Noble

Through portraying how the United Fruit Co. exploits Latin America., the poet criticises U.S. neocolonialism and the damaging efects to Central American countries. In doing so, he forces us to reconsider the basic premises of so-called democratic, capitalist nations. Among the many literary devices employed by the poet, the most important ones include the multiple use of biblical allusions, the symbolism of flies, and the use of structure and imagery.

Neruda critiques the exploitation of Central America by the UFC through Biblical allusions. The poem opens by comparing the exploitation of Latin America to the act of creation in the Book of Genesis when "Jehovah distributed the world". By drawing this parallel, Neruda criticises how the United States give themselves supreme power, like that of God, over the land in Latin America and split the land as they like. There is also irony involved. In Genesis, man was given the gift of land but also the responsibility to take good care of it. This notion is in contrast with the rest of the poem in which Neruda illustrates how the corporations exploit the land without care. Next, Neruda alludes to the bible when he writes that the United Fruit Co. "rebaptized its lands / the 'Banana Republics'". The religious notion of rebaptism signifies rebirth and the deliverance from sin and evil, while the allusion the "Banana Republic" refers to a politically unstable country dependent upon agriculture that is ruled by a small corrupt clique. The word 'rebaptized' juxtaposes the reality of US exploiting the land of Latin America through conducting mass, specialised agriculture production, suggested by the term "Banana Republic".

Neruda also uses flies to symbolise the evil brought by the United States to Latin America. Flies are usually associated with evil. While using the symbolism of flies, Neruda at the same time alludes to Trujillos, Tacho, Carias, Martinez and Ubico, who were all dictators from Latin America regimes that either maintained friendly relatinoships with or were supported by the United States. By considering these dictators as flies, Neruda explicitly attaches a negative connotation towards the word ‘flies’. In choosing these examples of ‘dictatorship flies’, Neruda also critises how the United States supports dictatorship regimes in Latin American countries, and becomes a fly in itself for allowing the spread of evil, be it neo-colonialism or dictatorial rule. Further, flies are also generally attracted to dying things, and similarly, rich nations like the United States are attracted to dying nations in Latin America, where politics are unstable and resources are exploited by multinational companies. Neruda considers the Fruit Co. as ‘among the bloodthirsty flies’, and thus criticises the rich multinational companies based in United States, who were allowed to do anything in Latin America, for taking advantage of the dying nations.

The use of structure and imagery in the final stanza vividly paints the destitute reality in the exploited land. A structural disorder is created by the frequent use of enjambement which gives rise to a sense of disorder, reflecting the chaos in Latin America as they lived under dictatorial rule and were exploited by rich nations and multinational companies. Further, as he describes the death of overworked Indians, he describes a dead body as ‘a nameless/ thing, a fallen number’, conveying the feeling that people in these countries were dehumanised--they were without names, and their deaths amounted to nothing but an increase in death toll. It was as if no one cared about the people and their deaths anymore. This feeling is strengthened by the imagery in the final two lines, which compares dead people to ‘a bunch of lifeless fruit / dumped in the rubbish heap.’ As soon as people died, they were as worthless as decaying fruit in the rubbish.

Perhaps you could go one step further in your evaluation of the term "rebaptized' and acknowledge that it is being used ironically by Neruda to point out that the opposite of deliverance from sin and evil is happening. I am not really sure what you mean to say about "rebaptized" referring to monoculture, though. You might be able to support your argument (that Neruda uses religious symbolism to criticize the way in which the U.S. gives itself "supreme power") more clearly if you separate the points about the concept of rebaptism and the Banana Republic, as it seems to me that these two ideas are linked, but perhaps not in way that you suggest. I might first establish the significance of rebaptism, and then introduce the idea of the Banana Republics, in the following way: ...Baptism in the Judeo-Christian tradition signifies rebirth and the deliverance from evil, and Neruda's ironic description of Central America as "rebaptized" points out not only the harmful nature of the UFC's appropriation of Central American land, but also the fact that this is not the first baptism of the land, prompting the reader to recall the Spanish Conquest and all of its inequities. In addition, it is seen in the poem that the UFC devalues Central America through rebaptism by giving it a name based on the agricultural resources it has to offer, a name carrying multiple layers of connotation... Another point- I am not sure that the deaths of the Indians were caused by an excess of work. What I do think Neruda is suggesting is that the natives of the lands invaded by U.S. corporations suffered at the hands of the corrupt political regimes supported by those corporations. Try to make sure, as well, that you are explaining rather than rephrasing in most cases. Jordyn