Katy WagnerThe image of slaughter: a literary motif in Echeverria's The Slaughter House
The symbolic image of the dictator as butcher is not a unique one. In The Slaughter House, Echeverria exploits this symbolism of slaughter in order to expose the injustices of dictatorship in an indirect, but powerful manner. Although symbolism of butchery plays a large role in The Slaughter House, the '"associational cluster"' (Freedman, 301) regarding slaughter of William Freedman's concept of the literary motif adds further emphasis to the issue of cruel and victimizing dictatorship.
The motif of the slaughter in Echeverria's work revolves not around the symbolism of the butchers as the police arbitrarily and unjustly slaughtering the innocent and untried steers, or masses, but around the images and words of slaughter in the slaughter house people's treatment of the unsuspecting Unitarian. Echeverria first paints a picture of 'all [that] could be observed at the very beginning of the slaughter' (Echeverria, 71). Matasiete's treatment of the Unitarian, who importantly never receives an individual name, mirrors this slaughter ritual. The image of 'forty-nine steers [] stretched out upon their skins' (Echeverria, 71) reappears as 'a side push from Matasiete's saddle threw [the Unitarian] from his saddle, stretching him out' (Echeverria, 72). This parallel seems to hint at the idea of William Freedman's motif as it 'tells [the reader] subtly what perhaps the incidents tell him bluntly' (Freedman, 302).
The motif of slaughter, and the symbolic parallel between the slaughter of the steers and the mistreatment and murder of the Unitarian continues. In both the torture and slaughter scenes, there is an abundance of noise and crowds, further emphasizing the injustice and dehumanizing aspect of the Unitarian's experience. Where there are 'spectators' (Echeverria, 74) and 'loud guffaws and stentorian vivas' (Echeverria, 73) in the court room, 'hovering around each steer stood a group of people of different skin colors' at the slaughter. A further parallel appears in the form of 'the butcher...shirt and sash and face besmeared with blood' (Echeverria, 71) who rises once more as the 'four bruisers bespattered with blood [who] lifted the young man and stretched him out upon the table' (Echeverria, 75) to complete the butchery.
The image of blood heavily contributes to the strength of the slaughter motif. Freedman argues that there are 'five criteria for evaluating [the motif's] effectiveness: frequency, avoidability and unlikliehood, significance of context, the degree of the relevance and coherence of the motif as a whole, and -for those motifs that function symbolically- its appropriateness to what it symbolizes' (Hoffman and Murphy, 20). In the evaluation of the motif's effectiveness, it is perhaps easier to concentrate on the image of blood as opposed to the entire '"associational cluster"' (Freedman, 301). Blood appears frequently, and as early as the first paragraph, where '[the ditch's] bed collects[s] all the blood from the slaughter house' (Echeverria, 70). That the ditch collects the blood is also symbolically important, as that is a traditional dumping ground for bodies of prisoners by dictatorial police. Blood as an image appears repeatedly on the persons of the butchers and Slaughter House crowds as well as the 'blood-drenched floor' (Echeverria, 71). The actual word, "blood" does not appear astonishingly frequently due in part to the fact that it does not represent the full motif, and is rather a vibrant, bright and emotionally strong image to visually enhance the motif of the slaughter.
Blood is, of course, not an unlikely image to lend itself to the slaughter motif, or to a story, on a superficial level, about a Slaughter House. It does not, therefore, 'strike the reader' (Freedman, 304) as would a less associated word or motif. Blood links the surface story of the Slaughter House with the underlying political statement regarding brutal and violent dictatorships held together by the thugs and police who eliminate dissenters in the way that the Slaughter House people eliminate the Unitarian.
What the image of blood loses in unlikliehood, it regains in 'significance of context'. The image of blood appears strikingly at critical points in the story, such as the dramatic death of the Unitarian, dying for his beliefs and instead of submission. Echeverria writes that 'a torrent of blood spurted, bubbling from the young man's mouth and nose, and flowed freely down the table' (Echeverria, 75-6). The development of the Unitarian's anger and spontaneous death marks itself in blood as well, as the 'veins on his neck and forehead jutted out black from his pale skin as if congested with blood' (Echeverria, 75). Here again, the image of blood strengthens the literary motif of the slaughter as it influences most visually many of the critical moments of the text.
The notion of blood as part of the motif of The Slaughter House fits into a 'recognizable and coherent unit' with the other images that make up the motif (Freedman, 305). The image of blood obviously fits well with the idea of the slaughter, and with the link between the Unitarian and the wild steer or animal that awaits the slaughter at the Slaughter House. The Unitarian appears as the steer in the way in which he is treated: Matasiete 'pulled [the Unitarian] again on the ground, and whipping out his dagger from his belt, put it against his throat', the traditional means of slaughtering a steer (Echeverria, 73). Echeverria also paints a physical portrait of the Unitarian as an angry steer with 'his fiery eyes bulged in their sockets, his long black hair bristled...his bulging arteries and his anxious breathing' (Echeverria, 74) and 'his mouth foamed' (Echeverria, 75). Even the spectators, as at a bull fight, notice his animal-like qualities: '"he's furious as a wild bull"' (Echeverria, 74). That the slaughter fits with this imagery and that of blood, seems appropriate, and makes up again for the lack of more noticeable unlikely images for the motif.
As the motif of the slaughter does act symbolically, according to Freedman's guidelines for effectiveness, the motif must be appropriate to that which it symbolizes, which allows us 'to make use of the abundant fruits of biographical and historical analysis as well' (Freedman, 311). Knowing that Echeverria opposed the crushing dictatorship of Manuel de Rosas (1839-51) it becomes apparent that The Slaughter House is a political statement. Echeverria's political views also surface through the tone of the story, which parodies exaggerated propaganda. He writes, 'What nobility of soul! What bravery, that of the Federalists! Always ganging together and falling like vultures upon the helpless victim!' (Echeverria, 73). That Echeverria must reiterate that it is the Federalists that are the brave ones emphasizes their actual cowardice. There is also a reference to the slaughter motif with mention of the hunter and murderer, the vulture. This tone appears throughout the story and strengthens the author's idea that the slaughter symbolizes the dictatorship. Thus the motif of blood, dehumanization, and slaughter adequately reflects that which it symbolizes.
Hence the slaughter motif of The Slaughter House , as Freedman suggests, 'become[s] a part of the total perspective, pervading the book's atmosphere and becoming an important thread in the fabric of the work' (Freedman, 303). A question that Freedman raises regarding the analysis of the literary motif, is that of its purpose. He lists three possible effects of the motif, the 'cognitive', the 'affective (or emotive)', or the 'structural'. A motif can be any one or all of these three, depending on the author's discretion. In the case of Echeverria's work, it appears as though all three effects are achieved, at one point or another throughout the work.
There is a cognitive element which surfaces in the symbolism. The direct parallel of the slaughter of the steer to that of the Unitarian emphasizes the cruelty and the unjust characteristics of Rosas' dictatorship and, more directly, the advantage taken by the 'cutthroats' (Echeverria, 78) with regard to the dictator's ideals. It is through the cognitive that Echeverria imparts his political message, with a parallel that his first readers would have undoubtedly understood. Echeverria also uses the motif to create an emotional response from the reader. The repeated image of blood is one way of visually eliciting sympathy and strong feelings. The 'affective' purpose of the motif serves as a more personal one, uniting the reader with the victim and rallying the reader for the cause against Rosas. There is less of a structural purpose to the motif in The Slaughter House, although it does exist. As noted earlier, there is a parallel between the process of a day at the slaughter house and the treatment of the Unitarian. In this way the structure of a slaughter does shape the story, although only a segment of the work.
Thus Freedman's concept of the literary motif appears in Echeverria's work and 'tends to enhance appreciation and alter judgment as well as increase understanding' (Freedman, 308). The slaughter motif, supported by the dehumanization of the nameless Unitarian and the blood image, strengthens the case against the Rosas dictatorship and accompanying violence and murderous repressions of non-conformers. The motif is effective and hits the reader both forwardly and more subconsciously through the images in the descriptions as well as the general vocabulary used. It is, of course, difficult to judge a literary motif through translation, as the original connotations and under-meanings of words may disappear, but hopefully the translator understood the literary motif and symbolism and conveyed it, though diluted, through translation.
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