A lot has been said about the Latin American Boom, with authors like Julio Cortázar, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa being well-known names among the scholars and readers alike. However, if there is a single author that paved the way that the latter would simply follow, that is Juan Carlos Onetti. Little is said about him or his works, which is understandable due to the rather obscure nature of both him personally and his books, even though he was awarded with the Cervantes Prize in 1980. But without him and the innovations he introduced, a great majority of all Latin American literature could not have blossomed the way it did. He, one could say, is the grandfather of the Latin American Boom.
Because of this, I would like to analyze one of his most acclaimed novels, 'The Shipyard', published in 1961. In it, readers are transported to the decaying port town of Santa María, where the once-thriving shipyard serves as a haunting backdrop for the characters' existential struggles. From this perspective, Onetti explores themes like the passage of time, human frailty, nostalgia, identity and the search for a sense of purpose in a world marked by decay and disillusionment. The relevance of Onetti's works nowadays resides in the fact that he is one of the few authors that dared to illuminate the darkest corners of human condition, and he does that in such a lucid way this novel continues to resonate with readers, offering solace, insight, and a profound understanding of what it means to be human in an ever-changing world.
