Latin American Short Stories

12 responses so far ↓

•   Cassie Jimmink // Sep 7th 2014 at 8:38 pm

  I really enjoyed going to the mine except for the bus part. I really liked going down to the mine in the train. Although it was a little scary I felt like I was actually experiencing something like the workers did. I think reading the story in the mine made the story more realistic. Even though it was in a different country and time period I was able to relate with the characters. I also felt like I could relate to the mothers and wives in the story in a way because my family immigrated here from Croatia and all worked in either a steel mill or a coal mine. Before going on the trip my grandma told me that my great great grandfather died in a coal mine. When reading the part in the story when the men were losing there just I asked myself “So What”? I wondered what they were going to do next and how the story was going to play out.

•   chicasi // Sep 7th 2014 at 10:48 pm

  I’ve never seen or visited a mine in my life, but when I finally went to one, I was excited. I was able to learn past procedures that miners had to perform everyday in order to make a living. Actually going to a mine and learning about it and the workers helped explain Lillo’s story. Hardworking people in the past were desperate for jobs and would go to extreme lengths in order to help themselves and their loved ones live without going into poverty. The workers would accept dangerous jobs that can lead to death to earn money. Going into a mine made me care more about the characters’ situations and helped me visualize the setting. Had I not went to the mine tour, I might have not been able to understand the setting, background, or ordeal of the characters.

  Initially, I was thinking “So What?” when the overseer tried to fire Copperhead and another man by telling them he’s trying to cut down workers, yet would later let Copperhead and his friend to work in the Devil’s Pit. Isn’t the overseer disobeying his orders and risk getting fired himself? Later in the story, I question why Maria de los Angeles was shown more than Copperhead. I asked “So What?” about Maria’s exposure in the story over Copperhead’s. Then I realized that her exposure was to express her own fears about her own son’s potential fate, which eventually exploded in front of her face in the end of the story.

•   Aden // Sep 7th 2014 at 10:50 pm

  Baldomero Lillo’s “The Devil’s Pit” holds many deeper meanings to be inferred. Lillo writes the story with judgment towards the company, using adjectives like “impassive, severe” and says that the company “did less and less” of the “most essential work” of re-timbering; which lead to miners “often carried out bruised, wounded or crushed by cave-ins”. He is openly critical. The deeper meaning is held in what he is saying about society as a whole and the corporate greed that subjugates people like Copperhead and his mother to miserable lives. Lillo opens his story with personification of the elevator “awaiting its human load.” Lillo is starting the connection between the hunger of the mine and the greed of company. The company’s “economizing” of the re-timbering of the pit provides the carnivorous cave with more and men to feed upon. Lillo makes the connection clear by stating that the “insatiable greed of the mine” took Maria de los Angeles’ family members. The Englishmen’s indifference toward the crowd and their calls of “murders” furthers Lillo’s social commentary on greed. The Devil’s pit is ultimately a metaphor for the greed for wealth by the “few” in this world, and it eventually swallows up Copperhead’s entire family.

  I found the danger and difficulties we saw in the mine paralleling Lillo’s story. I found the fact that the mules were more important than the men interesting and it showed a disregard for human life comparable to the situation in “The Devil’s Pit.”

•   applegsa // Sep 7th 2014 at 11:18 pm

  Although I was unable to attend the mining field trip, and, therefore, unable to make any connections between the story “The Devil’s Pit” and Lackawanna County mine tour, I still found the story interesting. I thought that the main message of this story was to let readers know about the struggles miners went through, and still go through. In other words, bringing their struggles to light is the “so what?” of the story.

•   jacobsoh // Sep 7th 2014 at 11:24 pm

  In the reading “The Devil’s Pit” by Lillo, I felt that the “so what” question I kept asking myself was “is it worth it for Copperhead to work in the Devil’s Pit?” The Devil’s Pit, which had “a sinister reputation”, was Copperhead’s only job prospect and therefore his only guarantee of some money. However, was the promise of money worth it when the fate of his life would constantly be in question as he worked in the Devil’s Pit? Was it worth it to chance leaving his mother all alone? At the end the question seemed to be answered. He died his first day on the job and left his mother with no one. The guarantee of money was not worth the high risk that he would end up dead.

  Going to the mine and reading the story inside it really elevated the reading experience. I could really visualize every aspect of the story, such as “the low narrow room, the overseer on duty” sat at counting “the descending miners.” Being able to see a room just like that and then reading about it in the story made the visual really come to life. Seeing the mine and all the danger that came with it made me feel sympathy for Copperhead and the rest of the men that had to work in the mines each day.

