The Motorcycle Diaries

by

Ernesto Che Guevara

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The Motorcycle Diaries Symbols

La Poderosa

Ernesto begins his narrative with an image of his friend Alberto’s motorcycle, which is the vehicle that makes possible Ernesto and Alberto’s road trip across South America. The motorcycle’s nickname, “La Poderosa” or “The Powerful,”…

read analysis of La Poderosa

Chichina and “Comeback”

After leaving Buenos Aires but before beginning their trip in earnest, Ernesto and Alberto visit Ernesto’s girlfriend Chichina at her summer house. Like Ernesto, Chichina is from an urban, upper-middle class family, but while Ernesto…

read analysis of Chichina and “Comeback”

The Leper Colony

Because lepers are easy to fear and despise, the government and local communities ignore them and refuse to allocate necessary resources to them,; they are completely excluded from the normal benefits of belonging to society…

read analysis of The Leper Colony