The Motorcycle Diaries

by

Ernesto Che Guevara

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Alberto Granado Character Analysis

Alberto is Ernesto’s friend and comrade in adventure. A fellow medical student, he shares Ernesto’s upper-middle class background, and both men aspire to become doctors at the beginning of the trip. Alberto is older than Ernesto and sometimes seems to be the more dominant personality, orchestrating the tricks and pranks that sometimes garner them assistance and sometimes get them in trouble. However, Ernesto eventually emerges as the more ideologically motivated and politically serious character, for whom the experiences of the journey are much more transformative. As Ernesto shifts towards politics and radicalism, Alberto’s original aspirations—to work towards social reform as a doctor—remain unchanged. Thus, Alberto emerges as a foil to Ernesto; Alberto’s somewhat static character highlights the extent to which his friend transforms.

Alberto Granado Quotes in The Motorcycle Diaries

The The Motorcycle Diaries quotes below are all either spoken by Alberto Granado or refer to Alberto Granado. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Class Consciousness Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

The enormity of our endeavor escaped us in those moments; all we could see was the dust on the road ahead and ourselves on the bike, devouring kilometers in our flight northward.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Related Symbols: La Poderosa
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel, or perhaps it's better to say that traveling is our destiny, because Alberto feels the same.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

The huge figure of a stag dashed like a quick breath across the stream and his body, silver by the light of the rising moon, disappeared into the undergrowth. This tremor of nature cut straight to our hearts. We walked slowly so as not to disturb the peace of the wild sanctuary with which we were now communing.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

[We were] no longer a pair of more or less likable vagrants with a bike in tow; no, we were now "The Experts," and we were treated accordingly.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

It was our last day as "motorized bums"; the next stage seemed set to be more difficult, as "bums without wheels."

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Related Symbols: La Poderosa
Page Number: 63
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

To a certain extent we had been knights of the road; we belonged to that long-standing "wandering aristocracy" and had calling cards with our impeccable and impressive titles. No longer. Now we were just two hitchhikers with backpacks, and with all the grime of the road stuck to our overalls, shadows of our former selves.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Related Symbols: La Poderosa
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

Afterwards some of [the patients] came to say goodbye to us personally and in more than one case tears were shed as they thanked us for the little bit of life we'd given them. We shook their hands, accepted their gifts, and sat with them listening to football on the radio. If there's anything that will make us seriously dedicate ourselves to leprosy, it will be the affection shown to us by all the sick we've met along the way.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:
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Alberto Granado Quotes in The Motorcycle Diaries

The The Motorcycle Diaries quotes below are all either spoken by Alberto Granado or refer to Alberto Granado. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Class Consciousness Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

The enormity of our endeavor escaped us in those moments; all we could see was the dust on the road ahead and ourselves on the bike, devouring kilometers in our flight northward.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Related Symbols: La Poderosa
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel, or perhaps it's better to say that traveling is our destiny, because Alberto feels the same.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

The huge figure of a stag dashed like a quick breath across the stream and his body, silver by the light of the rising moon, disappeared into the undergrowth. This tremor of nature cut straight to our hearts. We walked slowly so as not to disturb the peace of the wild sanctuary with which we were now communing.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

[We were] no longer a pair of more or less likable vagrants with a bike in tow; no, we were now "The Experts," and we were treated accordingly.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

It was our last day as "motorized bums"; the next stage seemed set to be more difficult, as "bums without wheels."

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Related Symbols: La Poderosa
Page Number: 63
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

To a certain extent we had been knights of the road; we belonged to that long-standing "wandering aristocracy" and had calling cards with our impeccable and impressive titles. No longer. Now we were just two hitchhikers with backpacks, and with all the grime of the road stuck to our overalls, shadows of our former selves.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Related Symbols: La Poderosa
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

Afterwards some of [the patients] came to say goodbye to us personally and in more than one case tears were shed as they thanked us for the little bit of life we'd given them. We shook their hands, accepted their gifts, and sat with them listening to football on the radio. If there's anything that will make us seriously dedicate ourselves to leprosy, it will be the affection shown to us by all the sick we've met along the way.

Related Characters: Ernesto Guevara (speaker), Alberto Granado
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis: