, a hero is someone who presents themselves as capable of overcoming a challenge that was out of their comfort zone. But, sometimes, overcoming the challenge means sacrificing yourself at the end of it and I think that's what a true hero is. Of course, returning victorious after overcoming is what's wanted, but that doesn't happen always. Sadly.
- Vidushi