The Motorcycle Diaries Analysis

The ramifications of an individual 's discoveries changes their perspective of themselves and their world by challenging their preconceived views of themselves and their societies. This perspective is represented to Ernesto Che Guevara’s eclectic memoir, The Motorcycle Diaries, through its exploration of the diverse discoveries he makes during his metamorphic journey through latin America during the early 50s. Guevara’s encounters with inequality and corruption throughout his travels challenge his preconceived views of his society and himself, leading to a significant alteration of his self. Florian Henckel Von Donnersmark also portrays this notion in the Lives Of Others, a 2006 film depicting a Stasi captain during the cold war era, whose views

This notion is foreshadowed in the opening scene of the film, which cross cuts between shots of a prison interrogation and a university lecture, when the non-diegetic sound of the prisoner crying juxtaposed with the blank faces of the students is interrupted by a student who challenges the inhumane treatment of the prisoner, “Why keep him awake for so long… it’s inhuman?”, as it could be seen as an impetus for Wiesler’s realisation of the depth of corruption in his 1984 East German socialist society in the film. This notion is explored further when Wiesler is assigned to investigate a potentially dissident writer, Georg Dreyman. The contrast between Dreyman’s exclamatory dialogue, “If you don’t take a stand you’re not human!” with the wide shot of Wiesler, whose face is lit by prop lighting, as this use of lighting is a symbolisation of Wiesler’s realisation of the mistreatment of individuals in his society. This is compounded in the following scene in the use of vibrant colouring in which there is a shot of Wiesler reading a book written by Bertolt Brecht. Brecht, was a West German playwright, and thus is representative of Wiesler’s shift in perspective as a result of his discovery of the corruption in

Furthermore, both composers demonstrate a profound transformation of self as a ramification of the implementation of these renewed perspectives. In The Motorcycle Diaries, Guevara’s use of diary entries which segue linearly, chronicles the effects that his continued exposure to the widespread poverty had on his burgeoning social conscience and ideological awareness as it highlights the significant transformation from the laid-back youth who was “feeling uneasy…because…(he) was particularly jaded with medical school, hospitals and exams” to the powerful revolutionary who had become aware of the corruption in his society, evident in use of epistolary when he relays his discoveries to his mother, “ There is more repression of individual freedom…The atmosphere is tense and it seems a revolution may be brewing”. With growing socialist sensibilities, Guevara’s first-hand experiences of the US backed political oppression of the communists crystallised his desire to transform himself into a “sacred space within which the bestial howl of the proletariat can resound.” His animalistic imagery powerfully signifies his radicalised self-perception as the embodiment of the universal Marxist struggle against capitalism and his dedication to an improved future for the Latin American proletariat, thus indicating a profound transformation of identity and resolve. In contrast to Guevara’s linear progressions, it is the significant contrasts between the opening and ending of the film which