To pretend and to lie, anything but accepting defeat

(The shipyard, illustration by Juan Pérez Ortiz)

Second entry:

It has been clear from the beginning that Larsen had no real reason to return to Santa María, much less to establish relationships with Jeremías Petrus and his ruined shipyard. Just upon his arrival to Puerto Astillero, Larsen quickly notices the state of decay the company is in, he recognizes there is hardly anything left to salvage, not even the office building, which appears to have been abandoned for several years. Even the two remaining employees, Gálvez and Kunz, are aware of this, yet they continue attending to their duties as if nothing had happened because they know the reality outside is even more miserable. And so does Larsen by accepting the position of general manager.

Numerous questions may arise at this point. Why does Petrus keeps insisting in maintaining a no longer functional company? Why do the remaining employees stay there instead of seeking other job opportunities? Why did Larsen accept to work there despite knowing the conditions of the shipyard, even being aware that he would receive a non-existent salary? The answers to these questions can be found in how Onetti constructs these characters and the world that surrounds them, although it is not always evident.

If we pay close attention to the fragments of Larsen's past that the narrator dares to reveal every now and then, we can infer that Larsen is past his forties or even his fifties. Therefore, there is little he can do now but hold onto the little confidence in himself that remains. No longer able to seduce and deceive as easily as he did in his youth, nor having the energy or ambition to pursue risky endeavors, he finds himself needing to find some stability before resigning himself to accept old age and everything that comes with it. The last place where he found some degree of success was Santa María, so returning there could be seen as a last attempt to make a safe bet; or the way around, having realized how pointless his current struggles are, he pretends to ignore it in hopes of forgetting the lack of meaning of his life as a whole. 

The same thing could be said about the other characters. Petrus deludes himself into believing that a plea can be made to the court to have the company fully operative again some day instead of coming to terms with its inevitable  failure. Meanwhile, Gálvez and Kunz, being native to Puerto Astillero and knowing the town's impoverishment caused by the shipyard's closure, prefer to keep pretending to work there, even if they themselves don't believe the lie, rather than accepting that they are hopelessly unemployed. All of these situations become particularly significant when we realize reality is not that different. More often than not, there are times when, in the wake of the apparent lack of meaning in our lives, anything, as futile as it may be, can become a lifeline to keep us from sinking into madness and depression.

Source of the image:

• Cervantes, C. C. V. (s. f.). CVC. Juan Carlos Onetti. Santa María. Espacios. El astillero. (7 de 31). https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/escritores/onetti/santa_maria/astillero_07.htm  

Tale of a life in decay: Larsen's return to Santa María

(La Costanera, Asunción, photo taken by me)

 

First entry:

In traditional literature, the typical formula involves an event occurring, and the reader subsequently learns its significance. However, Onetti subverts this convention: the importance of an event is established, yet the author decides not to reveal the specifics, instilling a sense of uncertainty in the reader —we are not sure of the veracity of the story, because the characters themselves can only speak from their limited perspective and therefore, there is always an aspect of the story that remains unnacounted for.

This is clearly seen in the novel's first lines. We are introduced to a character named Larsen, also known as Junta by some, who previously resided in Santa María five years prior to the novel's events. He was subsequently expelled from the city under shady circumstances, and now, in the present, it is suggested he has returned to the city against his will. However, crucial aspects as his background, the origin of the nickname Junta or the intentions of his return remain unclear.

Following what seems to be an anonymous narrator's voice, we witness Larsen's reintegration to Santa María's social sphere. He wanders around familiar streets, meets old acquaintances who now act as if they don't know him, goes to have a drink at an old bar, and alludes to a topic that seems to be somehow related to his previous expulsion, but no further information is provided. Additionally, this serves as an early insight into the city and its inhabitants; drawing from Faulkner's characterization of puritan, isolated towns, Santa María's population appears as highly judgmental, driven by strict religious beliefs, and hostile to foreigners. This feeling of reject will last throughout the novel, tainting the characters' behavior with a sense of defeat that defines the story's overall mood.

Yet, Larsen decides to ignore the overall lack of meaning behind his return and takes a boat to a nearby town called Puerto Astillero. Through a very terse description, it is revealed that the shipyard that used to operate in the town is now facing bankruptcy, but despite that, it keeps functioning thanks to the owner's resolve—Jeremías Petrus, another character of dubious origins—to pay off its debts and restore its operations. By unexplained means, Larsen learns about this and determines to exploit the situation for his own gain. The mention of Petrus' daughter, Angélica Inés—crazy, unpredictable, still single in her thirties—seems to indicate an opportunity for Larsen to get to Petrus, but in the end, his intentions remain in the dark. It is the sum of all these apparently mundane yet somehow connected situations, never explained, that captivates me, for the lack of context makes me want to pay more attention to the narration to grasp what is going on.