•   Estiven // Sep 7th 2014 at 11:28 pm

  In “The Devil’s Pit and Other Stories” by Baldomero Lillo, the mine robs the miners of their ambition and dampens their will to live. Life in the mine is short lived and miners live their lives on a day-to-day basis barely looking into the future. They no longer believe in a future because their daily lives consist of being “carried out bruised, wounded or crushed by cave-ins”. “Copperhead” is the perfect example of a miner who was robbed of aspirations and a future. “He believed it useless to struggle against what destiny held in store”. These miners are poor and they don’t have the luxury of worrying about what will happen in the future. They have to fight and kill themselves for the job they have, mining, in order to take care of themselves. This leads to the exploitation of the miner and the rights of the miner to be limited; their need for providing the basic resources to their family outweighs how dangerous mining sections like the Devil’s Pit are. They are expendable and life lost is no longer a shock or considered a major setback. This brings us to when the overseer offered a job to “Copperhead” and his friend. They were forced to make a quick decision and when they realized their lack of options for the future, they chose the pit. Complete hopelessness rules their lives. They feel death is insignificant, especially when getting their basic needs is such a struggle.

  When visiting the Lackawanna County Mine Tour it was shocking to see how human life in the mine was. In the “Devil’s Pit” a death is barely mourned; mostly those who mourn are the miner’s family members. The engineer in the “Devil’s Pit” was uncaring after the lifeless bodies are brought up the workers. While in the mine we saw how the mule was worth more than human life, during a cave-in or accident mules were brought up to the surface first then the miners because mules cost a lot of money and workers if dead would be replaced by another worker. This was interesting to see because it showed that when money and greed are the most essential aspects, human life is no longer emphasized or a priority.

•   Madeleine // Sep 7th 2014 at 11:41 pm

  My “so what?” question began with noticing that the overseers showed no respect for their workers. For example, Copperhead was fired from his job because the mines were cutting back on employees. So what? There was no other work available because the fields weren’t fertile and the community was poor. So what? These men had no job security, and to pay for food and the bills, even young children had to work in the coal mines. So what? The work was dangerous and many people died from accidents. So what? The people felt hopeless, and this definitely showed in this story. Lillo mentioned the “odious human inequalities” and “perpetual anxieties” that infiltrated the coal mining town. I can’t imagine working in the mines, because I could hardly stand to be down there for the hour or so that we went on the tour.

  Visiting the mine helped me to understand the “Devil’s Pit” because I could visualize the claustrophobia and could feel the chill. I learned about other dangers besides cave-ins, and gained a new respect for the miners because besides listening for timbers to creak as a warning for a cave-in, they had to check for poisonous gases and be aware of water levels, since most of the veins were below the flood line.

•   danona // Sep 8th 2014 at 12:45 am

  Sitting in the dark at the Lackawanna County Mine really helped me picture the different settings in “The Devil’s Pit”. As I walked past the overseer’s tiny, white shack, I could picture the opening of the story perfectly. This was also due in part to Lillo’s close attention to detail and strong diction. For example, Lillo is sure to include the “great open register” and that the overseer is “vigilantly” counting the miners heading in. Details like these help to create the story in the reader’s mind, and physically being in a mine helps even more.

  Lillo continues throughout the story with strong diction, as miners “hurtl[e] into the depths of the mine” or how “the mine’s invalids’” phlegm was “black as ink.” After learning about the horrible conditions and hours the miners worked, Lillo’s diction had greater meaning. I believe the diction used in “The Devil’s Pit” to be the “So what?” question because it forced me to see beyond the words he chose. By having such strong sentences and phrases, it is easy to see that these sentences or phrases are part of key moments in the story. This is especially noticeable as Lillo describes the moments just before the incident. His description and attention to detail are beautiful; “The sun’s light, soft as a caress, gave a breath of life to dead nature.” Lillo goes on to describe “the serene blue sky” and a “golden halo” around the sun. Here, Lillo is able to capture the stillness of the morning, a morning that seems almost too still for comfort. Through diction, Lillo captures and emphasizes each moment, making key moments stand out from the rest.

•   medinaeg // Sep 8th 2014 at 12:56 am

  The question for me is so what if coal is valuable; is it more valuable than a human life? The “Company” which the miners worked for in “The Devil’s Pit” by Baldomero Lillo, cared more for profit than human lives. As was said in the mine tour, mules were more valuable than actual human miners as mules cost more. The mountain with “insatiable greed” represents human greed as well. The only way to fully be pleased is to have all the resources at all cost. Starvation and work go together. People would work to be able to live at whatever cost as to not die of starvation. Greed is the middleman of starvation and work, the “Company” could easily find work for a miner even if there was risk of death, and the profit outweighed the risk. With many miners working, paranoia and fear are the consequences of greed. As with Maria de los Angeles who shed many tears after losing many loved ones and finally lost hope once she saw Copperhead was dead. She had hope believing things would be good sharing food and saying, “The Virgin will repay you.” Having faith with a higher power to assure herself things will work out and in the end they always do. Today with all this technology, resources are still worth more than actual human lives. As with black lung which killed many miners is still around today. The invalids coughed up “phlegm that was black as ink.” The many hours of work took its toll and the mountain still was in the miners even after they had left the mine.

