It is necessary to have a unique talent to awaken a particular emotion in the souls of people when writing a book. In the short story The Three Dirges, in the book Requiem Guatemala: A Story of the People, Marshall Bennett Connelly does just that. With the help of such literary elements as images and a point of view, the author achieves a better transfer of the emotions and experiences of the characters and realistically depicts war events.
One of the topics covered in the work The Three Dirges is the theme of conscience and duty. The inhabitants of Guatemala were constant victims not only of the bombing but also of genocide. So, the military commander ordered the Indian man Don Lazaro to kill five children; otherwise, “they will kill every living thing in the village” (Connelly). Torments of conscience did not give the protagonist peace because, on the one hand, the character understood that it was insensitive and wrong to kill small children, but on the other hand, there was a question about the lives of many other people.
With the help of images, the author conveys the atmosphere that prevailed at that time. During the conversation with the military commander, a “woman’s anguish pierced the still” and “an orchestration of wrenching, penetrating lamentations” are heard covering everything around “specter-like” (Connelly). With their help, the author conveys to the readers the atmosphere that occurs during the events, as if immersing them there.
The narrator is the intermediary between the author and the reader. The use of an omniscient narrator also contributes to a better understanding and presentation of the picture. In this case, the readers appear as spectators of the events and have access to the emotions that the characters experience. What is happening appears to them as a scene that they form in their imagination.
The short story also raises the topic of the suppression of minorities. The author shows the pressure of the military authorities on the Filipino community. People are outraged “the militaries want to kill us, and they will not stop until they have killed each one of us” (Connelly). The oppressed people decided to protest, and it was as if nature itself was on their side, “the moon broke through the blanket of clouds slowly drifting around the cap, illuminating the road’s winding path, a silver ribbon weaving its way toward the post” (Connelly). Despite the sad end to such a brave action, with the help of the images created by the author, the reader is fully imbued with feelings for these poor people, oppressed by pressure from the outside.
In The Three Dirges, Marshall Bennett Connelly used various literary techniques to convey the horrors of the Civil War. The creation of images and the use of a detached narrator helped him better convey the feelings and emotions of the characters and the environment in which they were located. The short story also touches on the themes of conscience and the suppression of minorities. Before one of the protagonists faces a difficult choice, the decision of which he cannot change. The author in The Three Musketeers also shows the brave spirit of the people, who so strongly want to rein in, who, despite everything, still smolders with hope for change and a better future.
Work Cited
Connelly, Marshall Bennett. Requiem Guatemala: A Story of the People. Guatemala Historical Reclamation Memorial Proj, 2019.