HSC English (Advanced) AoS Discovery Essay

Question: Travelling to new places, or viewing a familiar place through new eyes, can transform ourunderstanding of ourselves and the world. To what extent is this statement true regarding your prescribed text and at least ONE related text of your own choosing? The travelogue diary “The Motorcycle Diaries” (1995) by Che Guevara demonstrates how through his exploration and journey, Guevara was able to discover the social injustice in Latin America as well as kindle his future revolutionary nature. In addition, the poem “Invictus” (1875) by William Ernest Henley explores how an epiphany can challenge and transform one’s preconceptions about self-determinism resulting in renewed perceptions. Therefore, journeys of political awakening and new spiritual insights and have been shown to greatly transform one’s understanding of themselves and the world. Through his spatial exploration in “The Motorcycle Diaries” Guevara discovers the struggle of the proletariat, which ultimately stimulates his Marxist values. This is most evident in Guevara’s encounter with a married Chilean couple “who were communists” and “had not one single miserable blanket to cover themselves with” where the empathetic tone and emotive language such as “the man’s figure carried a mysterious tragic air” acts as an appeal to pathos. Moreover, the use of anaphora in “his three months in prison…his starving wife… his children left…his fruitless pilgrimage” reinforces the sense of injustice, and provides further justification for Guevara’s emerging political persuasion. Consequently, Guevara’s speech about “a United Latin America” reveals his deep desire to help “the proletariat” and his newfound ambition to “rid [himself] of the weight of small-minded provincialism”. This is emphasisedby the alliteration and epistrophe in “it’s time that those who govern spent…more money, much more money, on socially useful works”, which represents the beginnings of his transformation towards Marxist values. In addition to this, the enormity of Guevara’s shift in perspective is illustrated by his rejection of the privileged bourgeoisie life as an Argentinian medical doctor. For example the tricolon in Guevara’s “close contact with poverty, with hunger, with disease” is indicative of the magnitude of the social injustice that he encountered, and reaffirms in him his new views. Therefore, it can be seen how Guevara’s dislocation exposed him to the suffering of the proletariat in Latin America, and as a result facilitated the formation of his new perspective. Guevara’s travelling also acts as a journey of self-discovery that forces him to reevaluate his understanding of his purpose, and eventually lead him to discover his capacity as a revolutionary. Through the episodic and non-linear structure of the vignettes, the reader is able to comprehend a condensed process of his political metamorphosis. For example, Guevara’s attitude towards a trip which “was decided just like that” is initially generally light-hearted and humorous, as highlighted by the hyperbole “an infinite number of paths to all ends of the earth”. However, as the journey unfolds a shift towards a more serious and

reflective tone occurs in his thoughts, such as “I knew that when the great guiding spirit cleaves humanity into two antagonistic halves, I would be with the people”, whereby the metaphor of conflict foreshadows his revolutionary nature. Thus, Guevara’s “The Motorcycle Diaries” can be seen as an atypical bildungsroman since he already possessed the personality and values which were only intensified as a result of his journey. In this sense, instead of Guevara’s initial intention to “help those [proletariat] people” through his medical degree, the reader is shown the incubating of “the blood of a truly emancipating revolution[ary]” through the vivid imagery “take my bloodstained weapon and, consumed with fury, slaughter any enemy who falls into my hands”. Hence, not only has Guevara’s perspective on the world around him changed, but his understanding of himself as a revolutionary has also dramatically transformed. Henley’s poem “Invictus” focuses on the spiritual epiphany made by the persona through physical tribulations. The discovery that “I am the master of my fate” is reflective of Henley’s foot amputation and hospitalisation at the time of composition, which greatly impacted his outlook on life. This is demonstrated through the extended metaphor representing suffering such as “the night that covers me” and “Horror of the shade” as well as the alternate rhyme scheme throughout the poem such as “pole…soul” and “aloud…unbowed” which reinforces the constancy of his suffering. Furthermore, the personification of chance in “the fell clutch of circumstance” and “bludgeonings of chance” holds strong connotations of despair that reinforces the difficulty that he faces, and provides the first allusion towards the perseverance required to overcome his situation.Consequently, rather than be deterred by his ailment, Henley uses the opportunity to strengthen his resilience which is evident in “the menace of the years/ Finds and shall find me unafraid” where the metaphor of death coupled with the shift from present to future tense emphasises his determination to maintain a positive attitude. More subtly, the title of the poem “Invictus” translates from Latin to mean “unconquered” and becomes a recurring motif such as in “my unconquerable soul” and “I am the captain of my soul”, which highlights Henley’s resolve. As a result,Henley’s immense physical trauma necessitated his forging of new self-deterministic values in order to arrive at a renewed perception on life. Therefore by closely examining Guevara’s travelogue diary “The Motorcycle Diaries” and Henley’s poem “Invictus” we can comprehend the newfound values of each of the respective composers and personas. This has been demonstrated for Guevara in his exploration of Latin America and his subsequent revolutionary ideas; as well as Henley in his spiritual epiphany about self-determinism triggered by his foot amputation. Thus it becomes apparent how the journey and viewing a familiar place through new eyes enormously transforms ones understanding of themselves and the world.