•   Cailin // Sep 8th 2014 at 1:00 am

  The “So what?” question I see as the most prominent in “The Devil’s Pit” is this: The mere mention of the Devil’s Pit causes people to fear, and even panic. So what? This reveals many aspects about the culture of the mining community: the power structure, the relationships of the families of miners, and the history they share. It becomes clear that those with the most power in the business have little to no regard for the workers, and fail to recognize their worth as human beings. The miners are not treated as equals, and are not even remembered among the people in charge when tragedy strikes. But so what? Asking again reveals a political statement from Lillo. The message is that the system needs to be changed because of the injustices that exist. The relationship between Copperhead and his mother also reveal a lot about the community. His mother, Maria de los Angeles, is a loving but very tired woman, who has lost most of her family to the mining industry. She lives in fear every day that Copperhead won’t come home from work, like the rest of her loved ones. So what? Lillo is also stating that this is a horrible way for people to live. Moving from day to day in a constant anxious state means that living in happiness is impossible. Maria de los Angeles isn’t alone, however – the rest of the women in the village also live with this same fear, and have experienced loss in the same way she has. So what? The message is that change needed to occur, and this is still a reality today in some places.

  Visiting the mine gave me a better understanding of the anxiety that both the miners and their families must have felt every day. Safety is never guaranteed, and during our descent into the mine, I realized how the workers must have dreaded each day, and how grateful they must have been to go home at night. Every moment held fear for the next, because the work in mines was so unpredictable – something could go wrong at any time. Experiencing the conditions of the mine firsthand made me appreciate how scary the work must have been, especially when we were told that the only light they had to work with was the light from their headlamps. Those lucky enough to survive their career as a miner, however, still had to deal with the effects of their work, and most died because of the mines even if they did not die of a direct injury. The visit made me realize how fortunate we are, and how dangerous an industry it is.

•   grandam // Sep 8th 2014 at 1:55 am

  I found the tour of the Lackawanna County Mine insightful because of how it put me physically in the place of the miners in the story. When reading a narrative, the reader is transported mentally into the thoughts emotions of the author, so adding the physical element made the experience all the more legitimate. Evening being in the mine without the constant explosions and cave-ins was scary at times so thinking about what it must have been like for the workers, breathing in dust and engulfed in darkness, was inconceivable.
  The fact that the workers spent their days in such conditions intensified my understanding of the intensity of their poverty. “Between starving and being crushed by a cave-in, the latter was definitely preferable” (39). Throughout the short story, Lillo tries to emphasize the inescapable cycle of poverty that trapped the miners. This is his “So What?” Copperhead and his companion know that their lives are threatened as soon as the overseer fires them but they are helpless to decide their fate. Faced with the choice between dying in the mine or dying from starvation, they choose the possibility of living and providing for their families. Lillo also writes that those who didn’t work in the mine were forced to beg door to door. “In the farmers’ huts starvation loomed. It could be seen on the ravenous faces of the inhabitants who found themselves obligated to knock on doors of workshops and factories searching for the daily bread” (39). This refusal by Copperhead to accept defeat and stop providing for his family shows traces of the machismo often seen in Latin American culture.
  Lillo impresses upon his audience the desperate situation of the miners. He portrays the uncaring bosses negatively showing that his sympathy rests solely with the workers. He seems to understand their plight. “[They] spent their lives in the constant struggles against the adversities of fortune, abandoned by all and against whom any injustice and indignity was permitted” (39). The Miners and their families were at the mercy of their conditions, unable to escape the cycle of poverty they had been born into. This is best portrayed by Copperhead’s mother as she watches her father, brothers and children die in the mines, unable to help stop them as they move towards their grisly, predetermined fate.

•   Hannah // Sep 8th 2014 at 3:16 am

  In “The Devil’s Pit” by Lillo, I identify the “So what?” question as “So what if the mines are dangerous?”. This is because I think the entire mining occupation was a very dehumanizing work. The workers weren’t treated as men, but as objects to be utilized for labor. In this piece, the “So what?” question that I found was related to the significance of the Devil’s Pit in the men lives of the men who worked there. Lillo introduces the Devil’s Pit as something awful, but we do not connect to the horror and fear of the workers until we read about the personal life of Copperhead. When we learn more about Copperhead’s situation with his mother, we empathize with him and the other workers who had to undergo similar ordeals.

  I really enjoyed reading the passage in the mine. I didn’t have any prior knowledge about mines, so I really got an idea of what mine work would be like. In “The Devil’s Pit”, Lillo mentions the timbers. I would not have known what the timbers were if I had not actually gone to the mine. I also had a very clear image in my mind of what the overseer’s desk may have looked like and what the conversation between Copperhead, the overseer, and the other miner would have looked like. The trip helped my to visualize the scene very clearly.

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