Reasons of State Literary Elements

political fiction

The setting of the story is an unnamed Caribbean country and Paris, France where the head of state of the unnamed Caribbean country lives. The book is set some years before World War 1, during the war and after the war.

The book has two narrators; the head of state is a narrator in the first person and is angered by his friends who rebel against him and cause war in his country. The other narrator is unnamed and in the third person. The narrator is critical of war crimes that are committed such as cutting off hands of small children.

The book has a somber tone as the narrator narrates of the killing of innocent citizens and prisoners of war. It has a melancholy mood as the reader sympathizes with the protagonists.

The main protagonists of the book are the citizen of the unnamed Caribbean country who are plagued by war and bad governance. The antagonists are the head of state and his advisors who suppress the will of the citizens.

The bad governance of the Caribbean country. The head of state and his government are unconstitutional, inhumane and extravagant at the expense of poor citizens. The citizens start various rebellions to fight the unjust system.

The climax is reached when the head of state is defeated in war by a group of rebels who are comprised of university students and their professor who is their leader. The head of state is deserted by his allies and he flees to France where he spends the rest of his days in exile. The university professor ascends to the presidency.

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A German soldier cut off the hands of children because he wanted to render the children incapable of bearing arms against him in the future. This is an understatement of the potential that the children had before their hands were cut off. Their sole purpose was not to bear arms.

Literary allusion to the story of King Midas where the daughter of the president was named the ‘Infanta of King Midas’ by a local newsletter because of her luxurious life.

The narrator’s description of the Olmedo Colony as, ‘…black rocks between mulberry trees, an occasional naturalized fir, light northern breezes in the morning…’ The narrator has achieved visual imagery by using adjectives such as black in the description.

The narrator says that the president was taught to dance without dancing by a woman in a brothel.

The narrator draws a parallel between the life of the president before and after the several wars in his country. Before the wars, the president led a peaceful life in Paris where he was an admirer of fine art and attended extravagant parties. The life after the wars was filled with great bitterness for the rebels and he lost some of his friends.

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The narrator personifies the statue of the Divine Shepherdess by asking forgiveness and hoping to be forgiven for destroying the church that the statue was housed in.