Like so many Latin dictators I seem to be alternating between stages of good and bad behaviour... I'm attempting to be good for the final stretch though...
After finishing the General and his labyrinth I still have a soft spot for Bolivar. As he continues on his journey he becomes a shell of what he used to be. The General is an idealist, but not necessarily a bad man. In this respect he is very different than the other dictators in the other books we have read. Of course in most of the other stories, the “dictator” is currently in a position of power, where as here he has been disposed and humiliated. Mentally strong, but emotionally and physical weak and broken, the General soldiers on. As his health continues to deteriorate one can’t help but feel for the guy. He seems so sad and lonely. Dreams, and ego shattered, he tries to escape but fails. The “General’s labyrinth” refers to his winding journey.
Growing up with hippies in ludicrously small Northern Californian village my interpretation of a labyrinth is a maze either flat on the ground, painted or tiled, or made out of plants or hedges. One might walk such a labyrinth as a spiritual exercise in self-reflection and meditation. The metaphorical labyrinth that the General follows here is also a journey of self-reflection, but poor Bolivar dies in the centre. The labyrinth here seems dark, as if he is walking in toward his impending death. This dark labyrinth seems somewhat the antithesis of the kind of labyrinths the hippies I grew up with used to walk. Instead of building spiritual strength and enhancing life, this “dark” or “reverse” labyrinth is a metaphorical spiral to the end – one last walk of self-reflection, as one’s life flashes before their eyes… The poor old General...
This is so far my favorite of the book out of the four… one more to go…
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