In the beginning I felt that his relationship with his family and the faith that they had in him before he left you could tell that they loved each other very much. He was very close to his Mother and at the end when he hugged her good bye you could just see that he loved his mother and she was very improtant to him.
The experience of him being on the motorcycle with his friend Alberto traveling so far and having so many different experiences of crashing and it breaking down helped make who he was. He grew up on the road and became a man.
While on the road running into the couple that lost everything and left their kids behind to go and find work really touched him. After he saw everyone hoping to get work that day and the husband did get work but the men who were head of the mines did not even off water or anything. That really made Ernesto mad and he threw a rock at the truck. It was wonderful to find out in the end that he had given his $15.00 to the couple.
The girlfriend was another who helped make him who he was. Ernesto loved her and she loved him, her parents did not like him at all. When he left and she said she would wait but not forever. Chichin gave him $15.00 for him to buy her panties. No matter what he would not spend that money. After he received the letter from her he changed. He was very angry, hurt and sad. He never would say what was in the letter and I think that was one of the biggest things that changed him.
While on the road he saw so many people that had been treated so terribly and had all of their possesions taken, it made him angry. While they were on the boat going to the island of leppers he would look at the boat that was being pulled behind the nice boat. They were over crowded and had nothing except for cots. Once they got to the island and met the Doctor he saw that the Doctors, Nurses and Nuns were on one island and the sick were on another island. When they went over to the other island and he met all of the people and one in particular he really got to know, Sylivia. Sylvia was not going to have surgery to fix her arm and she was going to lose her arm because of this. He explained to her that his lungs were damaged it did'nt stop him. He is becoming a Doctor. She later had the surgery.
While on the island he helped build their shelters and played games with the sick. When they were celebrating his birthday he wanted to spend the last night on the island with the leppers, so he swam across the river. Something no one had ever done and he made it.
When they were leaving the island Alberto decided that he was going to stay and finish school and not finish the trip. It was eight years later when they saw each other again.
Along the trip there were many times that he had the chance to be a Doctor and to help people. That was his first passion. In the end he just found a different way to help people.
I was impressed with Sylvia and how he talked with her as well. He seemed so compassionate to the sick, but she was the only person I remember him telling about his asthma. He seemed to know how to relate to the sick very well. He always tried to make eye contact and from the comments he made in the film, I think he could see so much there. In a letter to his mom he talked about what he say in the elderly woman's eyes. I am so glad you mentioned in your blog about him looking at the boat. He did that so many times in the film and really seemed to notice the people on the boat as well as the poor conditions they were living in. It was so different from the boat he was on and his expression seemed so thoughtful when he looked at the others in the boat. He seemed to study them.
ReplyDeleteSue Davish
Great post, Belinda!
ReplyDeleteI didn't mention that part about the boat in my post, but you are so right; he did look at the "poor" boat a lot as they were traveling down the Amazon. Made you think he was disturbed about the segregation of the rich and the poor...
Heather Kelsey
Belinda, great job! I did not really think about hoe Chichina had changed him as well. Once she had made those promises to him and then sent him the letter It probably made him more determined than ever to not give up or to break his promises he had made. The fact that he would not give up the money that she had given him for the panties, but once she had broken up with him he could have used it, however, him giving it to the couple in need just goes to show how compassionate and selfless he really was.
ReplyDeleteGreat input you all! Again, the fifteen dollars really give us a great hint about the true character of a leader.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorite movies of the class. I really enjoyed your blog. One of the most memorable parts of the movie for me was when he refused to wear the gloves when he reached the leper colony. He wanted to be a part of the solution, not add to the problem. The people who had leprosy already felt as if they were isolated freaks By not wearing gloves he demonstrated an understanding that few of his time were able to grasp. You were right, during the movie he was able to see all of the injustices that he had never been privy to before. This made him want to change the way people were treated. Knowing the truth about how Ernesto ended up just makes me sad. I guess the path paved with good intentions doesn't always end up like we want or expect.
ReplyDeleteLachisha Williamson