Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Motorcycle Diaries, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class Consciousness
Suppression and Reclamation of Indigenous Culture
Medicine, Politics, and Helping Others
Growing Up
Individuality vs. Ideology
Summary
Analysis
Ernesto transcribes a letter to his mother in his diary, in which he addresses her affectionately and includes greetings for the rest of his family. He recaps the main events of the book so far, from his hospital stay to his fascination with San Martín de los Andes. He’s enthusiastic about the adventurous nature of the journey, telling her that “our faces are beginning to resemble the texture of Carborundum” (a very rough mineral) from the constant driving. But he excises any mention of his drunken escapades or the physical dangers he faces from motorcycle breakdowns or risky hikes.
Although he is becoming an independent traveler, Ernesto is still the young son of anxious parents. The tone of his letter has less swagger and more humility than that of his diary entries, so it shows another side of his personality.
Themes
At the end of the letter he mentions he’s enclosed another page for Chichina. However, he doesn’t show the reader this part of the letter.
Ernesto still has a relationship with Chichina, but the fact that he doesn’t often speak of her or include his letter to her suggests that all is not well.
Themes
