Octavio Paz’s Sunstone is a poem concerned with transformation—a complete change in appearance or form. Transformation is a motif, or dominant idea, threaded throughout the epic poem, constituting part of the poem’s cyclical structure, its inspiration from Aztec sources, its theme, its content, and its historical context. The writing of Sunstone also had a transformative…
Tag: Mexico
Sunstone by Octavio Paz – Themes
Unity Paz explores the unity and disunity of humankind in his long poem Sunstone. The narrator of the poem seeks meaning for his existence and finds it in the visceral connection he feels with the land as well as in relationships between people. The connection he speaks of experiencing with other people is romantic love…
Sunstone by Octavio Paz – Summary
Sunstone is an exploration of the meaning of existence. Humans are alone, lonely, but able to come together through love and community. Based on the Aztec reverence for the morning and evening star, the poem mimics the 584-day synodic cycle of Venus. A synodic cycle is the amount of time it takes for an object…
The Harvest by Tomas Rivera: Summary
“The Harvest” is divided into seven short sections. It is set somewhere in the Midwest at the end of September and the beginning of October. The unnamed narrator, a migrant farm worker, thinks this is the best time of year because the work is nearly over and he and his fellow workers will soon be…
Op-Ed response to ‘Move Over OPEC – Here We Come’ by Ed Morse
The Op-Ed article titled Move Over, OPEC—Here We Come is compactly written with suitable supporting evidence. The author Ed Morse having had experience in both the government (former State Department Official) and the corporate world (presently holding high office in Citigroup) has the requisite credentials for foraying into the topic in question. And his command…
Religious trends in Latin America
Religion plays a major part in the political affairs of several Latin American countries. Christianity (of various denominations) has strong roots in the region, going back to the time of early colonial settlers. Religion in the region has been in the news recently, with the impending visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Cuba….
Why have principles of free trade failed to become the norm across polities
Free trade is a buzzing concept in modern times, with most governments across the world proclaiming to promote it. Indeed, the last thirty years or so of global economic integration is based on free trade principles – also referred to as laissez-faire capitalism. Definitely, there are many advantages to be availed as a result of…
The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico
The book The Broken Spears is a very interesting and illuminating scholarly work about the important historical event of the Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs. Author Miguel Leon-Portilla had undertaken the arduous task of translating key passages from the native-American Nahuati language accounts of the Spanish invasion and conquest. In the latest edition of the…
Do we need American hegemony to build and maintain the global capitalist economic order?
In the era past World War II, America established itself as one of two superpower nations. With the Soviet Union providing counterbalancing power, America waged a diplomatic war (Cold War) to assert and spread its ideological content. This ideological confrontation manifested in two forms: 1. between communism and liberal democracy, 2. between socialism and capitalism. …
Human trafficking in the United States and its relationship to poverty
In recent decades the issue of human trafficking into the United States has been an issue of contention in political debates. The southern border with Mexico is the primary channel through which illegal immigrants (most of them of Hispanic origin from Central American countries) attempt to sneak into the confines of the world’s most prosperous…