: El guardagujas (Spanish Edition) (): Juan José Arreola, Jill Hartley, Dulce María Zúñiga: Books. http://www. A propósito de las elecciones, les comparto un fragmento de “El guardagujas” de Juan José.
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The switchman then tells a story of certain train rides when the trains arrived at impossible locations. The “switchman” tells the stranger that the country is famous for its railroad system; though many timetables and tickets have been produced, the trains do not follow them well.
The stranger is warned that if he is lucky enough to board any train, he must also be vigilant about his point of departure. The residents accept this system, but hope for a change in the system.
Views Read Edit View history. Modern Language Association jos He gaurdagujas not understand why the stranger insists on going to T. As he gazes at the tracks that seem to melt away in the distance, an old man the switchman carrying a tiny red lantern appears from out of nowhere and proceeds to inform the stranger of the hazards of train travel in this country. Another episode involves a trainload of energetic passengers who became heroes absurd heroes in Camusian terms when they disassembled their train, carried it across a bridgeless chasm, and reassembled it on the other side in order to complete their journey.
The Switchman
Briefly summarized, “The Switchman” portrays a stranger burdened with a heavy suitcase who arrives at a deserted station at the exact time his train is supposed to leave.
The story, first published as “El guardagujas” in Cinco Cuentos inis translated in Confabulario and Other Inventions Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. As the stranger is very interested in this, the switchman once again encourages the stranger to try his luck, but warns him not to talk to fellow passengers, who may be spies, and to watch out for mirages that the railroad company generates.
As the man speculates about where his train might be, he feels a touch on his iuan and turns to see a small old man dressed ce a railroader and carrying a lantern. arreoal
The Switchman (El Guardagujas) by Juan José Arreola, |
In his piece, Arreola focuses on reality as well. The stranger still wishes to travel on his train to T. Thus, the stranger’s heavy suitcase symbolizes the burden of reason he carries about, and the inn resembles a jail, the place where others like him are lodged before setting out on gurdagujas absurd juaan.
Like most of Arreola’s stories, The Switchman’ can be interpreted in a variety of ways—as an allegory of the pitfalls of the Mexican train system, an existential horror story of life’s absurdities and human limitation, and the author’s desire to laugh in spite of the insanities of the world and human interaction.
El guardagujas de Juan Jósé Arreola by Davi Mesquita Bodingbauer on Prezi
arrella The railroad management was so pleased that they decided to suspend any official bridge building and instead encourage the stripping and recreation of future trains. The switchman then relates a series of preposterous anecdotes, alluded to below, that illustrate the problems one might sl during any given journey. He has not ever traveled on a train and does not plan on doing so. Suddenly, a train approaches and the switchman begins to signal it. The switchman says he cannot promise that he can get the stranger a train to T.
The latter comes closest to the most convincing interpretation, namely, that Arreola has based his tale on Albert Camus ‘s philosophy of the absurd as set forth in The Myth of Sisyphus, a collection of essays Camus published in The details of the story do not really support his claim that he is indeed an official switchman, so it may be that his tales represent uuan system that presents absurdity as an official truth and relies on the gullibility of the audience.
Se old man then dissolves in the clear morning air, and only the red speck of the lantern remains visible before the noisily approaching engine.
It was republished ten years later along with other published works by Arreola at that time juwn the collection El Confabulario total. When he asks if the train has left, the old man wonders if the traveler has been in the country very long and advises him to find lodging at the local inn for at least a month.
El Guardagujas (Fragmento)) Juan José Arreola
The switchman turns to tell the stranger that he is lucky. When the stranger asks the switchman how he knows all of this, the switchman replies that he is a retired switchman who visits train stations to reminisce about old times.
The railroad company occasionally creates false train stations in remote locations to abandon people when the trains become too crowded. The switchman’s anecdote about the founding of the village F, which occurred when a train accident stranded a group of passengers—now happy settlers—in a remote region, illustrates the element of chance in human existence.
But upon inquiring again where the stranger wants to go, the switchman receives the answer X instead of T. From the first lines of “The Switchman” the stranger stands out as a man of reason, fully expecting that, because he has a ticket to T, the train will take him there on time.
In addition, it is not really clear that the system does operate in the way the switchman claims: The Switchman Original title: Why, then, does the switchman vanish at this moment? Mexican literature short stories. There are clearly rails laid down for a train, but nothing to indicate that a train does indeed pass through this particular station. Retrieved April 12,