The Censors, by Luisa Valenzuela Essay -- Satire, Symbols, Analysis

The ostracizes by Luisa ValenzuelaThe short study The Censors by Luisa Valenzuela is set in Argentina during the dictatorship of Jorge Videla who reigned from 1976 to 1983. Juan, the protagonist of the text, starts the story by writing a garner to his old friend, Mariana, at her new residence in Paris. He had received Marianas new address from a confidential source and was too excited to think of his actions before writing and sending the letter. Later, Juans mind was off his job during the day and he couldnt sleep at night, thinking of the letter (Valenzuela 966). He believes the contents to be innocent and irreproachable, but the censors of the Argentine government examine, sniff, feel, and read between the lines of each and every letter (Valenzuela 966) for the signs of ascent among the people. He then thinks of the censorship offices and the extremely few letters that are actu exclusivelyy sent. He ponders the months or years that a single letter could construct to be delive red and all that time the freedom, maybe even life, of both the sender and receiver are in jeopardy (Valenzuela 966). Juan is troubled for Marianas well being. He knows that the Censors Secret Command operates all over the world and theres nothing to stop them from going to the obscure Paris neighborhood and abduct Mariana (Valenzuela 966). Soon he decides his course of action is to join the Post Offices Censorship Division and retrieve his letter to save Mariana. Juan was hired without delay as there was a great demand for censors and no one bothered to check on his references (Valenzuela 966). He was content to be working all he could do to retrieve his letter was being done. Even when he was sent to Section K where envelopes were ... ...ack to destroy Juan. Since he didnt find the letter to be important, he acted carelessly and discarded it and was one more victim of his devotion to his work (Valenzuela 968). Although many people would not go as far as to essentially commit su icide through the government, Valenzuela is making the point that secrets are dangerous. At the same time, Valenzuela is showing the average person can perpetually be corrupted and caught up in their government if said government is corrupt. The most innocent person will always be tainted and finished by an iniquitous government. Through Juans letter and actions, Valenzuela depicts the satirical theme of how anyone can be corrupted by a perverted government.Works CitedValenzuela, Luisa. The Censors. Elements of belles-lettres World Literature. Trans. David Unger. Austin, Texas Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2006. Print.