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Post by connorswauger on Jul 15, 2024 4:01:41 GMT
I am still working my way through this novel and I’m noticing Antonio grappling with his sense of Innocence. When his brothers return from the war, Antonio notices the difference in them and in his dream later, he realizes that they have lost their innocence because they have seen the ugly side of humanity. Antonio has also seen this in Lupito’s death. Through Antonio’s perspective, losing one’s innocence is just a part of growing up, but if one grows up and still opts to be blissfully ignorant of humanity’s ugly side, doesn’t that still make them guilty? Can one ever be truly innocent?
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Post by jarelyrebollar on Jul 15, 2024 14:05:15 GMT
Your observations about Antonio's struggle with innocence are insightful. His experiences, especially with his brothers' return from the war and witnessing Lupito's death, highlight a loss of innocence due to exposure to humanity's darker aspects.
Regarding whether growing up and remaining blissfully ignorant still makes one guilty, Anaya suggests through Antonio's journey that innocence and ignorance are not the same. Antonio learns that true innocence is not about being unaware of the world's evils but about maintaining one's integrity despite them. It is possible to consider ignoring humanity's ugliness as willful ignorance, which may be considered complicity.
As for being truly innocent, Anaya might argue that innocence is not an absolute state but an evolving quality. In Antonio's case, innocence becomes a blend of knowledge and moral steadfastness. Thus, true innocence could be seen as understanding and confronting life's complexities while striving to act justly within that awareness.
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Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jul 16, 2024 22:17:06 GMT
Good points here Connor-- innocence certainly is one of the prominent themes, especially with Tony/Antonio trying to hard to remain innocent and to do the right thing even amidst all the sin he finds around him.
I'd say it's the view of the novel (and the author) that one cannot avoid knowledge of evil, and that no one can be truly innocent, to your question. Jarely makes a good point about awareness vs. action--- it seems like, try as one might to hide their face and not be aware, you'll still be exposed to sin and evil (think about how much Tony knows about Rosie's brothel, even as he's never been inside). That's the point of Catholicism here, to some extent--- it will make you innocent again, or allow you to absolve the innocence that you've lost.
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Post by garrison on Jul 16, 2024 22:36:26 GMT
I don't think you could go through life with your innocence. The nature of living causes for some ugly scenes in life. Willingly avoided those points in life will only set you back. Antonio lost his innocence incredibly early. A childs innocence is supposed to be protected, and when it is not you become a child only by name. There are plenty of stories of children having to grow up way too fast. Antonio is another one of those and you could see the spiral it throws his life into.
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